Sheldon Forest is a pocket of urban bushland located north-west of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in a narrow valley between Turramurra and

Pymble Pymble is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pymble is north of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. West Pymble is a separate suburb ...

. Sheldon Forest is of high conservation status because it contains some of the last remnants of the endangered Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest (STIF) and Blue Gum High Forest (BGHF) in the Sydney basin. Bush regeneration programs have been implemented for many years. Invasive weeds such as privet, large leave privet, wandering jew, lantana and

camphor laurel ''Camphora officinarum'' is a species of evergreen tree that is commonly known under the names camphor tree, camphorwood or camphor laurel. Description ''Camphora officinarum'' is native to China south of the Yangtze River, Taiwan, southern ...

continue to be troublesome. The historic 1st Turramurra Scout hall is located at the entrance to the forest from Warragal Road. The hall has been continuously in this location for over 60 years.

Walking Track

A walking track meanders through a range of plant communities. As you follow the track through the forest you will notice changes in the plant structure and associations. The change in plant associations occur because the underlying bedrock changes from

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

to sandstone. Three major communities will be obvious along your walk. The blue gum tall forest occurs on the ridge tops, while closed (or riparian) forest occurs along the creeks. On the hill slopes, sandstone supports an open forest-woodland community. The track can be accessed from six locations: * Warragal Road, Turramurra at the 1st Turramurra Scout hall *Warragal Road, Turramurra at the end of the road *Mimosa Oval, Turramurra *Jubilee Avenue, Pymble *Kimbarra Road, Pymble *Troon Place, Pymble

References

Forests of New South Wales Protected areas of New South Wales Geography of Sydney {{Sydney-geo-stub