Walking and Cycling
Walking and cycling are convenient ways to get around, great for keeping fit and popular recreation activities.
There are easy walking trails and paths in the Newcastle area for you to explore and enjoy. Some of these, such as the Fernleigh Track and the Tramway Track, are shared paths suitable for riding at a leisurely pace.
Top Trails:
Other Trails:
Newcastle at War - 4.4km Moderate
Explore Newcastle through the conflicts that have shaped its landscape and character. Meet locals that left Newcastle to participate in some of the most devastating wars in history and walk in their footsteps, visiting places dedicated to their memory.
Newcastle Architecture Walk - 2.2km Easy
Explore buildings that have acted as cultural, political and economic icons for the people of Newcastle. Discover the works by architects not just of local, but national and international significance.
Newcastle Artist's Walk - 5km Moderate
Newcastle has nurtured, supported and inspired generations of artists. Explore the city through their eyes. Visit the galleries that have displayed and celebrated their work. View examples of the extraordinary public art that populates the Newcastle landscape.
Convict and Industry Walk - 5km Moderate
Explore Newcastle's early years as a convict settlement. Visit remnants of the great industrial enterprises that once defined the city and discover amazing engineering feats that allowed the city and its people to prosper.
Newcastle Coastal Geotrail - 10km
Blending science with history, this 10km walk follows parts of Bathers Way and explores the rock platforms and cliffs of the coastline from Nobbys Beach to Merewether headland, revealing how 300 million years of geological history have shaped natural features and influenced cultural development.
Blackbutt Reserve
A popular nature reserve with over 20 kilometres of walking trails and native animal and bird life to observe.
Kooragang Wetlands
Experience and explore 15km of boardwalks, cycleways and walking tracks.
Shipwreck Walk - 2km Easy
The fascinating Shipwreck Walk along the Stockton breakwall allows visitors to see Newcastle from a different perspective as you look back across the harbour. Along the 2km return walk you’ll see markers with the names of many ships that came to tragedy on the Oyster Bank, a sandbank at the entrance to the Hunter River. This notorious section saw scores of ship wrecks before the construction of breakwalls on either side of the harbour.
Tramway Track (Wallsend to Glendale) - 3.9km
This shared cycle/pedestrian path provides a link between the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. The corridor use to be part of the former steam tramway between West Wallsend and Speers Point, which operated from 1912 to 1930.
Heritage Walks
Explore the island of Onebygamba (Carrington), a 19th century settlement established next to Newcastle's coal port and reclaimed from the harbour using mostly ships ballast. Today it has transformed into a vibrant inner city suburb with a rich mix of Aboriginal culture and European colonial architecture and stories.
View the Carrington Heritage Walk map (PDF).
Discover how a 19th century settlement of immigrant coal miners transformed into the vibrant multicultural suburb of Hamilton.
View the Hamilton Heritage Walk map (PDF).
This is a self-guided walking tour of a prosperous 19th century mining town, Lambton. This heritage walk takes about 35 minutes to walk at a slow to moderate pace. This time frame does not take into account observation time at various points of interest. Hard copies of the map are available at Wallsend, Lambton and Newcastle libraries or below.
View the Lambton Heritage Walk map (PDF).
Explore Mayfield, once known as the 'Toorak of Newcastle' and home to an interesting variety of domestic architecture and social history. The walk steps through the changes from large, semi-rural estates escaping the pollution of inner Newcastle, to executive housing and worker accommodation for the new industries such as BHP.
View Mayfield Walk map (PDF).
Discover the old stories and rich history of Burrabihngarn (Stockton). Remnants of shipwrecks, industrial and social history, fine nineteenth century colonial buildings and much more.
View the Stockton Heritage Walk map (PDF).
The Obelisk and its surroundings in the Newcastle Recreation Reserve (King Edward Park) provide expansive views over the city and ocean. This is a walk through a significant Aboriginal cultural landscape, former convict mining sites, landscaped public gardens, war-time fortifications, and past prestigous Victorian homes and institutions of The Hill.
View The Obelisk & Surrounds Walk map (PDF).
Walk through historic Wallsend and enjoy highlights such as the Grapes Inn (c1869), the Railway Goods Shed (1877) and The Rotunda (1888) built by Robert Snowden and George Froome cast iron fluted columns.
View the Wallsend Heritage Walk map (PDF).
