Molonglo River Reserve

For after hours urgent public health matters including environmental health, radiation safety, food poisoning and communicable disease management phone:

1800 022 222

ACT State Emergency Service

Emergency help
during flood or storms

Access to Namarag Reserve is closed until further notice due to construction works on the new Molonglo Bridge. This includes the public carpark off John Gorton Drive and the walking track from the carpark. Alternative access into the reserve is in development.

Molonglo River Reserve is located on Ngunnawal Country, an ancient and diverse landscape managed and cared for by Ngunnawal people for tens of thousands of years. For time immemorial Ngunnawal people have maintained a tangible and intangible cultural, social, environmental, spiritual, and economic connection to these lands and waters.

Molonglo River Reserve was created in 2018. Three former reserves – Kama Nature Reserve, Molonglo River and Lower Molonglo River - were brought together with additional areas to make the new reserve.

Molonglo River Reserve includes the entirety of the Molonglo River from Scrivener Dam to its confluence with the Murrumbidgee River – a total of 23 km of river and riverside habitat. The reserve is about 1,280 hectares, or nearly 13 km², in area.

A key aspect of this reserve is that its previously degraded upstream section is being restored and will become a central landscape feature and open-space recreation area for the new suburbs of the Molonglo Valley.

The reserve is also home to nationally threatened plant and animal species and vegetation communities.

Visit a recreation area

Molonglo River Reserve walking tracks

Explore the various tracks throughout Molonglo River Reserve

Namarag

Nature under restoration and a new recreation hub for the local community

Things to do

Molonglo River Reserve provides opportunities for:

walking
picnics
cycling (see notes below)
horse riding (see notes below)
dog walking (see notes below)
birdwatching
nature play
nature photography
climbing and abseiling (see notes below)
fishing (see the recreational fishing guidelines)
canoeing and kayaking
events and organised activities (a permit may be required)

Horse riding is permitted on marked equestrian trails only. These are presently restricted to upstream or eastern areas of the reserve due to traffic safety issues near Coppins Crossing, and are intended to be expanded upon completion of the new Molonglo River bridge.

Cycling including mountain bike riding is permitted on management trails (vehicular tracks) only.

Dogs are permitted in the eastern or upstream section of the reserve - on-leash and on management trails only (but not on the Barrer Track).

Dogs are prohibited in the downstream or western section of the reserve (including the former 'Kama' reserve), commencing about 500 metres west of the exposed pipeline at the northern end of Namarag. Signs provide information in this area.

Rockclimbing and associated activities are seasonally restricted throughout the reserve to protect the breeding habitat of Peregrine Falcons. You must not climb in the period August to December.

Fires are prohibited in the reserve, for obvious public safety reasons.

The use of motorised watercraft are prohibited in the reserve.

Swimming is discouraged as river conditions, water levels and water quality are notoriously unpredictable and can become dangerous at very short notice.

Walking tracks

Explore the various tracks throughout Molonglo River Reserve, including:

Molonglo River Reserve (Coombs) Woodland Trail
Molonglo River Reserve (Coombs) Grassland Track
Barrer Circuit
Barrer Summit
Barrer Track
Namarag Walking Tracks
Butters Management Trail
Coppins Management Trail

Find out more about walking tracks in Molonglo River Reserve.

Namarag trailhead showing walking tracks throughout the park

Ngunnawal Country and People

The Molonglo River is significant to Ngunnawal people because of its use as a pathway for Ngunnawal people travelling into the mountains for trade and ceremonial purposes. The waterways on Ngunnawal Country have sustained all life including their people and the plants and animals.

The Molonglo is part of Ngunnawal songlines and pathways throughout Ngunnawal Country. Songlines are the memory code that gives Ngunnawal people information from the landscape to tell the stories of vital knowledges, cultural values and wisdom. The Molonglo River has a rich history of Ngunnawal occupation along its banks, with the river being a rich source of resources for food, fibre and tools.

As Traditional Custodians, the Ngunnawal people continue to feel a deep responsibility to preserve the spirit and stories of their ancestors throughout this landscape.

It is important to the Ngunnawal people that these stories, sites and objects are protected for their future generations and Ngunnawal people ask that visitors to Molonglo River Reserve respect these sites and objects as they are a rich and ancient part of the reserve’s story.

European heritage

European settlement began from about 1823. The grassy plains and access to good water made the area attractive for sheep grazing. Most early establishments were outside the current reserve boundaries, preferring the flatter grassy plains and the higher country.

Riverview Homestead was the home of Isaac and Emily Blundell (nee Shumack) and represents one of the best surviving examples of the small farm settlements in the Molonglo Valley.

A limestone quarry also dates back to early settlement history.

Pine plantations (part of Stromlo Forest) were established in the 1920s and the plantation tracks were used by walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders before the 2003 bushfires.

About the ecology

Pink-tailed Worm-lizard

About the ecology

Molonglo River Reserve is home to:

more than 200 species of native plants
at least 5 species of native fish and crayfish
at least 92 species of native birds

Some of these are nationally threatened species or form part of nationally threatened vegetation communities.

The reserve's Pink-tailed Worm-lizard habitat is among the best-quality remaining in Australia, and patches of Yellow Box–Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland are amongst the ACT's best representations of this endangered vegetation community. The threatened Superb Parrot is also known to visit the reserve's larger Yellow Box trees and it is hoped this area will become a stronghold for it. The reserve also has patches of Natural Temperate Grassland and is one of the few places in the ACT to support a breeding pair of Little Eagles.

Before you go

Prepare by:

understanding safety
checking alerts
tell someone where you are going and when you'll return

Respect this place by:

staying on the tracks to minimise your impact
taking your rubbish home with you (bins are not provided)
leaving what you find, including plants, animals, rocks and timber (dead and alive)
respecting our heritage - leave cultural sites undisturbed
collecting and responsibly disposing of your dog's droppings
cleaning your outdoor gear, including bicycles, to avoid spreading weeds and disease

Remember:

bring your own drinking water
check the recreational fishing rules
be bushfire alert - on total fire ban days some reserves may be closed

View over Molonglo River with Black Mountain in the background

In a life threatening emergency dial Triple Zero (000)

triple zero 000

5124 0000

6201 6111

1800 629 354

6205 1065

13 11 26

5124 9977

(02) 6205 1700

1800 022 222

13 25 00

Molonglo River Reserve

Visit a recreation area

Molonglo River Reserve walking tracks

Namarag

Things to do

Walking tracks

Ngunnawal Country and People

European heritage

About the ecology

Before you go

More information