Red River Gum Walk
The Red River Gum Walk starts just off Burton St in Macquarie Park. It follows the riverbank around to a 500-year-old river gum adjacent the Warren Hole, a natural and permanent waterhole once used for swimming and fishing. Just downstream is the site of the first European river crossing, where stock and wagons crossed on a gravel bar when the water was sufficiently low. It was used until the first bridge was built in 1875.
The first European dwelling on the future townsite was a small hut, built about 1845 where the Bowling Clubhouse now stands. A small police station was built nearby at this time to protect the new settlers from Aborigines but, there being no disturbance, they soon moved on. The Matthew Collins Walk traverses Oxley Park on the other side of the river.