Biking Narrabeen Lagoon – A perfect summer ride!

Looking for a flat, family-friendly ride in the Northern beaches? Check out the recently completed path around Narrabeen Lagoon. 

JZ and I consciously seek out new parks and paths for CZ to practice with her balance bike. Our newsletter subscribers know that weekly balance bike rides are one of our spring goals (get on the newsletter here). Our secondary goal is to make her rides as fun, and interesting for her as they are for us. However, we easily fall into the trap of returning to a few nearby places over and over again.

Recently, we broke out of the rut, to check out Narrabeen lagoon and have a picnic lunch with some friends. The 8.4km trail circles the lagoon with several picnic areas and parks to stop off for lunch, water refills, and bathroom breaks.

Biking on the North Shore

Now that we have friends in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, we always have an excuse to ride the Manly ferry (or bus) and cross the Bridge. Sydneysiders know that crossing the Bridge is quite the to-do, and generally avoided by those who travel by car. However, to us, the ride is no different than going south to the beach. Additionally, when we travel by ferry, bringing the bikes is incredibly easy! We cycle to and from the harbour, and the ferries have bike/surf board racks to lock up during the ride.

After several rides, I still struggle with whether the Northern Beaches are more or less bike-friendly than the city. Most streets are quiet suburban lanes, and cars easily provide a wide berth when passing. On the opposite end of the spectrum, main roads often have shared paths on the sidewalks, which creates bumpy, jolting, and pedestrian filled rides – much less pleasant than a dedicated bike lane.

Oh, and also the hills. Almost any beach on this sandstone cliff coastline includes an extremely steep descent to the beach, with a few additional ones thrown in for good measure.

The insane hills on our ride to the Lagoon from Manly wharf caught me by surprise. While it is possible to ride to the lagoon from Manly, it is not for the faint hearted, riders of single speed beach cruisers, or heavily loaded cargo bikes for that matter. I consider ourselves fairly fit, but the rolling city hills are no preparation for Manly and Curl Curl hills! Once we regained our breath and lowered our heart rates, we enjoyed the remainder of the ride.

Biking Narrabeen Lagoon

Upon arriving at Narrabeen Lagoon, decide on your direction of travel. Either way, the path will include pavement, fine gravel, packed sand, and rooted forest floor (not recommended for a trailer due to tipping). We loved the wide, shaded paths, and feeling of being so far from civilization. Despite the spectacular summits we cycled on our way to and from the lagoon, the path around the water is graciously flat.

Certain areas of the track are highly populated by families and young riders. I appreciated how most people accepted the slower pace in exchange for not startling a new rider. As opposed to more destination or speed-oriented tracks (Centennial Park), we felt that biking Narrabeen lagoon would be a pleasant, low-key introduction to longer family rides.

Unfortunately, due to lunch and nap timing, CZ missed out on time to bike! She passed out quickly after lunch, so we all headed back home.

Biking Narrabeen Lagoon – Know Before you go

Bathrooms, picnic areas, and parking available at: Jamison Park, Middle Creek Reserve, Bilarong Reserve, and Berry Rerserve

Distance: 8.4km

Difficultly: Easy

Shaded: Yes

Download the Warringah Council Park map here