The only metropolitan state forest in Australia, Cumberland State Forest is a pocket of cool, tall bush dropped into West Pennant Hills suburbia. This 40-hectare walking-trail haven packs short signed loops, picnic lawns, a cafe and a big plant nursery into one easy morning out, just 30 minutes from the Sydney CBD. It is the gentle bushwalk option for families: flat-ish tracks, real birdsong and a coffee waiting at the end.

Why We Love It

• Short, well-marked loops the signed tracks total around 2.8km, so under-5s get a real forest walk without the epic distances.

• Properly bush, surprisingly close towering eucalypts and shady rainforest gully patches make it feel deep in the country, yet it is free and half an hour from the city.

• Pick your own distance grab the track map at the visitor centre and choose a 20-minute stroll or link loops for a longer wander, matched to little legs.

• Pair a free walk with a paid adventure TreeTops Adventure high ropes sits in the same forest, so one trip can cover a free ramble and a booked climb.

• A working nursery to nose around the onsite plant nursery turns the visit into a low-key plants-and-birds outing the whole family can poke through.