West of the M7 Cycleway around Penrith is a continuous shared path network that is quite decent. Emu Plains, Glenmore Park and the Sydney Regatta centre gives you lots of easy riding (25km). Just out of Glenmore Park is the brand new Northern Rd cycleway. This runs 24km from near Kingswood Station to Bringelly. Past Bringelly, you can continue down the Northern Rd Cycleway to Oran Park and even Campbelltown. Heading from the Nepean River up Jamison Rd, there are two shared paths to connect to The Northern Road. Another decent shared path starts at Parker St Penrith and will take you all the way to St Marys on the Great Western Highway.
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Emu Plains and Sydney Regatta Centre
Just after 7am I arrived at Bondi Junction station and headed for Central Station. After I realised that Emu Plains was in the country trains area, I just made the train. Then I tried to get my bike on board and the inner doors were narrower than my handlebars. A guard pointed to pictures of cycles on some carriages and I found I could hang my bike in a narrow space. The old train then flew to Emu Plains in 45 minutes. At one stage a whole school of kids boarded the train and surrounded my bike making me anxious that it would still be there when they all got off at Penrith. It was. See the map of the trail here >> I got off at Emu Plains and I headed for the dreaded Victoria Bridge that crosses the Nepean. But as of the end of October, 2018, a new bridge is OPEN and its called Yandhai Nepean Crossing. Its a 200m suspension bridge that spans the Nepean. It will only take bikes, walkers and probably a lot of prams. After crossing the new bridge, you can ride to the Sydney International Regatta Centre, home of the Olympics Rowing and other paddling sports.
The trail north starts with a mad dash across the busy road and then you go down to a decent trail that heads north along the river. First picture stop is the Penrith Weir which is nice. Then the trail goes up and down a bit and crosses some metal bridges that I found slippery on a sunny day. Heed the warnings, go slow. I met a nice Canadian chap who was riding a huge Giant eBike and we rode together to the Regatta Centre. After a couple of kms on the river, you head through some factories and then down Old Castlereagh Rd to the entrance to the Regatta Centre that is inconveniently situated at the far end of the lakes. Then you can ride around the lakes which is a very pleasant 5km. Walkers go on a different track and the bike track is wide. It looks a good place to take your kids for a ride but they can skip the factory section from the river track. Got some great shots of the lakes, the lane ropes and a few great birds. It wasn’t busy at all and no cafes open on a sunny Tuesday in April. I returned to the main gates at the western end of the lake and headed up the road again.
Very few cars but they really need a pedestrian gate to the lakes at the eastern end. I was soon back on the river taking it easy and taking lots of shots of the almost completed suspension bridge. I passed under the Victoria bridge and got to some steps which I duly pushed my bike up. The trail on the eastern side then goes past some big houses on a very quiet road. There was lots of walkers around. A shared path starts up and you ride all the way to the Western Motorway bridge where you will find a Coffee Club that is huge near the bridge. The Western Motorway is separated path and I think you need to go on the far side if going west. The last bit of the path was the river on the west side. There is a really good concrete separated shared path that is really popular, everyone was on that. I darted down the hill and followed the part bitumen, part gravel path along the river side all the way to Emu Plains. I really enjoyed this on my MTB as it was in the shade and not busy. I suspect most people stuck to the top track as they were doing a 8km walk and would be slowed down by the gravel path. I returned to Emu Plains station, a really enjoyable 25km flat ride completed. Now for the train back.
Here is the low down. Most trains are going to be full at anytime of the day and Emu Plains is the last stop on the Blue Mountains line. So I recommend getting on the first train that you can fit your bike on and worry about the city leg from Blacktown. This may be slower but the express train has odd shaped carriages. I ran from one end of the express train to the other trying to find a place I could push my bike into the train. Guard was not amused. I stood all the way home in some odd area and listened to some girl singing tuneless Karaoke. Another alternative is finding your way to Penrith Station which has normal carriages.
Glenmore Park
On our last visit to this area, we stopped the car in Glenmore Park at Glenmore Loch. We didn’t see any Loch Ness monsters but I did see a small fish jump. We headed down to the Nepean River on some bike paths and Factory Rd. It added another 6km to our trip which made it a round 30km. There are quite a number of bike paths in the Glenmore Park area. We only used the one that went to the airconditioned shops. It was so hot. I would rather ride around the lake at the Regatta Centre but this area is fine for a bit of a suburb explore. Find the purple path here >>
The Northern Road
Starting between Kingswood and Glenmore is the Northern Rd cycleway. Its a really high quality concrete cycleway that runs unbroken all the way past Oran Park to Narellen. There isn’t a lot to say about this track apart from its easy to ride and there are only two places to stop at, Luddenham and Bringelly. There are also very few road crossings of note and they are well handled. When you ride it you are generally on the western side except for a section near Bringelly. So take water, try and avoid the hot sun, take a puncture repair kit though the track is smooth and maybe go on Sunday morning to see far less trucks and cars. See more photos
Connecting to the Northern Rd
The northern road exists for all the things that are going to happen with the Badgerys Creek (Western Sydney Aerotropolis) and all the new towns that are to be built in that area. Given that those places haven’t got an public transport, getting to the track is tricky. Here are some ideas Drive to Glenmore Park – Park on Glengarry Rd. Do an up and back to Bringelly. Extend that with a loop around Penrith and Glenmore Park and make sure you go an extra few km and see the Yandhai Nepean bridge. Train to Leppington Station – Easy 8 km ride up the shared paths to the Northern Road. Maybe riding to Luddenham shops and Oran Park would be a good way to do it. Train to Macarthur Station and train back from Penrith – (or the otherway round) and ride up past Narellen. This is around 55km and Penrith is lower than Maccarthur / Campbelltown. The Big Loop – you are going to ride the M7 cycleway – Bringelly Rd – Northern Rd – find your way back to the M7. This is in the 80km range and the connection past St Marys requires you to go to the Great Western Highway. I have mapped out a shared path trail starting in St Clairs to the M7 that you could connect to from Victoria Park, St Mary’s. Good luck with that.
Windsor and Richmond to the north
Further north of this and a not very pleasant long ride is the Windsor area and the Hills District. Once you leave Windsor you can ride back to the North West of Sydney and the M7 Cycleway.