Furphy: National parks exclude people from forests.

Fact: Protected forests are managed to balance conservation values and recreation.

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) manages around 900 protected areas for the conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.¹ NPWS aims to “balance recreational opportunities with the protection of park values and deliver economic benefits to regional communities”.²

The categories of protected areas in NSW include national parks, state conservation areas, regional parks, nature reserves and Aboriginal areas.³

The national parks of NSW hold great appeal to the community, with visitation increasing. There were more than 53 million domestic visits in 2022, of which 88 per cent were from NSW and the ACT.⁴ The most popular activity is walking, with water-based recreation, touring and picnicking also popular.⁵ NPWS provides many opportunities for recreational cycling, including mountain biking, in national parks and reserves. This includes cycling on all park roads, on most management trails, and on tracks specifically approved in an individual park’s plan of management and signposted as such.⁶ Visitors can ride horses in more than 100 national parks,⁷ including many that are traversed by the National Trail (a 5,330-kilometre horse trekking and multi-use route along the eastern seaboard).⁸

A wider range of recreational activities is typically allowed in regional parks, including dog walking in some cases.⁹ For example, dog walking, mountain biking and horse riding are all permitted in Yellomundee Regional Park near the Blue Mountains.¹⁰ Visitors may bring trained assistance animals into national parks and reserves.¹¹

The public can use vehicles, including 4WDs and registered trail bikes, on all public access roads in national parks, some of which are suitable only for 4WDs.¹² Driving and motorcycling off-road damages vegetation and causes erosion and is not allowed.

NPWS holds a memorandum of understanding with 4WD NSW & ACT Inc. to increase opportunities for members to participate in education, training, land management, maintenance, restoration and rehabilitation volunteer activities.¹³

NPWS has an “Accessible Parks Policy”, to “strategically apply available resources to improve accessibility across the NSW parks system and target the needs of people facing barriers to access”, including people with disability.¹⁴ The NPWS annual works program is upgrading tracks, lookouts, picnic areas and other facilities so that everyone can enjoy nature-based experiences, whatever their age or ability.¹⁵

References

¹NPWS 2025d, ²NSW E&H 2025, ³NPW Act 1974 No 80, ⁴NSW E&H 2023, ⁵Ibid., ⁶NSW E&H 2024b, ⁷NSW E&H 2022, ⁸National Trail 2025, ⁹NPWS 2025c, ¹⁰NPWS 2025e, ¹¹NPWS 2025a, ¹²NSW E&H 2024c, ¹³4WD NSW & ACT Inc. 2025, ¹⁴NSW E&H 2024a, ¹⁵NPWS 2025b.

Further reading

NPWS (2025). Conservation and heritage. Webpage. Available at: https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/conservation-and-heritage

NSW E&H (NSW Government Environment and Heritage) (2024). Park policies. Webpage. Available at: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-policies