Scheyville

Scheyville National Park is a grassland and woodland park on the Cumberland Plain west of Sydney, located near Windsor in the Hawkesbury district. Covering approximately 990 hectares, the park protects significant remnants of the critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland and associated grassland communities on the fertile clay soils of the Cumberland Plain. The park is among the finest remaining examples of the native woodland that once covered the Cumberland Plain, which has been almost entirely cleared for urban and agricultural development. The park is critically important for the conservation of the Cumberland Plain Woodland community.

Scheyville National Park supports diverse woodland wildlife typical of the Cumberland Plain. The critically endangered swift parrot winters in the woodland. The koala has been recorded. Regent honeyeaters may visit during flowering events. Eastern grey kangaroos and common wallaroos are common. Gang-gang cockatoos and gang-gang cockatoos inhabit the woodland. Diverse woodland birds including diamond firetails, red-capped robins, and varied sittellas are present. The grassland community supports diverse invertebrates.

Cumberland Plain Woodland, critically endangered at the national level, is the primary vegetation community, dominated by grey box, forest red gum, and rough-barked apple on the clay loam soils. Shale-gravel transition forest occupies the transitional zones. Native grassland with kangaroo grass and wallaby grass is present in open areas. The park preserves one of the most intact examples of this critically endangered community remaining on the Cumberland Plain.

Scheyville is situated on the Cumberland Plain, underlain by Triassic Wianamatta Group shales and claystones that have weathered to produce the fertile clay soils characteristic of the plain. The soils are highly productive, which led to the extensive clearing for agriculture.

Warm temperate climate of the greater Sydney basin. Annual rainfall approximately 700 to 800 millimetres. Summers hot, winters cool with occasional frosts.

The Darug people are the traditional custodians of the Cumberland Plain. The fertile woodland country provided abundant food resources. The area was an early European agricultural settlement from the 1790s, and the site operated as an agricultural training farm for much of the 20th century.

Scheyville National Park was established on the former Scheyville Training Farm, protecting the remnant Cumberland Plain Woodland from residential development.

Walking tracks through the Cumberland Plain Woodland provide birdwatching opportunities. Heritage buildings from the training farm era provide historical interest. The park is an important site for viewing swift parrots in winter.

Basic visitor facilities with car park and walking tracks. Access from Windsor Road. Windsor provides visitor services. Approximately 55 kilometres north-west of Sydney. A national parks pass applies.

Protecting the critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland from weed invasion — particularly Paspalum, kikuyu, and exotic shrubs — is the primary management challenge. Managing grazing pressure and maintaining the grassland understorey requires active intervention.