Surrounded on three sides by Lane Cove River and Parramatta River, Woolwich is a lovely little part of Sydney to visit and is only a stone’s throw from Ryde. With a number of cafes, restaurants and bars to enjoy as well as some picturesque walks and community facilities, it’s a great place to spend an afternoon.

Here’s a very cool walk that you can do with either the kids or your gas pals (pre brunch perhaps?). It’s easy, interesting and beautiful.

Start at Woolwich Baths on Woolwich Road. Why not walk down and have a sticky beak – the stairs are a great heart starter!

Then head down towards the Woolwich Pier Hotel – opposite the hotel, across the road (Gale Street) you’ll find the Steel Gate entrance to the Goats Paddock. It leads down to the heritage-listed sandstone dock that you can walk right around. At 188 metres long and 27 metres wide, when it opened in 1901 it was the largest in Australia. It’s now a boat repair yard, repairing such notable boats as Wild Oats!

If you return the way you came, it’s a nice easy 20-30 minute walk that kids 2+ will find pretty fascinating – but please note, it’s not pram friendly.

This is but one part of a number of beautiful walks in the area such as the Kelly’s Bush and Clarkes Point walks, some parts of which connect to the Goats Paddock if you were after a longer walk. Here’s more info on the other walks.

This is a fantastic walk that is definitely worth doing, with the added bonus of lots of lovely cafes to enjoy before or after. Here’s an Instagram Reel we made during our walk.