The park includes areas of land which are part of
Ku-ring-gai,
Ryde, and
Hornsby local government areas with small areas of the park in
Willoughby,
Lane Cove and
Hunter's Hill local government areas on the banks of the lower reaches of the river. The park is surrounded on all sides by developed suburban areas and except for the upper northwestern region is never more than a kilometre wide. Much of the park is of fairly rugged terrain on the slopes of the river valley and covered by dense bush. The characteristics of the bush vary depending upon soils and topography. Parts of the park are affected by weed infestations, such as
Fiddens Wharf and
Fairyland. The central section of the park, between
De Burghs Bridge on Ryde Road and
Fullers Bridge, was set aside as a park in the 1920s and developed with picnic areas interspersed in the bush along the banks of the river. The majority of these picnic areas are located between the Fuller's Road bridge and the road that leads towards the Tourist Park. North of this point the area becomes more rugged and there are no picnic areas until the Tunks Hill (previously known as Tunks Farm) area which is away from the river behind the garden nursery on
Lane Cove Road. A weir was constructed in the 1930s The Lane Cove National Park is popular with walkers, joggers and cyclists. The
Lane Cove River Tourist Park, operated by the
NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, is located within Lane Cove National Park. Friends Of Lane Cove National ParkV was formed after the 1994 bushfires and runs volunteer bushcare groups through the park areas. The group also sources grants for bushland regeneration works. The main walking track along the
Lane Cove River forms part of the
Great North Walk from Sydney CBD to
Newcastle. This track incorporates a number of old tracks that were, in many cases, old logging trails. == Flora ==