The best family-friendly hikes and walks in Blue Gum Hills Regional Park

Warners Bay Foreshore follows the edge of Lake Macquarie with wide shared paths, parks, cafés, and long stretches of open water views along the lakeside. The flat waterfront route is popular for walking and cycling, especially around sunset when the light reflects across the lake and sailing boats move through the bay. Picnic areas, playgrounds, public art, and plenty of benches line the foreshore, making it an easy place to slow down between longer walking sections.

Sky Pig is one of the most recognisable sculptures along the Warner's Bay Foreshore, perched beside the lake with open water views behind it. Created by artist Guan Wei as part of the Creative Lake Sculpture Trail, the bronze flying pig was designed to bring a sense of fun and good luck to the waterfront walk. It’s an easy landmark to spot along the shared foreshore path and has become one of the most photographed artworks around Lake Macquarie.

Located on the eastern shore of Lake Macquarie, Eleebana Lions Park is a lakeside reserve connecting into the waterfront shared path toward Warners Bay and Speers Point. The park includes picnic shelters, barbecues, toilets, and direct lake access, with Red Bluff Boardwalk beginning nearby.

Lake Macquarie is the largest coastal saltwater lake in Australia, forming a broad, open water body surrounded by suburbs, parkland, and small inlets. From the shoreline, views stretch across long distances of water, often with boats, jetties, and changing light reflecting off the surface. It makes for a beautiful, breezy walk.

This section of the Great North Walk follows the foreshore of Lake Macquarie through Speers Point, combining lakeside shared paths with more urban parkland surroundings. Compared to the bushier sections further south on the track, this stretch feels much more open, with regular access to cafés, playgrounds, picnic areas, and waterfront reserves. The route links through Speers Point Park and continues along the lake edge toward Warners Bay and Newcastle.

Northern Lookout is a small viewpoint perched high on a rocky ridge, offering expansive views over forested hills and rural landscapes of the lower Hunter region. Surrounded by native bushland, it offers a quieter vantage point than the more developed summit lookout.

This is a relatively easy bushwalking track that loops through the forested slopes of Sugarloaf State Conservation Area. The route passes through beautiful eucalyptus woodland and sections of regenerating bushland typical of the lower Hunter region. Along the way, there are occasional clearings where you can catch some lovely views across the surrounding hills and valleys.

Mount Sugarloaf Lookout sits on the summit of Mount Sugarloaf, which is the highest point in the Sugarloaf Range. From the viewing area, the sweeping panoramas extend across Lake Macquarie, the Hunter Valley, and the coastline toward Newcastle. Its elevated position and easy access make it one of the most popular viewpoints in the area.