Ku-ring-gai Chase

Declared in 1894, it is the fourth oldest national park in the world after Yellowstone, Royal National Park and Mackinac, and its closeness to Sydney — barely 24 km from the city centre — makes it one of the few great protected natural areas practically inside a world metropolis. It preserves one of the largest bodies of rock engravings and paintings of the Guringai Aboriginal people anywhere so close to a big city, with motifs depicting kangaroos, fish and human figures of possible ceremonial significance.