The Walk: Starts on quiet, even disused, roads. Continues on an excellent off-road walkway/cycleway.
Distance: 3.0 km
Time: 50 minutes
Car parking: at Andrew Campbell Reserve on William Lawson Drive which is in the Prospect Reservoir grounds off Reservoir Road, Prospect. (See opening times.)
Getting there: Hillsbus 700 to Prospect Highway-Blacktown Road; walk along Prospect Highway across Gt Western Highway and M4. At next roundabout turn right into Reservoir Road and then 2nd left into Prospect Reservoir precinct; walk start is a short way along the avenue of hoop pines. By car access thurn into the newly named (2012) William Lawson Drive at the gate on Reservoir Road.

Start by walking south along William Lawson Drive towards Prospect Reservoir. As mentioned in the previous Section, this fine avenue of hoop pines, Araucaria cunninghamii, was planted in connection with the construction of Prospect Reservoir in the 1880s.

On the right you come in a few moments to Prospect History Cottage. This is the home of the Prospect Heritage Trust and contains a museum which is open on the second and fourth Sunday of each month, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Prospect HT).

A short way after the History Cottage there is a mini-roundabout with a lane leading off to the left. Note that the avenue of hoop pines turns to follow this lane to the site of Veteran Hall, the home of William Lawson. This is also the start of one of the routes up Water Tower Hill

However the Circular Walk continues straight ahead along William Lawson Drive. On the left across the paddock you can see an old post-and-rail fence which was part of the paddock of Veteran Hall. You may just make out (under a tree) the brick cairn marking the site. Prospect Reservoir now comes into view on the right. This was the main source of drinking water for Sydney from its opening in 1886 until it was supplemented by the Warragamba Dam scheme. It is still part of the water supply system. The road passes the Water Treatment works behind which is the steep slope that is one of the ascent routes of Water Tower Hill. Note on the left various displays and information boards, including examples of the types of pipe that were used to pipe water from the reservoir to the Pipe Head at Guildford from 1927 onwards, when the Lower Canal could no longer cope with the flow rate required.

A few more steps down the road and you are now as close to Prospect Reservoir as you will get on this Circular Walk with a good view along the dam wall. Many hundreds of workers were employed on the building of the dam wall and the old village of Prospect prospered during the building period. The Reservoir has been largely supplanted by the huge Warragamba Dam opened in 1960 although it is used as a reserve supply (SCA and Heritage, Prospect Reservoir).

Take the second left turn off William Lawson Drive (signposted Conference Centre) and walk past a building on your right. After a short distance you will come to the long-disused Reservoir Quarry. This was the site of "the first major exploitation of the Basalt of Prospect Hill... [In] the 1880s... blue metal slabs were quarried to surface the waterside of Prospect Reservoir’s earth wall... The operation was undertaken by Sperring and partner, using primitive methods - the rocks were drilled, shot out and broken down by hand, just as convicts had done fifty years earlier. This area of quarrying was owned by the Water Board and was named Reservoir Quarry." (Holroyd 2005).

Return to William Lawson Drive. A short way further along you will see on your left the historic valve house and alongside it the start of the old Sydney Water Supply Canal. The valve house contains the valves and other gear which controlled the flow of water from the reservoir to the canal. The canal became redundant in May 1995 when Sydney Water commissioned an underground pipeline. In 2003 the full 7.7 km length of the canal from here to Guildford became the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve with a cycleway/walkway along its full length. It's worth spending a few minutes examining this part of the canal and the valve house (Heritage, Prospect Reservoir Valve House).

A road leads a few metres along the right-hand side of the canal. The old Reservoir Quarry is visible ahead of you before you turn right into the Reserve on to the grass of Walder Park. Seats in a sort of garden area may encourage you to take a break here. The route continues left across the grass to find the well-signposted start of the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve walkway/cycleway on the eastern side of Walder Park. The track is now well fenced in.

The Reserve is described as, "a unique bushland corridor in the heart of Sydney." (CRAG 2). As you continue along the walkway, you will see an area of bushland on the slope on your left which leads up to the summit I have called Reservoir Hill. This slope is now within the quarry boundary and the lack of public access has served to preserve the native bushland, although there are some large areas where quarry spoil has been dumped. In a few minutes you come to the crossing of Reconciliation Drive.

The walkway/cycleway has so far followed the bed of the former Lower Prospect Canal. In a short distance is drops down a slope and twists and turns to cross Reconciliation Road.

There is some danger, especially for children, in coming down the steep hill from the safety and freedom of the walkway/cycleway and meeting the dual carriageway of Reconciliation Road with traffic lights the only protection. I have seen some truck drivers leaving the Boral Recycling Plant and, ignoring the red arrow, driving across the pedestrian crossing while the lights show green for pedestrians and cyclists to cross.

After crossing the road at this point there is the option of leaving the Circular Walk by turning right towards Wetherill Park or left along the Reconciliation Road walkway (Link Walk) to join the Short Cut to return to Andrew Campbell Reserve.

Continuation

Our route is now uphill for a short distance to return to the level of the old canal. After the top of the rise it leaves the old canal bed and continues alongside it. In fact the canal now enters a tunnel, the "Covered Way" (ibid.), through the shallow spur that descends from Prospect Hill's South Top on your left.

Just as the canal emerges from the Covered Way, look for a side track that comes from Hyland Road on the right. If you are just doing this section of the Circular Walk, turn right down this link walkway to Hyland Road. Otherwise continue to the next Section of the Circular Walk