Royal National Park Visitor Centre

The Royal National Park Visitor Centre is a compact NPWS information centre and shop on the eastern bank of the Port Hacking River, in Audley. It is a useful first stop if you are choosing a walk, beach or other part of the park: staff can advise on tracks and activities, explain accessible options, and sell park passes. The centre also has maps covering walks, picnic areas and swimming spots.

Reception is limited once you leave Audley, so save any route information you need while you still have service. Ask where your chosen walk actually starts before you drive off; many park destinations begin elsewhere.

The centre sits within a flat, grassy riverside precinct shaded by trees. Picnic tables, barbecues and drinking water are nearby, so it is easy to turn a quick information stop into a picnic or a short river break. The adjacent Audley Dance Hall Café is a separate business, with coffee, breakfast and lunch, pastries and house-baked cakes; check its availability separately from the centre.

Triangle car park is a gravel lot beside the centre. Coming from Loftus, cross Audley Weir and turn right into the car park just beyond it; from Waterfall, turn left before the weir. A step-free concrete path links the parking area with the centre, café and pavilion. Flush toilets are beside the centre; the accessible toilet requires an MLAK key, and there is a parent-and-carer change facility.

Audley was surveyed in 1863 and developed from 1879 as a recreation village for day-trippers, holiday-makers and honeymooners. Its old accommodation house dates to 1891, the boatshed to 1893 and the Commonwealth Pavilion to 1901. The causeway and picnic lawns are still the heart of the precinct, though some of the original buildings, including Allambie Guesthouse, are gone.

The separate Audley Boatshed is nearby, where the Hacking River meets Kangaroo Creek. A roughly 4-kilometre return paddle heads upstream on the creek between sandstone cliffs, eucalypts and rainforest. It is a good next step if you want more than a planning stop: start with advice here, then spend your time on the water or among Audley's historic buildings and lawns.