Engadine

The township of Engadine in Sutherland Shire is on the Old Princes Highway (formerly Princes Highway) and the Illawarra railway line. It borders the Royal National Park on the eastern side and is sited along a ridge with a steep decline to the Woronora River to the west. It is very rocky with underlying layers of Hawkesbury sandstone and shallow topsoil.The earliest inhabitants of Engadine were the Dharawal people.In 1844, a road from Sydney to the Illawarra district was opened, which established access to an area near the Woronora River in the parish of Heathcote. However, the road was not well used as it was difficult to traverse, and cargo was generally transported by ship down the coast.1 By 1865, a new route was established from Sylvania.