{{Short description|Protected area in New South Wales, Australia}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}} {{Infobox protected area | name = Bents Basin State Conservation Area | image = File:Bentsbasinswimming.jpg | image_caption = The basin, which is also a swimming area. | image_alt = | iucn_category = II | iucn_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.protectedplanet.net/354239|title=Bents Basin|website=Protected Planet|access-date=2018-12-30}}</ref> | coordinates = {{coord|33|55|55.2|S|150|38|6|E|display=inline}} | map = New South Wales | map_alt = | map_width = 200px | relief = 1 | label = Bents Basin State Conservation Area | label_position = | location = New South Wales | established = {{start date|df=y|1980|11|21}} | area_ha = | area_km2 = 0.62 | area_ref = <ref name=oeh>{{cite web|title=Bents Basin State Conservation Area|url=http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/bents-basin-state-conservation-area|work=NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service|publisher=Government of New South Wales|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref> | visitation_num = | visitation_year = 200,000 | visitation_ref = | website = http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkHome.aspx?id=N0441 | nearest_city = {{NSWcity|Silverdale}} <br> {{NSWcity|Wallacia}} | nearest_town = | governing_body = NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service }} '''Bents Basin''' is a protected nature reserve and state park near Wallacia, New South Wales, Australia in the Sydney metropolitan area. The lake basin, which formed at the efflux of the Nepean River from the Hawkesbury Sandstone (Sydney sandstone) gorge, is a popular swimming hole with a camping area and an education centre used by local school groups. Also featuring a large woodland area and native wildlife, the reserve is the only picnic area along the Nepean River and it is one of the most popular water-based picnic parks in Greater Western Sydney.<ref>Craven, P.J. (1983). Fauna survey of Bents Basin State Recreation Area. N S. W. Bents Basin State Recreation Area Trust.</ref>
==History== Aboriginal Australians were denizens of the area due to its vicinity to the Nepean River, which featured food and water. The Basin is believed to have been a traditional meeting and trading place between Aboriginal groups. Having spiritual and cultural significance to Aboriginal communities, camps were used to provide an opportunity for Aboriginal people to connect with each other and their culture.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mananura.com/aboriginal-history-dharugtx.html | title=The Dharug Story | author=Christopher Tobin | publisher=Mananura Aboriginal Centre | access-date=18 May 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929223218/http://www.mananura.com/aboriginal-history-dharugtx.html | archive-date=29 September 2007 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref>
Bents Basin was discovered in 1804 by the botanist George Caley, who named it 'Dovedale', where it has since then been a popular place for botanists. The site was originally a small natural basin formed in an erosion basin banked by sandstone outcrops, considerably enlarged with a large earth fill dam constructed by the Army's 17th Construction Squadron in 1987–88.
A prominent inn was located within the park and is listed on the ''NSW State Heritage Inventory''. The inn was built in the 1860s and the site is of local importance, as it gives details of western Sydney's history, early road networks and the rise and fall of rural communities in the region. Destroyed in the 1950s, the inn's location is marked by a pepper tree (Schinus areira). The Basin was reserved as State Recreation Area in 1994.<ref>Buchanan, R.A. ( 1979). Edge disturbance in natural areas. Australian Parks and Recreation. August, pp 39–43.</ref>
==Geography== The Basin features a floodplain and is on a plateau. The basin is a circular lagoon-like pool that is {{convert|120|m|ft|0|abbr=off}} across and over {{convert|22|m|ft|0|abbr=off}} at its deepest, travelling about {{convert|150|km}} northeast (through Hawkesbury River) before reaching the ocean in Central Coast. Bents Basin is around 36 km south of Penrith and 56 km south-west of Sydney central business district. To the east of the basin is a cleared undulating paddock on the clay soils from the Wianamatta Shale of the Cumberland Plain.
The Basin adjoins ''Gulguer Nature Reserve'' to the south. Two small creeks exist in the area. Large parts of the reserve are prone to flood. During flood events the basin is either fully closed or partially closed to all water-based activity because of hazardous conditions.<ref>Bannerman SA and Hazelton PA (1990) ''Soil Landscapes of the Penrith 1:100 000 Sheet Soil Conservation Service of NSW'', Sydney and the accompanying map by Hazelton PA, Bannerman SM and Tille PJ (1989)</ref>
==Wildlife== Animals species within the area include the Common bent-wing bat, sooty owl, Common wombat, East-coast free-tailed bat, powerful owl, large-eared pied bat and the glossy black cockatoo. The basin harbours 25 plant communities and around 360 plant species. Hibbertia hermanniifolia and Eucalyptus benthamii are both rare tree species present in the park.<ref>Benson, D.H. (1985). Aspects of the ecology of a rare tree species, Eucalypllls benthamii, at Bents Basin, Wallacia. Cunninghamia I, 371–383.</ref>
Other plant species include, Angophora subvelutina, Eucalyptus pilularis, Eucalyptus eugenioides, Acacia parramattensis, Backhousia myrtifolia, Pratia purpurascens. Asplenium flabellifolium, Adiantum aethiopicum, Oplismenus imbecillis, Cynodon dactylon, Tristaniopsis laurina, Casuarina cunninghamiana, Microlaena stipoides, Syncarpia glomulifera, Glochidion ferdinandi and Ceratopetalum apetalum.<ref>Robinson L (1991) ''Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney'' Kangaroo Press, Sydney</ref>
==Features== The park is popular for swimming, kayaking, bushwalking, camping (with 100 tent sites), barbecuing, picnicking and fishing. The park also features walking trails within a bushland and an education centre with a commercial kitchen. ''Caley's Lookout Track'', a walking track within the bushland, leads to ''Little Mountain'', a scenic lookout area that is {{convert|160|m|ft|0|abbr=off}} in elevation. Designated facilities can be hired for personal use. Two roads access the park (Bents Basin Road in northwest and Bents Loop Road in the park's east), though only the eastern approach permits access to the camping grounds and education centre. A fee is charged for vehicle access per day.
==Drownings== The basin is renowned for its dangerous and powerful undercurrents, which have been known to suck swimmers down to the bottom of the 20 metre lagoon, resulting in a number of serious and fatal drownings in recent years.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Police find drowning victims' bodies - YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y7yPo8M_6M |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/7y7yPo8M_6M |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|access-date=2020-11-08|website=www.youtube.com| date=13 November 2010 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>
'''12/11/2010 -''' Two men aged 20 and 27 drown while swimming in the Basin.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-11-12|title=Two men drown in swimming hole|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/fears-for-napean-swimmers/news-story/853a7df5b08e3b85fd79592375d13a9e|access-date=2020-11-08|website=www.dailytelegraph.com.au|language=en}}</ref>
'''26/12/2016 -''' A 25 year old man drowns while swimming with friends in the Basin.<ref>{{Cite news|agency=Australian Associated Press|date=2016-12-27|title=Police warn swimmers after five drowning deaths|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/27/police-warn-swimmers-after-five-drowning-deaths|access-date=2020-11-08|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
'''27/01/2019 -''' Four men aged in their 20s get into trouble while swimming in the Basin, three of the men are rescued with the fourth drowning.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dailytelegraph.com.au {{!}} Subscribe to The Daily Telegraph for exclusive stories|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fnews%2Fnsw%2Fmassive-search-underway-for-man-who-disappeared-underwater-at-bents-basin%2Fnews-story%2F09b31d9ae7dd342532072e4193603969&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&nk=48c8eb5e5f53c35dfd3104b0eb3be9f2-1604809732|access-date=2020-11-08|website=www.dailytelegraph.com.au}}</ref>
'''2/02/2025 -''' A 5 year old boy drowned while swimming in the Basin. He was given CPR and revived by members of the public, before being taken to hospital by air-ambulance in critical condition. He died there shortly thereafter.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Miriah |title=Boy, 5, dies after being pulled unconscious from popular Sydney swimming hole |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/bents-basin-sydney-boy-five-drowns/f391a0d2-df7e-476c-8907-f36031fe6a66 |website=9News |date=2 February 2025 |access-date=2 February 2025}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Bentsbasinsign.jpg|Entrance sign File:Bentsbasin.jpg|The rocky rapids of Nepean River flowing into the Basin (south side) File:Bentsbasinnepean.jpg|Nepean River streaming out of the Basin, going northwards (east side) File:Bentsboardwalk.jpg|The boardwalk with basin in background File:Bentsbasinrocks.jpg|View from Nepean River's rocky bed, which produces northerly currents (south side) File:Bentsbasinpool.jpg|The swimming hole after a flood File:Bentsbasinbush.jpg|Looking from Nepean River boardwalk (east side) </gallery>
==See also== *Lake Parramatta *Chipping Norton Lake
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130722063311/http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/bents-basin-state-conservation-area Page at Department of Environment & Conservation (NSW)] *[http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/fmsBents_Gulguer.pdf Bents Basin State Conservation Area, Gulguer Nature Reserve: fire management strategy]
{{Sydney landmarks}} {{Nature reserves of New South Wales |state=autocollapse}} {{Beaches of New South Wales}} {{Parks in Sydney|state=autocollapse}}
{{coord|-33.932|150.635|format=dms|dim:500_region:AU-NSW_type:landmark|display=title}}
Category:Nature reserves in New South Wales Category:Sydney localities Category:Parks in New South Wales Category:Parks in Sydney Category:Beaches of New South Wales Category:Forests of New South Wales Category:Protected areas established in 1980 Category:Dams completed in 1980 Category:1980 establishments in Australia Category:Lakes of New South Wales Category:Geography of Sydney