The majority of East Ryde is located on top of a ridge, formerly a council rubbish tip, a locality known as the Dress Circle Estate, which was developed by Hooker Rex and opened in 1960.

[3][4] The areas of East Ryde that are at the banks of the Lane Cove River overlook the mangrove wetlands and are characterised by large, modern homes (mainly along Pittwater Road).

Contact with the first white settlement's bridgehead into Australia quickly devastated much of the population through epidemics of smallpox and other diseases.

The most substantial undisturbed area is the Wallumatta Nature Reserve in North Ryde, which is owned and managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

This was an area set aside by Governor King in 1804 for breeding stock owned by the early settlers whose allotments were inadequate to sustain their sheep and cattle.

An early proposal to link the released land to other parts of Sydney involved a tramway to the Field of Mars.

In 1884 it was proposed that the tram would run through Balmain and Gladesville, crossing Strangers Creek where a bridge would be built.

In 1925 the finance committee of the New South Wales government approved the construction of a railway line between Eastwood and St Leonards.

Some of the greatest Australian stars of stage and screen are commemorated in the street names of East Ryde.

Personalities commemorated include opera singers June Bronhill, Ronald Dowd and Dame Nellie Melba (Melba Avenue was formerly an extension of Twin Road); actors Diane Cilento, Peter Finch, Cecil Kellaway, John McCallum, Michael Pate and Madge Elliott; comedians Kitty Bluett, Roy Rene and Gladys Moncrieff; songwriter, entertainer and radio broadcasting pioneer Jack Lumsdaine; author and playwright Steele Rudd; and Peggy Sager, prima ballerina.

In 1970 another 20 home sites were created when Finch Avenue was extended into rezoned crown land between Moncrieff Drive and Stranger's Creek.

[3] A group of residents, in July 2006 unsuccessfully campaigned to have the suburb name changed to increase the area's housing prices.

Suggestions included Bel Air, Melba, Dress Circle, Boronia Heights, Bennelong and Wallumatta.

The trail partly follows the Lane Cove River and passes through East Ryde between Buffalo Creek and Magdala Park.