The Lane Cove River rises near Thornleigh and flows generally south for about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi).

The lower reaches of the Lane Cove River, downstream from the weir near Fullers Bridge, are tidal and merge into Sydney Harbour at Greenwich and Woolwich.

[4] On the east side of Thornleigh Oval, the trail makes use of Lorna Pass, a track built during the Depression of the 1930s to provide relief work.

From 1913 to the early 1970s, the Swan family operated a picnic area called Fairyland, which was located on the banks of the river, upstream from Epping Road.

Facilities were developed to the point where Fairyland had its own footbridge, BBQ fireplaces, boat swing, razzle dazzle ride, shelter, dance hall and wharf.

Smith created a picnic area in a section of his property he called Curzon Park, which bordered the Lane Cove River and consisted of eighty acres of bushland.

[6] The picnic area has long since returned to nature, but a set of stone steps can still be seen at the top of the escarpment above the river.

[7] Smith also had a quarry in the area, near the present location of Talavera Road, from which he obtained the stone to build his mansion, Curzon Hall.

The cause of their deaths has never been established; but there is a strong theory that the two deaths may have been caused by accidental hydrogen sulphide poisoning, due to the build-up of the poisonous gas beneath the river bed that formed both naturally and by pollutants from nearby factories along the river.