Glenhaven is located 32 kilometers north west of the Sydney central business district; it is in the local government area of the Hills Shire and is part of the Hills District region.
The Glenhaven area was once called Sandhurst, which remains the name of Glenhaven’s highest and most prominent street. At one time there was confusion with the mail delivery as there was a Sandhurst in Melbourne as well.In 1894 a public meeting was held to have the name changed, people wanted it to reflect more of their valley location. As the upper area of the valley had been known as the Glen and the lower portion had been known as the haven the choice to join the two was made and the area became known as Glenhaven. Glenhaven is home to two public schools the Glenhaven Public School founded in 1889 and the Lorien Novalis School for Rudolf Steiner Education.