The 6 best hidden gem road trips to take in NSW

Venture off the vacationer path and discover the lesser-known driving routes NSW have to provide. You’ll be rewarded for the journey.

When was the final time you skilled a correct road journey? For me, it was simply two brief months in the past and it couldn’t have occurred at a greater time. After being cooped up at residence for the best a part of final yr, it was liberating to lastly hit the open road in New South Wales, to go to locations outdated and new, to take that fallacious left flip, miss the doorway to the B&B (twice) and end up with an amazing story on the finish. And it solely ignited my want to deal with one other.

Rather than journey the identical roads as everybody else, I ventured off the vacationer path to discover a lesser-known driving route NSW had to provide, and I used to be rewarded for the journey. Keen to deal with an underrated gem of a road journey your self? Here are six of my favourites in regional NSW.

Darling River Run – Walgett to Wentworth

Distance: 940kms / 4 days

Highlights: Walgett, Bourke, Tilpa, Menindee, Pooncarie, Mungo National Park, Wentworth

Some journeys go away a long-lasting impression. Travelling the dusty Darling River Run, a protracted and winding path by means of the distant cities and parched landscapes of Western NSW, is one in all them. Soaking in thermal springs at Walgett, standing atop the fiery Perry Sandhills close to Wentworth, tales of bushrangers in Bourke and beers in the basic Tilpa Hotel – what’s not to love? Add in the possibility to stand in a location that helped rewrite our nation’s historical past – Mungo National Park – and you’ve got a road journey that’ll go away you speechless.

The Long Paddock – Echuca-Moama to Wilcannia

Distance: 640kms / 3 days

Highlights: Echuca-Moama, Deniliquin, Hay, Ivanhoe, Booligal, Wilcannia

Wildlife and wineries and shearers – oh my! The Cobb Highway from Moama to Wilcannia retraces the historic ‘Long Paddock’, a community of inventory routes used in occasions of drought. As you’ll be able to think about, there’s no scarcity of tales to be heard. You can even strive nice Murray River wines at Morrisons Winery in Moama, float down the Edward River on a houseboat at Deniliquin, go to Shear Outback to study in regards to the native wool trade, or mud off your binoculars with fowl watching at Booligal. While on the road, maintain a watch out for 11 distinctive sculptures that inform tales of the route’s vibrant previous.

Waterfall Way – Coffs Harbour to Armidale

Distance: 210kms / 1 day

Highlights: Bellingen, Dorrigo National Park, Cathedral Rock National Park, Armidale

The Waterfall Way is just magic. Weaving for 210kms by means of the blue hills between Coffs Harbour and Armidale, rainforest in your left, cascading waterfalls in your proper, it’s like one thing out of a fairytale. Though you possibly can knock it over in a day, it’s price stretching it out and taking in a couple of cities and lookouts alongside the best way. The lovely village of Bellingen; Dorrigo National Park, residence of multitude of mountaineering trails and waterfalls, not to point out a powerful Skywalk at Dorrigo Rainforest Centre; and the dramatic falls of Wollomombi Gorge are all important.

Fossickers Way – Barraba to Tamworth

Distance: 560kms / 4 days

Highlights: Barraba, Inverell, Tamworth, Glenn Innes, Armidale

There’s gold in them thar hills. Or, not less than, there used to be. Today the Fossickers Way is healthier recognized for the riches of its structure, mining heritage, and nationwide parks than pockets of gold. Explore sun-dappled nation roads the place passing drivers nonetheless wave to one another; see the 40m-high grain silo murals of Barraba; step again in time to the Gold Rush period in Nundle; and unleash your inside cowboy or lady in the nation music capital of Tamworth. As if that wasn’t sufficient, the foodie scenes of Armidale and the Scottish-influenced city of Glen Innes could have you wishing you’d left some room for seconds and thirds.

Kidman Way and Beyond – Albury to Bourke

Distance: 820kms / 5 days

Highlights: Albury, Griffith, Cobar Miners Heritage Park, Bourke

Taking in the pastoral heartland of central NSW, the Kidman Way is an ideal means to give again to the communities that carry this state on their again. From the Italian-infused meals and wine hub of Griffith, the place visits to Yarran Wines and De Bortoli are very important, to the historic mines of Cobar and quintessential outback city of Bourke on the Darling River, it is a likelihood to uncover what makes the actual NSW outback tick. As a worthwhile bonus, you’ll even be handled to vivid sunsets and spectacular evening skies. 

Stargazing and Storytelling – Bourke to Parkes

Distance: 870kms / 4 days

Highlights: Parkes, Dubbo, CSIRO Telescope, Lightning Ridge, Siding Spring Observatory

Speaking of evening skies, this path from Bourke to Parkes picks up the place the Kidman Way leaves off after which dials up the interstellar journey. It’s an opportunity to lose your self beneath the cover of a billion stars every evening. More than only a journey for astronomy buffs although, it’s one for individuals who love a very good yarn too. Parkes, residence of the CSIRO Radio Telescope (affectionately referred to as ‘The Dish’) which helped beam pictures of the Apollo 11 moon touchdown to the world; the opal mining city of Lightning Ridge; and the Warrumbungles National Park are simply the beginning.

For extra road journey inspiration, see visitnsw.com/things-to-do/drives-and-road-trips.

This article was written by Chris Ashton.