Fast facts
- Historic Darling River port town
- Rich architectural heritage centred around the late 19th-century river trade
- 965 km north-west of Sydney, population 700
Why go there
The Darling River, which cuts through the town, softens the surrounding semi-arid landscape. The remnants of a prosperous riverboat trade are evident from many heritage buildings quarried from local sandstone.
The Paroo–Darling National Park, 60 km outside Wilcannia, supports an amazing wetland ecosystem. Some 55 species of birds have been recorded, along with many threatened fauna species. The area around Peery Lake is vitally important to the indigenous Paakantji people and holds the most extensive bone midden deposits in the state.
History
Major Thomas Mitchell passed through the area in 1835 and the first European pastoralists arrived in the 1850s. By the 1880s, Wilcannia was the third-largest inland port in Australia with a population exceeding 3,000 people.
At its height, when most of the wool produced in the north-west of New South Wales passed through the town, it was known as the Queen City of the West.
Things to do
- Explore the river and the self-guided heritage trail.
- Stop for a chat with the friendly local indigenous people.
- Relax in the shade of the river gums.
Don’t miss
- The 1883 Athenaeum Library, now the Pioneer Museum.
- The Wilcannia Cemetery, resting place of the town’s pioneers.
- The historic National Trust-listed centre-lift bridge over the Darling, built in 1896.
- The Paroo–Darling National Park, 60 km from Wilcannia.
- Travel north or south as part of the Darling River Run which extends between Brewarrina and Wentworth.
