Walk among erosion-hewn rocks reminiscent of Stonehenge, camp beneath the state's darkest skies and see distant galaxies with the naked eye, or witness a waterfall as tall as Sydney's tallest building. Landscapes you need to see to believe.
Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, Walcha
If you can imagine the soaring height of Sydney's tallest buildings, you can fathom the unbridled force of Wollomombi Falls as it drops 220m into the eponymous river that runs through the deep gorge below. The horsetail waterfall – named for its narrow spout that widens to a crashing flow so large its mist can create rainbows – is the tallest in NSW. As you stand at the lookouts and survey the craggy cliffs and valleys that make up Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, the magnitude of the falls hits home. The best viewpoints are the broad, wheelchair-accessible platform at Main Lookout and the birdseye view at Wollomombi Lookout, a 1.6km hike on Wollomombi Track.
Where to stay: Armidale is 30 minutes from the national park. Book a room at the 1830s-era farm, Saumarez Homestead, and use it as base as you explore local galleries and museums: New England Regional Art Museum with its Australian art collection, Armidale Art Gallery which spotlights local artists or the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place.
Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, Walcha
Warrumbungle National Park, Coonabarabran
On a clear winter night in Warrumbungle National Park, you can see the lustre of distant galaxies with the naked eye. Located six hours northwest of Sydney, the high-altitude, light-pollution-protected reserve is Australia's only Dark Sky Park, which means there's no place like it in the country for camping under a sky brimming with stars. Equally incredible are daytime views that look over a landscape that's evolved from millions of years of volcanic activity. Take the Grand High Tops walk to see iron-reddened, jagged outcrops like the Breadknife rock formation that stretches 90m above the valley floor.
Where to stay: Self-sufficient campers can consider various sites in the park. For a basic roof over your head (and panoramic views) with bunks and wood stoves (BYO mattress and firewood), Balor Hut is midway along the Breadknife and Grand High Tops walk.
Snowies Alpine Walk, Kosciuszko National Park
Snow gum forests, meadows strewn with wildflowers and views of snowcapped mountains define the landscape along the four-day Snowies Alpine Walk. This warm-season-only trek through Kosciuszko National Park covers 56km of mountain terrain and connects the alpine villages of Guthega, Perisher Valley and Charlotte Pass. Experienced trekkers will enjoy a self-guided journey complete with accommodation in the park, or you can opt for a guided tour with eco-certified K7 Adventures, Women Embrace Adventure or Australian Walking Holidays.
Where to stay: Book one of the beautiful retreats at Tinkersfield (each with its own wood stove), the quintessential mountains accommodation at Mill Cabin, or lovely Tiny Elsie home by Into the Wild Escapes.
Snowies Alpine Walk, Snowy Mountains
Wollemi National Park, Blue Mountains
In the solitary wilderness of Wollemi National Park, you can spend days without meeting another soul, which makes it hard to believe this World Heritage-listed park is just on the edge of Sydney. The rugged landscape is defined by towering cliffs, dense bushland and canyons cut through with rivers. . Here, it’s about simple pleasures – like climbing to Pagoda Lookout near Rylstone to see the ancient, conical sandstone formations burnished in pink and gold by the setting sun.
Where to stay: There are travellers who will appreciate the 10km hike to the sublime Newnes Campground located on a grassy expanse at the base of sandstone cliffs. And there are those who will drive to Blackheath to take advantage of the Kyah Hotel's revamped rooms, outdoor spa tub and on-site restaurant, Blaq. If comfort and seclusion are more your style, there's also Yutori, an off-grid farm stay in Capertee Valley with two cabins, a sauna and cold-plunge.
Ganguddy-Dunns Swamp, Wollemi National Park
Mungo National Park, Outback NSW
It’s one of the harshest, driest landscapes in NSW, but Mungo National Park (10 hours west of Sydney) teems with life. Part of the World Heritage-listed Willandra Lakes Region, more than 110 species of birds, 22 mammals and 62 reptiles call this vast park home. Mobs of red kangaroos bound across the plains and sprawl in the shade. Graceful emus, standing up to two metres tall, pick their way through the scrub. The lunar-like landscape includes a ring of enormous sand dunes, known as the Walls of China. These were the discovery site for Mungo Man and Mungo Woman, whom Aboriginal Australians buried here more than 42,000 years ago.
Where to stay: There are campgrounds in the park or budget accommodation at Mungo Shearers’ Quarters. At Mungo Lodge, you can book stay-and-tour packages to explore the park in daylight, at sunset and during the full moon with accredited guides.
Mungo National Park, Mungo
Menindee Lakes, Menindee
For the 14 years of the catastrophic Millenium drought, the nine bodies of water that make up Menindee Lakes stood dry. But after record-breaking rainfalls, the remarkable lakes (as beautiful as they are essential to local communities) are full to capacity, creating a surreal aquatic landscape on the edge of the desert. The calm waters teem with birds numbering in the thousands: pelicans, ducks, swans, cormorants, ibises and spoonbills. Located an hour from Broken Hill, the lakes are a stop on the famed Darling River Run, an extraordinary outback road trip through the most remote parts of the state.
Where to stay: Camp on the banks of the Darling River at Nelia Gaari Station, an 8,000-hectare working sheep farm or drive to Broken Hill to stay in one of the themed rooms at the quirky, heritage-listed Palace Hotel, famous for its fantasy Australian landscape murals painted by Aboriginal artist Gordon Waye and the hotel’s role in the 1994 film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Menindee Lakes, Menindee
Fort Bourke Hill Lookout and New Cobar Open Cut Gold Mine, Cobar
In the mineral-rich, big-sky outback around Cobar, even an open cut mine is beautiful. Stand on the viewing platform at Fort Bourke Lookout, 300m above sea level, to see the New Cobar Open Cut Gold Mine with its uniform rings of rock and compacted earth cut through with a mineral belt that runs in a straight line from north to south. Time your lookout visit with the sunset and watch as the smudges of cirrus clouds reflect the fire of the setting sun.
Where to stay: Camp at Meralda Station, a working farm with off-grid campsites, retro caravans and a rustic, outdoor bathhouse. Make time to visit the Cobar Sound Chapel, an incredible sound art installation that combines an architectural concrete structure with an outback water tank.
Gibraltar Range National Park, Glen Innes
You’ll find some of the oldest rainforest on earth in Gibraltar Range National Park, with plants that have barely evolved from their dinosaur-era ancestors. Part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area in the Northern Tablelands, this park offers intrepid outdoors people plenty to do like a multi-day hike through challenging terrain and campsites at Boundary Falls, the site of an old sawmill. Soak up the seclusion in this pretty forest, pitch a tent at the campground and fall asleep to the sound of the cascading waterfall nearby.
Where to stay: Prefer a more comfortable stay? Book the luxurious tiny house at Ben’s Falls Retreat, an 800-hectare property on the banks of the Severn River.
Gibraltar Range National Park, Gibraltar
Bald Rock National Park, Tenterfield
Rising more than 200m above the surrounding bushland, Bald Rock is the largest granite monolith in Australia. From a distance, the silvery, streaked formation looks like a grey sandslide spanning 750m long and 500m wide. The rock is around 250 million years old and served as an important meeting and trading ground for three local Aboriginal tribes: the Jukambal, Bundjalung and Kamilaroi. Take the challenging walk to the summit for a spectacular view and keep your eyes peeled for rock wallabies and other wildlife.
Where to stay: Book an architectural, timber tiny home at Gabarraa Luxury Escape farm stay and make sure to visit Stonefruit, an award-winning Tenterfield wine bar.
Bald Rock National Park, Tenterfield
Lake Copeton, Inverell
Lake Copeton is one of the largest inland dams in NSW – 46 square kilometres with nearly three times the capacity of Sydney Harbour. On a clear day, the vast lake reflects the sky with such mirror perfection – if not for the hills on the distant shore, it would be hard to tell where the sky ends and the lake begins. Located in the Gwydir Valley, the lake has two essential roles: water supply for Inverell and other nearby communities and a water playground for locals and visitors. Fishing, sailing, waterskiing, jetskiing, canoeing and swimming are all welcomed while around the shore, there’s bushwalking, camping, picnicking and a beautiful lookout along the 113m-high dam wall.
Where to stay: Take full advantage of your time at the lake by booking Reflections Copeton Waters Holiday Park, set on 900 hectares right on the water. The park is pet friendly and there are cabins, powered and unpowered sites plus a splashpad and playground for kids.
Lake Copeton, Inverell
Australian Standing Stones, Glen Innes
In the New England High Country of northwest NSW stands a collection of tall, tombstone-like granite outcrops. The circular placement is reminiscent of the English megalithic sculpture, Stonehenge (which also lends its name to a nearby area). From afar, the rocks (some of which are more than five metres tall) resemble a cemetery or the ruins of an ancient village, but their arrangement is actually random, the fascinating result of a millennia of natural erosion.
Where to stay: The Tui Lodge is a comfortable guest house on a 12-hectare hobby farm that’s home to alpacas, goats, black-faced sheep, cattle, geese, guinea fowls and chooks. While you’re in the area, visit Glen Gowrie Distillery’s cellar door in the pretty Furracabad Valley for gin and tonics or other cocktails.
Australian Standing Stones, Glen Innes
