4 Days in the Warrumbungles

We are spoilt in NSW with the diverse range of mountains we have, from the Snowy Mountains, to the Blue Mountains and the Warrumbungles, each with their own flavour of adventure.

The Warrumbungles are famous for being Australia’s first International Dark Sky Park being the National Park surrounding the Siding Springs Observatory. But aside from star gazing and camping under the stars, the Warrumbungles have some of the most epic jaggered volcanic formed mountain scenery you can find in NSW.

Where I went:

The Drip Gorge
Hands on the Rock – Indigenous Rock Art
Timor Rock
Burbie Canyon
Fans Horizon Lookout
Grand High Tops Track
Split Rock
Whitegum Lookout
Pilliga Sandstone Caves

The Drip Gorge

If you’re driving to the Warrumbungles from Newcastle area a perfect stop along the way is The Drip Gorge in the Goulburn River National Park. It is a beautiful long overhang along the Goulburn River which regularly has a ‘drip’ that flows over the overhang. It is especially beautiful after rain and it rained on my the whole hike back to the car on this visit!

Hands on the Rock

Only a few hundred meters north of The Drip carpark is a beautiful cave with Indigenous rock art with well preserved red hand stencils.

Timor Rock

I didn’t so much as visit Timor Rock but drove past it as it is not publicly accessible… but nonetheless! Timor Rock has some beautiful organ pipe rock formations. We drove down the Timor Firetrail in a 4WD to get these views of the organ pipe formations.

Burbie Canyon

Burbie Canyon is more of a nice creek walk than a Canyon, but a beautiful spot to wander through after your first settle into camp. It is a wonderful looped track starting from Camp Wambelong.

Fans Horizton Lookout

A short 3.6km return hike gets you to one of the best views in the Warrumbungles.

It is also one of the most joyful walks you could have to or from a magnificent lookout.

Grand High Tops Track

Now this hike is what really draws all hikers and adventurers to the Warrumbungles, the Grand High Tops Track takes you to the most epic lookout over the volcanic mountain range and for instagrammable views of the famous Breadknife rocky peak!

This lookout is at the start of the track, so you are treated to great views straight off the bat! The hike was a lot easier than I was expecting and covers a 14.5km loop to the top of the Breadknife and back down again.

It may not look like it but these photos were taken on the same day! Blue skies to one side and cloud cover to the other. It is crazy to imagine that all these rocky peaks were once lava tubes inside one mega volcano!

It is no wonder this hike is regarded as one of the best hikes in NSW. It was EPIC. And of course had some yellow mushies along the trail, you can’t get much better than that.

Split Rock

Straight from Camp Wambelong you can hike to the top of Split Rock, which is a mountain top looking like it has a huge split in the middle. The hike up is super pleasant but it does get very scrambly and exposed on top. We were almost at the top but the wind made me feel a little uncomfortable and storm clouds were rolling in so we decided to call it a day, which was a shame. I will have to get back in nicer weather and finish the climb!

Pilliga Sandstone Caves

Oh gosh do I thoroughly enjoy caves. Pilliga National Park which is only a short drive from the Warrumbungles has a beautiful site of Sandstone Caves. It is so worth exploring, with beautiful cave formations and natural windows. The Caves are also well looked after, so you’ll notice they aren’t as trashed and vandalised as most caves in NSW.