Gulgong Scenic Drives

Gulgong District Map

To the Black Stump and Back

Leave Gulgong past Loneragan’s flour mill, heading for Ulan along Cope Road. Pass through farm lands, then through the stands of ironbark in Cope State Forest.

Ulan village still boasts a hotel and a school, but is best know as the site of both underground and open cut coal mining. Drive through the village and turn left, past the giant open cut. After about 15 minutes, pass through the tiny hamlet of Turill.

Along the way are the ‘hands on the rock’ Aboriginal site and the ‘Drip’, near the Goulburn River. They are on opposite sides of the road, and can be reached on foot.

About 10 kilometres past Turill is the junction with the Dubbo-Newcastle Road. Either:

Turn right to visit Cassilis, a picturesque village nestling in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. The small hotel and the tourist centre café serve meals and refreshments. (An unsealed road from the top of Cassilis village goes on to join up with the bitumen road to Coolah; it is narrow and needs care when driving.) or

Turn left to go to Coolah. Go west up the hill from the Dubbo-Newcastle road junction, and after about 5 kilometres, turn right towards Coolah. Drive through pleasant hills and valleys, and then look down on the rich plains of the Coolaburragundy River. Coolah, the model of a small rural town, is the home of the Black Stump, boasts a functioning department store, and has hotels and cafes.

The drive south-west from Coolah first follows the route of the former railway, then passes through Leadville: no prizes for guessing where the village got its name. About 5 kilometres further on, turn right at the junction of the Dubbo-Newcastle road and drive for about 10 kilometres to Dunedoo (a kilometre or so from the junction is the turnoff to Gulgong; save that for later).

Dunedoo, the gateway to the north-west, has a long public park stretching the length of the shopping centre in Bolaro Street, as well as pubs and cafes.

Leaving Dunedoo, go back to the Gulgong turnoff, and there turn right. The drive south passes old Birriwa station, whose big homestead can be seen off to the left, and goes through Birriwa, a village dwarfed by enormous grain silos.

The drive into Gulgong is through varied low hills, past the historic Tallawang mine, with possible shorter drives off to the right, along Laheys Creek and Beryl Roads.

Four Roads Lead to Mudgee

The main Gulgong-Mudgee road passes some vineyards, several farms and an orchard, with peaceful views to the ranges and over the Mudgee valley. On the next journey, why not try something different?

Via Ulan and Frog Rock Cross the railway line near Loneragan’s flour mill and drive to Ulan, through Ulan village, and turn right at the junction with the Mudgee-Casslis road. The road leads through timbered hills, many of them divided into the smallholders’ blocks that have become a feature of the Gulgong and Mudgee areas. About 20 kilometres from Ulan, on the right, is the remarkable formation of Frog Rock, and further on, also on the right, is the former Budgee Budgee Inn. The road leads into a series of wineries and vineyards, for which the area is famous.

Via Henry Lawson Drive Drive east down Mayne Street (see the Gulgong Town Map), curve right and cross the railway line. The road leads through remarkable broad-acre vineyards, set opposite classic grazing lands. About 12 kilometres from Gulgong is Home Rule, once a roaring gold mining town. Apart from some scattered cottages, the town memorial is the brick former school house and residence. Further on, drive past farm lands on the right and many smallholder blocks to the left. The horseshoe bend in the road, leading to the Poet’s Corner vineyards, reveals the Mudgee valley.

Via Wilbetree Road The first 20 kilometres or so of Wilbetree Road is unsealed. It is relatively narrow, slippery after rain and, like all rural roads, should be treated with due care. It roughly follows this section of the Wallerawang-Gwabegar railway, passing through a variety of farming and grape-growing country before leading into Mudgee across a series of former wetlands.

Drives Closer to Town

To Beryl, one of several villages near Gulgong in the days when roads were poor and there were only horses and buggies for travelling over them. There is a pleasant stream and, not far from the wooden bridge, one of the steel spans built for the never-completed Sandy Hollow railway. The unsealed road north from the wooden bridge joins up with Laheys Creek Road; a right turn there leads back to the Dunedoo-Gulgong road.

Lots of vines. A drive down the Wellington road, a left turn at Bergalin Road, right on the Gulgong-Mudgee road and right again into Magpie Lane, reveals just how many grapevines can be fitted into such an area.