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Please forgive me for the rough pictures; I forgot the big camera and these are all off my blackberry. Due to the new 5 pictures/video code setting on this board, I haven't got many pics here to see, I shall try and post some in my pradopoint blog.. Ryan and I met up at my place in Muswellbrook. We traveled west out to Merriwa on the Golden Highway for the usual pie and iced coffee trip lunch only to find out the towns bakery had to shut just after lunch, as they had sold out of everything over the Easter break !!
Just past the Ulan/Mudgee turn off, we turned north and headed towards the Coolah region. We turned right at the Coolah Tops road (Lat: -31*50’2”S/Long: 149*44’4”E) and made our way up to the main entrance of the National Park (Lat: -31*43’44”S/Long: 149*58’46”E).
We had a look at the Barracks Camp site (Lat: -31*43’53”S/Long: 150*0’57”E) and decided it was alittle crowded for us. There was some really interesting information listed here on the park info board noting that logging teams had logged the Coolah Tops as far back as the 1870’s. Logging finished in about 1945 and there was evidence of these activities in the forest with many huts and old logging equipment to be found on trails. There was plenty of room here at this site for camping and all of the camp BBQ’s were stocked with wood by the National Parks and Wildlife rangers.
The Barracks Camp Area
We kept exploring until we found a top little camp spot called Cox Creek camping area (Lat: -31*43’56”S/Long: 150*0’42”E). There was a great area to set camp and kick back to relax. We decided to use the Turbo tent as heavy wild and low temps were predicted that evening.
The Cox Creek Camp Area
After a night of someone’s snoring (yes Ryan, I mean you.. that's the culprit in the blue checkered shirt on the left in front of my Prado), my son and helped us pack up the camp and clean up. We took a drive further into the western side of the park until we came across a brilliant escarpment looking west towards Dubbo called Bundella lookout (Lat: -31*41’54”S/Long: 150*1’4”E). This lookout is well worth the trip to the park, if only to check out this amazing view.
We spent the next few hours looking around the park and found a great summertime camp spot called the Pines camp area (Lat: -31*44’37”S/Long: 150*1’49”E). This would be a top spot for a summer camp with the family, as it’s pretty sheltered and very cool under the huge pines trees. More wandering about bought us to the old Brackens hut (Lat: -31*45’7”S/Long: 150*1’56”E) which is a reconstructed copy of the original Brackens hut located only a few hundred meters away in the field. For the very brave or very adventurous amongst us, you can book this hut to stay for a few nights and experience what it would have been like for the pioneers. Apparently if you call the Mudgee office of the National Parks and Wildlife, they can sort out the hire and key for you.
We also tried out another track which bought us to the Cattle Creek hut (Lat:- 31*48’36”S/Long: 150*10’42”E). Ryan found another track further down from this original cattlemans camp hut called the Gemini Loop, which looked very promising for some fun four wheel driving. With time slipping away from us we decided to give it a miss until next time.
We passed a trail off to the right of this track listed as the giant snowgums walk, stating there were some of the world’s largest snowgums to see on the 1.2 km track (Lat: -31*48’28”S/Long: 150*10’52”E). This trail looks really great for a family day out and i will be returning with my family to have a good look around. The end of the Coolah Tops main road bought us to the Breeza lookout (Lat: -31*49’8”S/Long: 150*11’37”E) with provided amazing views of Breeza plains, Gunnedah and further afar. I was amazed at the lookout and recommend it to all for a visit. Please remember the camera, so you don’t have to use the phone (like I was stuck with).
From there, with the sun falling and time constraints, it was time to haul back to tar and air up. We both had another 2 or 3 hours of tar to cover to get home from there. We had a top time, my son enjoyed himself and we think Coolah Tops is a nice touring area to take your family and soak up the peace and quiet for a day or maybe even two.....
Here’s one of my video’s I took on the way out....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydgDht0PiDg
Just past the Ulan/Mudgee turn off, we turned north and headed towards the Coolah region. We turned right at the Coolah Tops road (Lat: -31*50’2”S/Long: 149*44’4”E) and made our way up to the main entrance of the National Park (Lat: -31*43’44”S/Long: 149*58’46”E).
We had a look at the Barracks Camp site (Lat: -31*43’53”S/Long: 150*0’57”E) and decided it was alittle crowded for us. There was some really interesting information listed here on the park info board noting that logging teams had logged the Coolah Tops as far back as the 1870’s. Logging finished in about 1945 and there was evidence of these activities in the forest with many huts and old logging equipment to be found on trails. There was plenty of room here at this site for camping and all of the camp BBQ’s were stocked with wood by the National Parks and Wildlife rangers.
The Barracks Camp Area
We kept exploring until we found a top little camp spot called Cox Creek camping area (Lat: -31*43’56”S/Long: 150*0’42”E). There was a great area to set camp and kick back to relax. We decided to use the Turbo tent as heavy wild and low temps were predicted that evening.
The Cox Creek Camp Area
After a night of someone’s snoring (yes Ryan, I mean you.. that's the culprit in the blue checkered shirt on the left in front of my Prado), my son and helped us pack up the camp and clean up. We took a drive further into the western side of the park until we came across a brilliant escarpment looking west towards Dubbo called Bundella lookout (Lat: -31*41’54”S/Long: 150*1’4”E). This lookout is well worth the trip to the park, if only to check out this amazing view.
We spent the next few hours looking around the park and found a great summertime camp spot called the Pines camp area (Lat: -31*44’37”S/Long: 150*1’49”E). This would be a top spot for a summer camp with the family, as it’s pretty sheltered and very cool under the huge pines trees. More wandering about bought us to the old Brackens hut (Lat: -31*45’7”S/Long: 150*1’56”E) which is a reconstructed copy of the original Brackens hut located only a few hundred meters away in the field. For the very brave or very adventurous amongst us, you can book this hut to stay for a few nights and experience what it would have been like for the pioneers. Apparently if you call the Mudgee office of the National Parks and Wildlife, they can sort out the hire and key for you.
We also tried out another track which bought us to the Cattle Creek hut (Lat:- 31*48’36”S/Long: 150*10’42”E). Ryan found another track further down from this original cattlemans camp hut called the Gemini Loop, which looked very promising for some fun four wheel driving. With time slipping away from us we decided to give it a miss until next time.
We passed a trail off to the right of this track listed as the giant snowgums walk, stating there were some of the world’s largest snowgums to see on the 1.2 km track (Lat: -31*48’28”S/Long: 150*10’52”E). This trail looks really great for a family day out and i will be returning with my family to have a good look around. The end of the Coolah Tops main road bought us to the Breeza lookout (Lat: -31*49’8”S/Long: 150*11’37”E) with provided amazing views of Breeza plains, Gunnedah and further afar. I was amazed at the lookout and recommend it to all for a visit. Please remember the camera, so you don’t have to use the phone (like I was stuck with).
From there, with the sun falling and time constraints, it was time to haul back to tar and air up. We both had another 2 or 3 hours of tar to cover to get home from there. We had a top time, my son enjoyed himself and we think Coolah Tops is a nice touring area to take your family and soak up the peace and quiet for a day or maybe even two.....
Here’s one of my video’s I took on the way out....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydgDht0PiDg
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