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Pilliga National Park

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Overview

Pilliga Forest is an iconic Australian landscape offering rugged beauty on a grand scale. Located near Baradine, you can explore the trail network by car or on foot, and camp out.

Read more about Pilliga National Park

Pilliga Forest, sometimes called Pilliga Scrub, is one of the iconic landscapes of inland Australia. It's made up of Pilliga Nature Reserve, Timmallallie National Park, Pilliga West, and East State Conservation Areas.

Close to the town of Baradine, Pilliga is a vast forest that spans more than half a million hectares and features 2,000km of public access trails, so there’s a lot to explore either by walking or car touring. Explore along the Coonabarabran-Baradine-Warrumbungle scenic drive. You can set up camp at the Sculptures in the Scrub campground in Timmallallie National Park.

Be sure to take short walk at Sandstone Caves to find out about this important Aboriginal site and the Gamilaraay People’s connections to this ancient landscape.

As you walk or drive, keep your eyes out for some of the park's resident birds and wildlife, including rare barking owls and malleefowls. A particularly keen eye will spot the families of koalas who dine and recline on the many eucalypt trees which are found throughout this area. Other species that live here include eastern pygmy possums, swamp wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies, squirrel gliders, and the south-eastern long-eared bat.

Highlights in this park

  • Visiting the Pilliga National Park Discovery Centre. Photo © Rob Cleary

    Pilliga Forest Discovery Centre

    The Pilliga Forest Discovery Centre is the best place for visitors and tourists to collect information about the Pilliga Forest before setting off on ...

  • NPWS guide Pilliga Forest. Photo: Robert Cleary © DPE

    Pilliga rambles tag-along tour

    Come along on this fun tag-a-long tour in Timmallallie National Park. You'll walk alongside NPWS Discovery Ranger, Bevan, who'll share his experience ...

  • Picnic tables at the Sculpture in the Scrub campground. Photo: Rob Cleary/DPIE

    Sculptures in the Scrub picnic area and campground

    Camp for free at Sculptures in the Scrub picnic area and campground in Timmallallie National Park. Enjoy the Pilliga Forest and take the short walk to...

  • Young bilby at the entrance of its burrow. Photo: Brad Leue/Australian Wildlife Conservancy © the photographer/AWC

    Pilliga tag-along tour

    Join this guided tag-along tour and have the rare experience of visiting inside the feral predator-free fenced area in Pilliga State Conservation Area...

Let me (re) introduce you

Australia has the worst mammal extinction in the world. Find out more about our network of feral predator-free areas that are helping the recovery of locally extinct animals, like the bilby.

Learn more
A marsupial bilby under spotlight at night. Photo: Brad Leue/AWC © Brad Leue
 A marsupial bilby under spotlight at night. Photo: Brad Leue/AWC © Brad Leue

 

Protecting threatened species

Find out what we're doing to ensure our parks are a permanent stronghold for threatened species conservation and recovery, and see how you can help.

A mountain pygmy-possum clings to a person's hand, Kosciuszko National Park. Photo: Alex Pike © DPE

 

Ancient forests, caves and stone

The Pilliga is a wild and remote adventure zone full of unmistakably Australian landscapes. Home to the largest native forest west of the Great Dividing Range, you'll find beautiful sandstone formations, salt caves and epic views. Let's explore.

A young man looking with awe at the sandstone caves in Pilliga Nature Reserve. Photo: Harrison Candlin

General enquiries

Contact

  • in the Country NSW region

  • Pilliga Forest is always open but may have to close at times due to poor weather or fire danger.

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Links

In this park:

Things to do (4)

Tours (2)

Itinerary (1)

Camping and accommodation (1)