Culgoa National Park

Some landscapes are iconic, like a scenic view ready-made for a postcard, or something out of legend. Culgoa is outback colours: ochre and brown and yellow, scorched by the sun. It’s also majestic river red gums and wide grassy floodplains, with wildflowers blooming after the wet season. And it’s the coolabah tree, a native species made famous by the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda. Indeed, Culgoa has more coolabah woodland than any other national park in NSW. In other words, it’s the sort of scene evoked in the popular idea of the Australian outback, filled with billabongs and buzzing rivers and croaking cicadas in dry leaves.

Visitors to Culgoa will find a fascinating park filled with Aboriginal history and the legacy of colonial pastoralists who once worked the land. And there’s plenty to do, too, from fishing in the river after the rains to birdwatching and spotting nocturnal animals – brushtail possums and little pied bats, for example, are most active at night. Self-sufficient campers will find a quiet retreat and day-trippers will find places to picnic near Brigalow-gidgee woodland. This is also a wonderful place for hiking, particularly in the cooler months. Culgoa offers a variety of day walks to appeal to all experience and fitness levels.

But perhaps the biggest draw is simply the solitude. Coming to Culgoa means getting away from everything else, and getting back to nature. Right on the edge of NSW, in many ways Culgoa gets to the heart of what makes national parks special in the first place.