Barrington Tops – North

We had previously driven from Scone to Gloucester to see the northern side of Barrington Tops, but that was a long time ago and the experience is all but a distant memory. So we decided to do this again as a near-home short trip: to see the northern side again, and this time to also see the southern side. It was a great drive despite the rain and low clouds that developed. The scenery and countryside are magnificent, well worth the effort.

We drove across the northern side of the Tops on 16th March

Getting There

We had travelled up Wollombi Rd on 15th March from Wisemans Ferry to Singleton – to read that post click here – then on to Scone where we stayed overnight.

Scone > Thunderbolts Lookout (85kms) > Gloucester (60kms) ~ a total of 145kms

Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia

History

Barrington Tops lies at the boundary of three Aboriginal territories: the lands of the Worimi people of the south-east, the Biripi people of the east and the Wonnarua people of the west. Evidence of their occupation of the Tops includes camp sites, artefacts, scar trees and ceremonial places. Many of the roads and tracks in use today likely followed routes used by Aboriginal people.

Settlement by Europeans took place in the 1820s and 1830s. Timber getting was one of the first activities, concentrating on the Red Cedar of the sub-tropical rainforests of the river valleys. Cattle grazing followed as land was cleared. In 1840 the Australian Agricultural Company was granted 1 million acres from Port Stephens to the Manning River. The area around Barrington Tops was known as the Back Country. But the plans for a massive sheep station provide elusive and gradually the AAC reduced their activities.

It is believed that Captain Thunderbolt (Fred Ward) hid out on Barrington Tops in the 1860s. A hut on Edwards Plain, south of Polblue Swamp, was built by W.H. Edwards in 1910. This became a focus for adventurers and naturalists, exploring the natural features of the Tops. Increased interest in the recreational value of the Tops in the late 1920s and early 1930s coincided with a significant increase in tourism to places like the Blue Mountains. Myles Dunphy promoted the idea of a Barrington Tops primitive area after a 1924-25 walk across the Tops with the Mountain Trails Club. Barrington Guest House was built in 1925.

In 1945 a De Havilland Mosquito crashed near the Tops. In 1948 a Douglas DC3 crashed killing 13 people. In 1981 a Cessna 210 crashed killing five. The wreckage has never been found.

In 1969 the first area of park to be gazetted as Barrington Tops National Park was created from about 14,000 ha of Crown Land and the smaller Gloucester Tops National Park. A major addition in 1984 was secured as part of the Wran Rainforest Decision and the larger Park was included in the World Heritage area, along with other northern NSW rainforest parks in 1986. Outcomes from the Northern Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA) process saw additional areas added in 1997 and 1999, when significant areas of the National Park were also declared as wilderness. In 1986 the National Park became part of the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.

The Barrington Guest House burnt down on 24 September, 2006. In 2007 Barrington Tops National Park was added to the Australian National Heritage List.

Barrington Tops National Park and State Conservation Area make up an area of about 83,000 ha of reserved land. Additional forested land is managed by the Forestry Corporation.

Day 1 – Mon 16th March – To Gloucester

This was a remarkable day! We started in Scone with cloudy skies but not looking so bad. The road was sealed but clearly a minor road. But as we drove north-east, the clouds dropped and the surrounding escarpments were gradually transformed by wispy clouds. This progressively closed in.

We passes a cute rickety old church, and then more and more lovely green rolling hills.

We diverted to have a look at Belltrees. This pastoral station and homestead is recognised as a monument to the pioneering past. It has been home to the White family since 1831 and the distinctive 53-room homestead is heritage-listed. By 1912, the Belltrees estate covered 65,000 acres and had more than 3,000 kilometres of fencing and 64 houses. I bet they have seen some amazing house parties at Belltrees. As with so many rural properties – large and small – it must have been heartbreaking that the drought has lasted so long. The rain has obviously been a blessing… The grass is green, the rivers are running, so many farm-dams are full…..

The homestead is hard to photograph as there are many trees sheltering it. But the shearing sheds are very prominant.

Today Belltrees consists of 9,000ha of prime grazing country fronting the Hunter River. The emphasis, however, has shifted from sheep to Black Angus cattle breeding and fine horse breeding. There are only a couple of houses and the little church. We crossed the upper reaches of the Hunter River, then more great countryside.

There is not much at Moonan Flat – the pub, a couple of cafes and the Rex Collison Bridge named in honour of Rex Collison for his contribution to the Scone Shire Council and community. The Victoria Hotel is one of those picturesque old buildings that would be fabulous way to spend a lazy saturday afternoon with a bit of live music…. Would have loved it was open to have a quick look through.

From there we were on a gravel road in pretty good condition to begin with, driving through some wonderful scenery.

As we climbed to the plateau, we found ourselves in the clouds – a really eerie feeling. But the scenery was spectacular – the mix of the mountains, forests and thick mist. And it kept changing quite quickly.

We got to the dingo gate just after a ranger got there and he held it open for us. Thanks!

He was the only person we saw all day… I had pulled over previously to let him over-take as he was driving a lot faster on these steep windy roads than us. Then we got to The Firs, a small forest of very tall fir trees forming an arch over the road. We stopped at the picnic area for a cuppa – a nice spot.

Driving on in the mist, we were looking for the Polblue Swamp Track. The gravel road is not great, with many potholes and corrugations – a slow drive.

We came to a sign for the Polblue Trail, and quickly realised that this was a different walk to the one we wanted. Then we got to the Polblue Camping area – again this was not where we wanted to be although we did not appreciate that until we had driven in. Finally we got to the Polblue Picnic area and could see the swamp beyond the trees and track from the car park.

The Polblue Swamp track takes you on a short journey (3kms) through the wetlands and high altitude forests of the Barrington Tops Plateau. Unfortunately the rain had set in and we only did a very short walk along the trail to see the swamp up close and Polblue Creek. The start of the walk in both directions (its a loop) is on an elevated timber platform.

After more misty driving, next up was the Devils Hole Lookout, which is only 300m from the car park. However, as we expected, the view is total blanked out by clouds and rain. Shame. Back at the car park I took a photo of what we should have been able to see (the last photo in the next group).

At Thunderbolts Lookout it was the same story – an easy 400m walk to the lookout but only views of clouds. The walk is really enjoyable, even in the rain – some lovely trees covered with moss and lichen. But we did spot a Lyre Bird – racing across the track, then we saw it up a tree – neither of us knew that they flew really – although watching it getting higher up a branch, maybe its not quite flying – more scrambling.

We passed a sodden Honeysuckle picnic area, and stopped an unnamed lookout – perhaps Cobark Lookout. Lovely looking clouds!

It was a misty drive off the plateau. We passed a lovely babbling creek and then emerged onto farmland country with cloudy mountains and hills all around us – nice to be back on the bitumen again.