Attractions

Ellenborough Falls is a 200 metre marvel, Ellenborough Falls is the tallest single drop waterfall in New South Wales and amongst the tallest in the southern hemisphere. It is a delightful 1.5hr drive from Gloucester. Make sure you sample some of the home made treats at the kiosk after your hike to the bottom of the falls.

Bretti Reserve–This is a pretty area beside the Barnard River on the road that leads from Gloucester to Walcha -Thunderbolts Way- a lovely scenic drive and you will pass beautiful Gloryvale reserve on the way. There are BBQ & toilet facilities, and you can go swimming and canoeing- a nice spot on a hot day. From Gloucester, it is a 66 km return trip.

Carson’s Lookout is located on the Thunderbolt’s Way midway between Gloucester and Nowendoc. Looking west from the Thunderbolts Way, Carson’s Lookout offers panoramic views over Giro and State forests to the Barrington Tops World Heritage area. The lookout offers parking and picnic facilities and is about 40 minutes from Gloucester.

Motorbike route-Thunderbolts Way has become a favourite with motorcyclists who enjoy the twists and turns, which lead past the Lookout and on towards Walcha and the famous Oxley Highway.

Mograni Lookout– 5 minutes east of Gloucester on the Bucketts Way

Kia-ora Lookout– proceed 1 km On Thunderbolts Way from Barrington Hideaway towards Barrington. Turn right at Bowman farm Rd and and following lookout signs, cross the Barrington River, turn right onto Kia-ora Rd and then sharp left onto lookout road.

Both lookouts provide panoramic views of the Gloucester valley.

A 1 hr drive west of Barrington Hideaway is the World Heritage listed Barrington Tops National Park. At 1500 metres above sea level with a 25km long sub-alpine woodland plateau and 20 + sub tropical rain forests covered lower valleys “The Tops” is an ultimate retreat for nature & adventure lovers. 200+ bird species, a wild herd of Brumbies and a Tasmanian Devil conservation breeding program all help make The Barrington Tops is a unique, must visit destination.

Located west of Gloucester is Barrington Tops State Forest. Within the forest, on the banks of the Manning River in cool highland forest, is a stunning picnic area popular with four wheel drive enthusiasts and freshwater fisherman. Cobark Lookout is on the eastern edge of Barrington Tops State Forest, and provides beautiful views looking south.

The Gloucester Tops circuit combines three popular and scenic walks in Barrington Tops National Park into a longer 7km circuit. It’s an excellent option for a shorter day walk and a great walk to get a sense of the astonishing diversity within the Gloucester Tops precinct of the park.

Look out for swamp wallabies and grey kangaroos along the way

Closer to The Hideaway you can visit Copeland National Park and the Mountain Maid Goldmine where you will find old mining memorabilia, including the steam engines used to power the stamper battery. You can do your own self-guided ‘Copeland Hidden Treasure Walk’ 1.5 –2 hour walk.

A guided walk takes you deep into the hillside, following the main shaft to where the gold-bearing ore was extracted, before it was fed into the stamper battery, to be crushed so that the gold could be separated from the quartz and other impurities. Visit the original schoolhouse and folk museum where you can read tales from the gold mining era.