The Glowworm Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel between

Lithgow, New South Wales Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the administrative centre of the City of Lithgow local government area. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of W ...

and

Newnes, New South Wales Newnes (), an abandoned oil shale mining site of the Wolgan Valley, is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The site that was operational in the early 20th century is now partly surrounded by Wollemi Nation ...

, Australia. It is notable for its resident glow-worms, the bioluminescent larvae of '' Arachnocampa richardsae'', a type of

fungus gnat Fungus gnats are small, dark, short-lived gnats, of the families Sciaridae, Diadocidiidae, Ditomyiidae, Keroplatidae, Bolitophilidae, and Mycetophilidae (order Diptera); they comprise six of the seven families placed in the superfamily Sc ...

Description and history

The tunnel was bored through the

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

in 1907 as part of the

Newnes railway line The Newnes railway line (also called Wolgan Valley Railway) is a closed and dismantled railway line in New South Wales, Australia. The line ran for from the Main Western railway line, New South Wales, Main Western line to the township of New ...

that served the

Newnes Newnes (), an abandoned oil shale mining site of the Wolgan Valley, is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The site that was operational in the early 20th century is now partly surrounded by Wollemi Nation ...

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich Granularity, fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of Organic compound, organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general compos ...

mines that operated during the early 20th century. The railway was closed in 1932 and the rails were pulled out of the tunnel. The tunnel is now contained within the

Wollemi National Park The Wollemi National Park () is a protected national park and wilderness area that is located in the Central West and Hunter region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The park, the second largest national park in New South Wales, conta ...

and is a popular attraction for bushwalkers and tourists. Outside the tunnel, the area features spectacular gorges, caves and scenery. The site is maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. On the south side of the tunnel, a large gap in the road prevents vehicular access. According to some sources, this gap was created deliberately to keep cars out of the tunnel, because the exhaust fumes would have killed the glow-worms. On the north side of the tunnel, a track leads to Newnes.

Access

Access to the tunnel is via several routes: * Walk or cycle in from

Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

* Drive from Lithgow via State Gully Road or Clarence via Old Bells Line of Road along Glowworm Tunnel Road, about 25 km of good unsealed road, through another former rail tunnel to the carpark, and walk 1 km to the tunnel. * 9 km return walk: Drive to the weir over the Wolgan River 7 km before Newnes. Walk up the nearby fire trail to the railway line to the right * 11 km walk each way: Walk along the route of the old railway line from Newnes

References

External links

Newnes Services
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915080454/http://users.tpg.com.au/newnes/ , date=15 September 2007

* Track notes for access vi
Pagoda Track
(2 km or 6 km return) an
Newnes
(9 km return) Railway tunnels in New South Wales Rail trails in New South Wales Disused tunnels in Australia

Description and history

Access

See also

References

Further reading

External links