Wolgan Valley is a small valley located along the Wolgan River in the Lithgow Region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The valley is located approximately north of Lithgow and 150 kilometres north-west of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Accessible by th
Wolgan Valley Discovery Trail
(Wolgan Road) from the

Castlereagh Highway Castlereagh Highway is a state highway located in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. From north to south the highway traverses South West Queensland and the North West Slopes, Orana (New South Wales), Orana, and Central West (New South ...

, the road travels through the valley leading onto the historical village of

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 ...

and its extensive industrial ruins.

Description and history

Wolgan Valley is formed by the Wolgan River in rugged mountainous country west of Sydney in Lithgow north of the city. It flows broadly east until it joins the Capertee River, after which it becomes the Colo River. The latter then continues east through the Wollemi Wilderness which is the largest wilderness area in New South Wales and the largest in eastern Australia. The Wolgan Valley includes sections of

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 ...

Gardens of Stone National Park The Gardens of Stone National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales in eastern Australia. The national park is situated northwest of Sydney, and northwest of . The national park ...

and the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

declared Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The valley was inhabited by

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

for thousands of years, but the First European settlement occurred around 1823, when brothers William and James Walker used the valley as an outstation for their Wallerawang property "Wallerowang". It is best known for its historic railway tunnel and the former

Commonwealth Oil Corporation Commonwealth Oil Corporation Limited was a British-owned Australian company associated with the production and refining of petroleum products derived from oil shale, during the early years of the 20th century. It is associated with Newnes, Hartley ...

shale oil mining operations at

. The Railway tunnel formed part of a heavy-haul line between Newnes and Newnes junction on the main western railway. Four heavy Shay type locomotives were used to haul the products of the works at Newnes up grades as steep as 1 in 25. The name of the Wolgan Valley is derived from "wolga", a local

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

name for the climbing plant, ''

Clematis aristata ''Clematis aristata'', known as Australian clematis, wild clematis, goat's beard or old man's beard, is a climbing shrub of the family Ranunculaceae, found in eastern Australia in dry and wet forests of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria a ...

'', found in coastal regions of the South-East states of Australia. Within the Wolgan Valley there are several significant

Aboriginal sacred site An Australian Aboriginal sacred site is a place deemed significant and meaningful by Aboriginal Australians based on their beliefs. It may include any feature in the landscape, and in coastal areas, these may lie underwater. The site's status i ...

s. These include Maiyingu Marragu (Blackfellows Hands) which is a collection of Aboriginal

hand stencils In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin. These paintings were often created by ''Homo ...

located near Wolgan Gap, and several Aboriginal burial sites. The bush walking trails in the area include the Pipeline Track, which goes from Newnes to Glen Davis, and the Wolgan Valley Heritage Trail (see links below), as well as the track from Newnes to the

Glowworm Tunnel The Glowworm Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel between Lithgow, New South Wales and Newnes, New South Wales, Australia. It is notable for its resident glow-worms, the bioluminescent larvae of ''Arachnocampa richardsae'', a type of fungus g ...

. There are also camping grounds that are open to the public. The valley also contains numerous

slot canyon A slot canyon is a long, narrow channel or drainageway with sheer rock walls that are typically eroded into either sandstone or other sedimentary rock. A slot canyon has depth-to-width ratios that typically exceed 10:1 over most of its length and ...

s and is popular for rockclimbing. Commercial tourism came to the valley in 2009 in the form of the Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa. This project was opened by

Emirates Group The Emirates Group () is a state-owned Dubai-based international aviation holding company headquartered in Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, near Dubai International Airport. The Emirates Group comprises dnata, an aviation services company ...

s Hotels and Resorts after examining several sites in Australia.Escape supplement, p.16, Sunday Telegraph, 4.10.09

Description and history

References

External links