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Warrumbungle National Park

(AKA The Warrumbungles) , New South Wales, Australia

landscapes stock photography | The Breadknife and Warrumbungles at Dawn, Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, Image ID AU-WARRUMBUNGLES-0001. The Grand High Tops and Breadknife walk in Warrumbungle National Park, regarded as one of the best walks in NSW, offers close up views of the park's iconic rock formations. The Breadknife is a volcanic dyke in New South Wales, Australia. It is nearly 90 metres high, but often is only 4 m wide, which is particularly rare. The Breadknife was part of a large shield volcano, that first erupted about 17 million years ago and stopped about 13 million years ago.

The Breadknife and Warrumbungles at Dawn
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landscapes stock photography | Belougery Spire at Sunset, Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, Image ID AU-WARRUMBUNGLES-0002. This iconic Warrumbungle National Park walk is famous for its wildlife and vistas of rugged volcanic landscape. Breadknife and Grand High Tops walk is the jewel in the glistening crown and is must do for bush walkers who love a challenge with their scenery. The track follows Spirey Creek before climbing steeply to give close encounters with iconic formations such as Belougery Spire, Bress Peak and Crater Bluff.

Belougery Spire at Sunset
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landscapes stock photography | The Breadknife and Belougery Spire after Sunset, Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, Image ID AU-WARRUMBUNGLES-0003. Shaped by an ancient volcano that has eroded over millions of years, the distinctively rugged landscape and rich biodiversity of the Warrumbungle National Park provides important habitat for a range of native Australian flora and fauna. Located near Coonabarabran in central NSW it is often described as a place where east meets west, where the moist, vibrantly green landscape gradually merges into the dry plains of western NSW. The beauty and sculptural forms of the Warrumbungle landscape were noted by early European explorers. In 1818, Surveyor-General Oxley said on encountering the landscape for the first time: 'To the west the land was level, but to the east a most stupendous range of mountains, lifting their blue heads above the horizon, bounded the view in that direction, and were distant at least seventy miles, the country appearing a perfect plain between us and them.'

The Breadknife and Belougery Spire after Sunset
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landscapes stock photography | The Breadknife and Warrumbungles at Sunrise, Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, Image ID AU-WARRUMBUNGLES-0004. The Warrumbungle National Park is one of the most diverse national parks in Australia with a never ending amount of beautiful walks for bushwalkers plus stunning landscapes (and inky black nightscapes) for photographers. Carved out of rugged grazing country in 1953 and inscribed on the National Heritage List in 2006, Warrumbungle National Park is a visual feast with highlights that include towering volcanic features and myriad wildflowers that colour the landscape in spring. Since the 1930s it has been known as one of the state's best bushwalking destinations and some 30km of tracks scramble up, around and over the striking natural formations. The best walks among them are Belougery Split Rock, Macha Tor and the iconic Grand High Tops, all of which offer glorious views and take hikers past grazing kangaroos and woodlands alive with eastern spinebills, honeyeaters, currawongs, wattlebirds and the flashes of firetails.

The Breadknife and Warrumbungles at Sunrise
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landscapes stock photography | Belougery Spire at Sunset, Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, Image ID AU-WARRUMBUNGLES-0005. The Warrumbungle National Park region was discovered by Europeans in 1818 by John Oxley while looking for an inland sea. The name of the mountain range, 'Warrumbungle,' means crooked mountains in the local Kamilaroi Aboriginal language. There is evidence of Aboriginal use and known occupation sites within the park. The idea of a reserve to conserve the area of the Warrumbungles was first entertained by the National Parks and Primitive Areas Council in 1936, with the first area being conserved in 1953. The national park takes up some 23 000 hectares, 33km west of Coonabarabran and 90km north of Gilgandra. More areas are to be added to the park in the future. It is a park of rocky spires, ridges, domes and gorges. The rocky peaks include the famous Breadknife, Bluff Mountain and Grand High Tops, which are an extremely popular destination for bush walkers.

Belougery Spire at Sunset
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landscapes stock photography | The Breadknife and Belougery Spire Panorama at Sunset, Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, , Image ID AU-WARRUMBUNGLES-0006. Covering more than 19 651 hectares, the Warrumbungles are one of the state's most popular national parks. The Warrumbungles are a group of eroded volcanic cores and dykes, forming a landscape of sharp, narrow peaks and rounded domes. Added to the National Heritage List in 2006, the area is popular with rock climbers and home to one of Australia's Great walks - the Grand High Tops track. The centre of the Park is located about 45km south-west of Coonabarabran with the park encompassing some of the region's best hidden treasures, from sacred Aboriginal sites to a special micro-climate where east meets west.

The Breadknife and Belougery Spire Panorama at Sunset
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landscapes stock photography | Milky Way over Warrumbungles, Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, Image ID AU-WARRUMBUNGLES-0007. Warrumbungle National Park, near Coonabarabran in central western NSW, is Australia's only Dark Sky Park and the first in the southern hemisphere. The park is renowned for its stargazing opportunities thanks to its crystal-clear night skies, low humidity, high altitude and world-class astronomy research facility at nearby Siding Spring Observatory. Australia's largest optical telescope is within the park boundary and shares the title of the Astronomy capital of Australia with several privately owned public observatories. This and the National Heritage listing makes the Warrumbungle National Park the perfect destination for stargazers, bushwalkers, nature lovers and those looking for a unique experience.

Milky Way over Warrumbungles
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The Warrumbungles are a mountain range in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The nearest town is Coonabarabran. The area is easiest accessed from the Newell Highway which is the major road link directly between Melbourne, Victoria and Brisbane, Queensland and cuts across inland New South Wales from the north to the south. The Warrumbungle National Park is based on the geographical Warrumbungle Mountain Range, sometimes shortened to the Warrumbungles, and thus the park name is often heard in the plural.

The Warrumbungles area has some of NSW's best bush walks due to volcanic action from many years ago. The Grand High Tops and Breadknife walk in regarded as one of the best walks in NSW, offers close up views of the park's iconic rock formations. The Park contains a dramatic jumble of craggy spires, domes, vast plateaus, forested ridges, towering dykes and deep gorges. 13 million years of rain, wind and ice have eaten away at the structure revealing the skeleton of the Warrumbungle Volcano.

Breadknife and Grand High Tops walk is the jewel in the glistening crown and is must do for bush walkers who love a challenge with their scenery. The track follows Spirey Creek before climbing steeply to give close encounters with iconic formations such as Belougery Spire, Bress Peak and Crater Bluff. Once at the top the view is amazing with all the high peaks visible as far as Bluff Mountain, Mount Exmouth and Siding Springs Observatory while behind you is the impressive Crater Bluff.

In spring, walkers will be treated to a wildflower display of purple hoveas, white daisy bushes, yellow wattles and orange pea flowers. A haven for birdwatchers, be sure to look for wedge-tailed eagles soaring high above the cliffs and listen out for the screech of peregrine falcons.

The Warrumbungles are considered one of the best night sky viewing points in Australia due to lack of nearby urban light pollution sources. There are many points of interest along the way including White Gums Lookout, Siding Springs Astronomical Observatory and a plethora of astronomical letterboxes, private astronomy telescope shelters and several large roadside educational astronomy billboards associated with Siding Springs Observatory.

Warrumbungle National Park is the ideal spot for a day trip or camping holiday. Popular activities in the Park include bushwalking along 43 kilometres of walking tracks, landscape photography, rock climbing (permits required), bush picnics, bird watching and camping.

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