Warrumbungle National Park - an international 'Dark Sky Park':

"probing the depths of the cosmos in search of "Dark Energy" and searching the Milky Way for other planets with signs of life".

This is the research at Siding Springs Observatory where every night there's something new being done and new discoveries being made.

An Dark Sky Park is a place with an exceptional quality of starry nights and is protected for its scientific and educational enjoyment.

The Australian National University's Siding Springs Observatory is on the edge of the Warrumbungle National Park, 24km from Coonabarabran NSW. This region is known as the 'Astronomy Capital of Australia'.

Warrumbungle NP is Australia's first dark sky park and is renowned for its clear starry nights making it ideal for astronomy and casual star gazing with zero light pollution.

We have visited Warrumbungle NP three times and it is one of our favourite national parks. It is a really beautiful park with a rugged volcanic landscape, fantastic bush walking and loads of wildlife.

Our purpose with this post is to give you just enough insight to spark your curiosity and enable you to plan your own expedition of discovery. Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.

On a visit to Siding Springs, you can see the largest optical telescope in Australia. Siding Springs is a world leading facility discovering exoplanets, supernovae and galaxies.

On our 2017 trip, we scheduled our trip for a visit to the Siding Springs Open Day held on the labour day long weekend in October each year.

This visit provided really fascinating tours though most of the facility which was led by passionate astronomers. There are also some private observatories in Coonabarabran where visitors can enjoy amazing night sky experiences. Photo above shows Siding Springs as seen from Warrumbungle NP. Siding Springs and is a major attraction for visitors to the region.

Adjacent to Siding Springs is Warrumbungle National Park. The Breadknife, in the photo above, is the most prominent feature of the park and the Grand High Tops Walk to the Breadknife is probably the most popular walk albeit one of the longer walks @ 5 to 6 hours. This walk is regarded as one of the best walks in NSW.

Awe & wonder. The breadknife is a volcanic dyke and towers 90m above the valley floor.

The vista around our campsite at Camp Blackman was outstanding including awesome sunset views every evening.

There are plenty of outstanding walking trails in the park some of which leave from the campground. The visitor information provides an excellent summary and maps of all the walks in the park. The National Parks Fact Sheet is also a great resource for planning an expedition.

The dramatic landscape in the park has been shaped by thousands of years of volcanic activity which have created stunning spires, domes, dykes and plateaus.

The park is awash with wildlife where sometimes you can get up close & personal. The park is rich in birdlife including Wedge Tail eagles, Tawny Frogmouth and Boobook owls.

You can also take an Aboriginal discovery tour to find out more about the Aboriginal cultural heritage of this sacred place.

There are a number of excellent campgrounds in the park with Camp Blackman being the most popular. Photos above show our family camp at Camp Blackman in 2017 and again in 2019. This is an excellent campground with powered and non powered sites.

On our last trip we had our daughter Amanda and our grandsons Jordan & Zac with us which was a really special time. Once or twice a day I would go out on my mountain bike with the boys on a 40min circuit out from Camp Blackman. This is a great location for mountain bike riding and I could even keep up with the boys most of the time.

Coonabarabran, or 'Coona' if you are a local, is only 24km from the park, so we did indulge on a few visits to a cafe in town.

The photo above is at the Breadknife from our group trip, 'Operation Breadknife', in 1995.

The photos above show our group campsite on Operation Breadknife 1995. Our youngest, Kimberley, was only a few weeks old.

A good option to include in a touring adventure of this region is Taronga Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo. The zoo is home to hundreds of rare and endangered species including rhinos, giraffes, elephants and big cats. On our visits to the zoo, we opt for hiring bikes to ride around the 5km circuit at our leisure.

A good day trip from the park would also include the Pilliga National Park where a good walk is the sandstone caves walking trail. Whilst in Pilliga another good attraction is Pilliga Pottery where you can even try your hand at pottery.

David & Rosemary Allan – the faces behind:

May adventure & discovery be your constant companions.

Reflection:

For me, a trip is memorable when I am enriched by a deeper sense of connection to a place which triggers an emotional or spiritual response. This comes from feelings of awe and wonder when I feel part of something bigger. Such as, seeing dramatic landscapes, being caught up in the history and sensing the passion of the human spirit.

A memorable experience will cause me to day dream about the next trip even more than the last trip.

Remember: Your adventure begins the moment you decide to go.