Burning Mountain, the common name for Mount Wingen, is a hill near

Wingen, New South Wales Wingen is a village in the Upper Hunter Shire, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the New England Highway, it lies about 15 minutes from the town of Scone. It is known for the local ''Burning Mountain Burning Mo ...

, Australia, approximately north of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

just off the

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland at its northern end to Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales at its southern end. It is part of Australia's National Highway system, an ...

. It takes its name from a smouldering coal seam running underground through the sandstone. Burning Mountain is contained within the Burning Mountain

Nature Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, which is administered by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). A trail with information panels runs from the parking lots to the site where

smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product ...

emanates from the ground. The

Leyland brothers Michael James Leyland, MBE (4 September 1941–14 September 2009) and Malcolm Rex Leyland, MBE (born 2 October 1944), jointly known as the Leyland brothers, were Australian explorers and documentary filmmakers, best known for their popular tel ...

reported on Mount Wingen in the first episode of their travel programme, ''Ask The Leyland Brothers'':

Coal seam fire

The underground fire is estimated to be at a depth of around . It is estimated that the fire has burned for approximately 6,000 years and is the oldest known coal fire. European explorers and settlers to the area believed the smoke, coming from the ground, was volcanic in origin. It was not until 1829 that geologist Reverend C. P. N. Wilton identified it as a coal seam fire. The fire is generally moving in a southerly direction at a rate of about per year. The combustion has caused soil discolouration and an uneven ground surface in the area.

References

{{Hunter Region places and items of interest Upper Hunter Shire Mountains of New South Wales Geology of New South Wales Persistent natural fires

Coal seam fire

See also

References