Wolgan Valley is a small valley located along the

Wolgan River The Wolgan River, a watercourse of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Formed by the confluence of Carne Creek (also called Wolgan River (Eastern Bran ...

in the Lithgow Region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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

. 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. The highway's northern terminus is at a junction with Carnarvon Highway, south of , Queensland. Its southern terminus is at a junction with Great West ...

, 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 Nationa ...

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 The Capertee River, a perennial stream that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. Course The Capertee River rises on the Great Dividing Range, close to Bogee, sou ...

, after which it becomes the

Colo River The Colo River, a perennial stream that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Course The Colo River rises on the Great Dividing Range, northeast of Newnes, formed by the ...

. 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 northern Blue Mountains and Lower Hunter regions of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The park, the second largest national park in New S ...

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 par ...

and the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

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

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

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

Aboriginal sacred site Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

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, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 y ...

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 gn ...

. 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 Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...

. Commercial tourism came to the valley in 2009 in the form of the Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa. This project was opened by Emirates Groups Hotels and Resorts after examining several sites in Australia.Escape supplement, p.16, Sunday Telegraph, 4.10.09

Description and history

References

External links