Gardens Of Stone National Park is actually a fairly new National Park and was only gazetted in 1994 and is one of the more spectacular locations close to Sydney you can escape away to. A 4WD is a must for this weekend escape and the escape I am going to describe here could be combined for a long weekend escape and include the Newnes Plateau escape as well.
Doing this weekend escape as suggested there will be limited number of places to get views, but those views are pretty amazing, there are a number of locations where you can camp, and in most conditions is camper trailer friendly if driven with care. The highlight of this trip is some of the easy 4WDing that can be done and the spectacular but short section where you climb up through a very narrow natural canyon. A highly recommended weekend escape.
How To get There
You can do this trip from either direction, from the Mudgee Road or from the Newnes Road, access from the Newnes Road end is not recommended in wet weather as the initial hill climb is quite steep in places and can be quite challenging, particularly when towing a heavy camper trailer. I will be primarily describing this trek from the Mudgee Road end, feel free to do the trek in reverse for a different experience of course. Both routes will be detailed on the map above to Baal Bone Gap, you can either go back out the way you came, or continue on to exit via the other route.
Main Route - Mudgee Road (4WD required)
Depart Lithgow heading west and take the Mudgee Road turn off and continue towards Mudgee. Stay on the Mudgee Road and you will eventually pass through Cullen Bullen, keep going and you will eventually come to the even smaller Ben Bullen, you will know the spot because the highway does a dog leg over the railway line to your left. DO NOT do this, as you approach the dog leg, look right as the road turns left over the railway line cutting, you will see a well defined dirt road, turn right onto this when it is safe to do so. After approx 1.2km's, the main fire trail take a sharp right, do that and just keep on this fire trail.
Alternate Route - Newnes Road (4WD required)
Depart Lithgow heading west and take the Mudgee Road turn off and continue towards Mudgee just like with the route above. As you go past the main power plant on your left, watch for a turn off to Lidsdale on your right, from memory there is a service station on the corner. From the turn off, follow this road that heads towards Newnes, from this turn off, it is approx 8.37km's to the track entering on your left.
From here it is 4WD required, make the hill climb to the top of the escarpment and just continue to follow this road enjoying the glimpses down into the Wolgan Valley, remember, this route is next to impassable in the wet, especially this first hill climb, particularly when towing a heavy camper, trust me, we found out the, shall we say, "interesting" way.
Camping Facilities
There are a number of places where you could just pitch a tent, find an open area that suits and suit yourself. There are a couple of places that are suitable to put up a camper trailer as well which I have highlighted on the map above. There is no water or toilet facilities anywhere on this weekend escape, bring your own water. If you don't have a portaloo, then please make sure you go and dig a hole well away from camp and away from any water courses, even if they are dry, make sure you fill it back in well, other people do want to camp here after you still.
Camp 1: (Shown as the Left marker) This used to be quite tricky to get into, especially with a camper trailer, over the years, people have worn an access track though the trees into this largish open area. On the southern end of this spot is the flattest area to camp and it is just set amongst the trees. You can still be easily seen from the fire trail and can get a bit dusty when motorbikes rip past. We have camped here a number of times with the Camper Trailer, there is plenty of room for a couple of camper trailers here. just make sure you check fire permissions before having a fire and that it is fully out before leaving. This is an ideal spot to leave from if you are doing the long hike to Pantoneys Crown.
Camp 2: (Shown as the middle marker) This flat area is just off the fire trail and has a concrete slab here, last time we camped here it seemed to be infested with spiders that got into everything, we have only camped here once. From memory there is a very overgrown creek here, but I would not trust the water.
Camp 3: (Shown as the Right marker) Have never camped up here but it would be quite exposed to wind and the sun and the ground looked to be quite hard, but, people do, so, if you like views with your camp, go for it. A dead body was recovered from this site a few years ago.
What is there to do?
This is a real get away from it all escape, and the main attraction is the spectacular rugged scenery and the hopefully peaceful bush (It is a popular trek with motorbike riders on weekends sometimes). It is a great place to use as a staging ground to do the long day hike out to Pantoneys Crown and back, we have used Camp A as a good spot to leave camp and the cars to do the walk to the crown and back in a day. It is a great place to grab a chair, find some shade and snooze or read a book.
The 4WDing is usually not too hard, but it all depends on how cutup the tracks are, how much water is lying around in pools and what the hill climbs and descents are like, after rain, it can get very hairy indeed. One thing about this area, water does tend to sit around here for a LONG time, we have a picture in the gallery below of one trip where the pool was 60 feet long and well over halfway up the wheels, great fun, but not a great place to get bogged.
If you are confident with a map and compass or GPS and are happy to explore in trackless scrub, you can visit some spectacular spots up here.
About half way from Camp 1 to Baal Bone Gap, there is a descent that can be quite cut up and with a camper trailer in tow, requires slow going and good wheel placement, but nothing too serious really, again, depends on the conditions and your experience. The area around Camp 1 is quite nice to explore, there is a hill topped with rock directly to the south west of camp that is worth an explore, just keep an eye on your surroundings and where camp is so you don't get lost. If you manage to get up on top, you will be rewarded with views to the south west over many pagodas (Rock formations).
At some point, you will reach a T intersection, you can turn left to head the short distance to Baal Bone Gap, or just turn right, the left almost straight away to start the second half of this escape, you are almost at Camp 2 at this point. If you turn right and continue on, you will end up on private mining land so stick to the posted route.
Baal Bone Gap is the top of a fire trail that heads down into the valley below, but it is locked up tight with the mother of all gates and barriers, there are picnic tables here but from memory you cannot see Pantoneys Crown from here. Driving away from here, if you continued on ignoring route A on your right and Route 2 on your left, you would end up in private mining land.
Not far past Camp 2 as you head south towards Newnes Road on Route B, you will enter one of the most scenic sections of this trek. You enter a very narrow canyon section that would not even be 100mtrs wide and is sheer-walled on both sides for about 10-20mtrs in height, you rapidly climb up to the top of this in a series of ramps that usually pose no issues, unless of course it is wet and you are towing of course. This spectacular canyon is only around 1km in length and is over way too quickly but it really is a memorable section of the trek.
Just after you come up, there is a fire trail heading off to the left, Camp 3 is at the end of this track, and so are some spectacular views, worth the bumpy ride out there.
The rest of the trek stays on the main fire trail that basically follows the escarpment all the way to Newnes Road. There are a few tracks here and there that branch off to the right, but unless you are exploring, we don't deviate from the main trail. It is also along this part of the trek, that you should notice a spot where you can park and have an excellent vista of the Wolgan Valley. The final descent down off the escarpment to Newnes Road is steep but even with a camper trailer, does not pose any issues, unless it has been raining of course then this hill is very slippery!! A few minutes after the descent, you are back on Tar and can turn Right to head back in towards Lithgow, turn left to follow this road all the way out to Newnes, or cross a bit diagonally to pickup Blackfellows Hands Road for a different trek.
Gallery
