Hill End, NSW

The "Need to Knows"

Where: Hill End is located an hour North of Bathurst, an hour South of Mudgee, or approximately 3.5hours West of Sydney. It is considered part of the Bathurst district.

Points of Interest: Hill End Historical Site, History Hill, Tambaroora Fossicking Area, Golden Gully, Bald Hill Mine and Walk, Jhob's Gold Panning Tours

Kid friendly? Definitely. The kids loved gold panning and delving into history, as well as climbing out of a mine.

Website: Hill End

It was a beautiful sunny autumn day as we drove into the main street of Hill End. Majestic trees, their leaves turning orange and red, lined either side of the road, framing our entry. A portal to another world, where adrenaline and luck were once all you needed.

It was magical.

Hill End first captivated me 30 years ago when I visited on school camp. It still does today, as my imagination runs wild, piecing together what this now quaint town would have been like during the height of the gold rush. Today, the majority of the town is cared for by NSW National Parks and Wildlife and is known as the Hill End Historical Site. The site was added to heritage listings in 1999, and there are buildings that still existing as they did in the late 1800's. Although Hill End has a current population of around 80, it was once home to 8000 people when miners travelled here to try their luck at finding gold. At the height of the gold rush the town was serviced by 2 newspapers, 5 banks, 8 churches and a mind-blowing 28 pubs. Now there is just one, serving lunch from 12pm.

The Hill End Walking Trail takes in the main sites of the town, with the best starting place at the Heritage Centre on Beyers Rd. The Heritage Centre is home to a range of artefacts and allows self guided exploration to learn about the area and its rich history. From here, walk the streets of Hill End, discovering the history of the remaining buildings and also read the signposted information detailing what used to stand in the now vacant lots. There is a map outside the heritage centre and you can also download one through the NSWPWS app (although admittedly I always find NSWPWS info confusing to say the least).

If you are after a bite to eat, or a caffeine injection, the general store- 24 Carrot Cafe- has coffee, snacks, lunch and food supplies, as well as petrol. The service was friendly and cheerful.

After exploring the main town, we headed out to Tambaroora fossicking area where we joined Jhob’s panning tours, panning the creek for alluvial gold deposits. Jhob provided a great explanation of how to pan and was an enjoyable, happy character, excited by everyones' finds. The kids loved this- the little ones loved playing in the creek and the mud, exploring the large pieces of rock and quartz, while Miss 7 was totally enthralled with finding gold (and she was quite good at it!).

Gold Panning- Tambaroora Fossicking Area

Gold panning with Jhob's Gold Panning Tours

Gold Panning- Tambaroora Fossicking Area

Gold panning with Jhob's Gold Panning Tours

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We attempted a stop at Golden Gully to complete the short, kid friendly walking track that takes in some old mind shafts and 'The Arch', a geological formation created from mining and erosion. Unfortunately, the track was closed due to instabilities in the area. Rangers were working there as we passed, so hopefully whatever the issue is, it will be resolved sooner rather than later.

We then headed to History Hill, located on Hill End rd heading back to Bathurst. This is a privately owned museum and the home of the The Son of Hope mine. Above ground there is an extensive museum, housing all sorts of artefacts from the golden area of the goldfields. The collection is well laid out, with signs explaining the significance and use of many of the items. If it hadn’t of been for the kids, I could have spent hours upon hours here. After exiting the museum, the path leads down to the mine, where you can walk the 175m length. There are some displays along the way and you get a true sense of what being underground would have been like. At the end of the tunnel you can either turn around and walk back out (and back up the hill) or you can climb the 18m straight up to the surface, with the aid of 8 ladders. We took the short cut- even the twins. There was only one scared participant and that was me- but I made it to the light and live to tell the tale… and it was better than having to drag little people back up the hill!