Tibooburra, Outback NSW 

There is something impossibly romantic about Tibooburra; there it is in the far north-western corner (Corner Country) of New South Wales. Tibooburra is 335 km north of Broken Hill, 1504 km north-west of Sydney, 900 km from Adelaide.

It seems so isolated and yet it is full of friendliness and activity.

Named after the ancient granite tors that surround the village, the goldfields of the Tibooburra region was originally known as " The Granites" and formed part of the Albert Goldfields. Gold in Tibooburra was buried beneath deep alluvial muds and required special techniques to mine. As elsewhere on the Albert Goldfields, life was tough at "The Granites".

Today, Tibooburra is home to Sturt National Park, New South Wales Police, and the Tibooburra Outback School of the Air. The township has two hotels, motel rooms, cabins and a caravan park and a hotel to accommodate visitors. There is a post office with banking and internet access, supermarket and cafe facilities. The Royal Flying Doctor Service visits each Tuesday for a clinic.

A modern roadhouse and local stores provide meals and fuel or undertake vehicle repairs.

There is also a marvellous Pioneer Park (often with not a blade of grass) with a wonderful sculpture of a full-size 27-foot long whaleboat perched on the top of some poles - a replica of the whaleboat Charles Sturt hauled across inland Australia. And here, on the edge of the huge Sturt National Park, you can really feel as though you are in the heart of the desert.

Tibooburra is the closest town to the magnificent Sturt National Park. Located in the north-west corner of NSW and bordering South Australia to the West and Queensland to the north, this massive park provides the visitor with a great insight to the geomorphology of outback Australia with ancient eroded mountain ranges and vast gibber plains easily illustrating the concept of the inland sea that early explorers believed covered the interior of Australia. The park also provides several vantage points to the Dingo Fence.

More on Sturt National Park

Things to Do in Tibooburra and Surrounds:

  • The Gorge Loop Road: This around Mt Wood and the Mount Wood Hills covers the outdoor pastoral heritage museum, Mt Wood Homestead & shearers' quarters, the Gibber and Mitchell Grass Plains, the Twelve Mile Creek Gorge, and the old pastoral remains at Torrens Bore and Horton Park Station. Wildlife such as Emu, Kangaroo, and Wedge-Tail eagles are commonly sighted.
  • The Jump-Ups Loop Road: The ancient landforms that are known as the Jump-Ups are the remains of an ancient mountain range that have been eroded down over millions of years leaving the 150m plateau (Mesa) and the granite strewn plains which form the catchment of the Connia Creek (Ephemeral) which follows south-east into the Twelve Mile creek.
  • Cameron Corner: The drive from Tibooburra to Cameron Corner takes the visitor through a diverse landscape including the Waka Claypan, past Fort Grey which was a provisions stockade built by explorer Charles Sturt for his inland expeditions, and on to the Corner and the worlds longest fence; the 5,000+ km Dog Fence which was constructed to keep roaming Dingos of the north and west out of the pastoral lands of NSW.
  • Tibooburra Keeping Place: Located in Briscoe Street, the Keeping Place features a display of fauna, local photographs, and indigenous artifacts of wood and stone from the Wadigali, Wongkumara and Malyangapa tribes. There are also arts and crafts for sale.
  • Tibooburra Pioneer Park: At the end of the main street is the Tibooburra Pioneer Park which was established in 1999. The main attraction in the park is a full-size whaleboat (by Anthony Hamilton) perched on the top of some poles. This is a replica of the whaleboat Charles Sturt hauled across inland Australia on a wagon with the intention of using it to row around the continent's 'inland sea'. It was abandoned at Depot Glen near the current site.
  • The Church of the Corner: This church was erected in 1963 by the Australian Inland Mission now succeeded by the Uniting Church Frontier services. It is open for use by visiting clergy by arrangement. It is a church for all the people of the area.
  • Golden Gully: Golden Gully, adjacent Dead Horse Gully camping ground, is a reconstruction of mining sites and methods with explanatory plaques. The turnoff is 1 km north of Tibooburra.