Australia is old. It is old in many ways; more than just its geology is ancient, although fat (truly) deposits have just been found underground (I kid you not) that scientists say have moved the birth of cellular life back 600 million years, to a new date of 1.6 billion years. Its people are ancient. Aboriginal people have been here for more than 50,000 years—probably quite a bit more. Modern humans had not yet arrived in Mediterranean Europe to bother the Neanderthals. It is generally accepted that another 25,000 years would pass before humans appeared in the Americas.
Between the formation of those rocks and the arrival of humans, some 180 million years ago, Australia was one of the continents that began to break off the supercontinent called Gondwanaland, where it had been sitting comfortably next to Antarctica. Much of Australia’s unique vegetation has its roots (sorry) in that time. The Gondwana rainforests in Australia include the most extensive areas of subtropical rainforest in the world, with trees like Antarctic Beeches. Barrington Tops National Park is a major part of the World Heritage Area which protects these forests.
The plateau that makes up Barrington Tops is only four hours north of Sydney by road, but it is remote and rugged enough to hold onto a mystery for more than 40 years. It has been a bit of a magnet for plane crashes. On August 9, 1981 a single-engine Cessna 210 with five passengers on board disappeared over the Tops. The plane has not been seen again. Some other aircraft that came down in the Tops proved hard to find too, but this is the only aircraft to have gone missing on the Australian mainland that has never been found.
Barrington Tops was and is Beann Beann to the Kabook and Watoo people of the Gringai Tribe who still have some presence there. The plateau was renamed by the first white settlers after some random Englishman – nobody seems to know which Lord, Lady or basset hound “Barrington” donated the name.
“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.” – Aboriginal saying.
The Tops make a good destination from Sydney, both for the forest roads and tracks themselves and for a couple of routes up from Sydney which take in some beautiful country on the way and keep you off the superslab. The other cardinal points offer good riding too, with Thunderbolts Way from the north, the Buckets Way from the coast to the east and forest roads from Tamworth and the New England Highway to the west. The roads and tracks of the plateau itself range from the reasonably well maintained Barrington Tops Forest Road to fire trails, logging tracks in the State Forest and dedicated four-wheel drive tracks. By no means all of the Barrington Tops forest is national park.
If you want to get the most out of this ride, an adventure bike is ideal because it is versatile. After all, it’s four hours on the bike to get there, so most dirt bikes would prove a little uncomfortable, I suspect. Likewise, a road bike might find it difficult to make its way over the fire trails and four-wheel drive tracks. More because of its tires than anything else, but still.
If you want to stay on tar but off the superslab, you have two main choices from Sydney: up the Putty Road or a combination of the Pacific Highway, George Downes Drive and the Old North Road. Both roads run through beautiful bush and take you to the New England Highway which you then follow to Aberdeen. The turnoff is to the right just past here and a tarred road will take you through cattle country up to the beginning of the Barrington Tops Forest Road which is gravel or, in a few places, dirt. A longer but enjoyable alternative is to go via Lithgow, Rylstone and Denman. Add some dirt into the mix by going via Wisemans Ferry, St Albans and Bucketty. The Forest Road runs over the top of the Tops past campsites, lookouts and picnic spots to eventually reach Gloucester.
The main attraction up here, though, is the plethora of tracks that run off the Forest Road. They vary enormously in quality, and while some of them will take you to Nundle, Moonbi or Woolbrook or eventually to Tamworth, many others loop back or simply fade out. If you want to do some serious riding and exploring, I recommend the “barrington-tops-9133-1n-topographic-map-1-25k” which is available from cartographics.com.au/.
My top (sorry) choice for refreshment and food up here is the Gundy pub, which rejoices in the name of the Linga Longa Inn. It’s an old country pub that’s been modernized tastefully and has an outstanding beer garden. The meals are good and reasonably priced, and service is friendly. Moonan Flat has quite a good pub, too. I also like Roadies Café in Gloucester, which has a bit of motorcycle flavor with a bike or two and some memorabilia and posters on the walls. The food’s good, and quite interesting for country fare.
It’s quite likely that you will want to return to Sydney, if that’s where you came from, by the same route you took on the way up. That’s a valid choice, but remember that 50 kilometers or so to the east is Nabiac, with the Australian Motorcycle Museum. If you’ve never been there it’s a must-stop.