It is from these beautiful hills that the name Dungog, 'A Place of Thinly Wooded Hills' was derived. The hills are at their most striking in the early morning or the evening when the light casts long shadows from the trees and mist hangs in the valleys.
Dungog first settled in the 1820's is two and a half hours easy drive from Sydney. With its wide streets and country charm it is the shopping and business centre for a thriving community based on beef cattle, controlled logging of hardwoods, dairying, deer farming and tourism.Welcome to the clean air and rolling landscape of the Barrington Tops and foothills. Here there is everything from the charisma of busy little towns to the working vistas of an active farming community and the marvellous wilderness of sub-tropical rainforests.
There is plenty to do for those keen for an active holiday exploring the rivers and National Parks, and there is all the serenity you need if you just want a quiet break doing little but absorbing the view ....
Barrington Tops and foothills
-- you could enjoy it here a lot longer than you expected.
Real country flavour
Beyond the towns the main roads meander, wooden bridges rattle, herds of cows pass to and from milking, gnarled trees line the way and galahs and rosellas flash their colour in flight. Often there is an alternative route, a gravel road perhaps, to make a round trip, maybe through the forest or criss-crossing creeks and spurs where dogs stare from a farm gate and the kids are out on horses.
This is country where you need a map, and memories are richest where you failed to follow it. Stop for directions and you might end up with a cup of tea and information on a long-lost relative. Keep going past the turn-off that you missed and you'll likely end up in the forest that brought the first pioneers up the valley. Much of the forest is no less beautiful today.
World-class wilderness
Most of Barrington Tops will always be forest, protected as State Forest and National Park, and with pristine regions designated Wilderness Areas and listed under World Heritage legislation. There is wide diversity, from vigorous regrowth stands of tall straight eucalypts, to ancient beech forest pure and undisturbed. There is rich sub-tropical rainforest in the lowland gullies, and twisted, stunted snowgums on the high plains. Somewhere there is a walking trail to sample all of these: a naturalist could spend a lifetime here.
Immersed in nature
Through the forest there are tracks for mountain-bikers, horse riders and four-wheel drives. There are sites that are idyllic for bush campers. There are crystal-clear streams with sparkling waterfalls and pools where people might have swum for 40,000 years. And if you know your plants you'll find the food that was the mainstay for the Aboriginal people when only they were here: native grape, yam, crabapple, matrush, tamarind....
