Sandy Hollow is a small, friendly, country town on the Golden Highway between Denman and Merriwa, about 2 hours west of Newcastle. The hills of the dramatic Giant’s Leap landmark provide a delightful backdrop for the town and are also good for walks to the top, with fantastic views over the Goulburn River Valley and clean, fresh, country air.
There are numerous things to do at or around Sandy Hollow:
• Bring the bike to explore the numerous cycling trails
• Take a guided Horse Stud Tour
• Taste the wines at the local cellar doors
• Explore the nearby wildernesses of the Goulburn River and Wollemi National Parks with their rich variety of wildlife and spectacular scenery.
• Take the challenge of a section of the Bicentennial National Trail
• Attend the Annual Charity Horse Ride and Ute Muster (April) and entertainment
• Enjoy one of the many Scenic Tourist Drives
• Take up Bird Watching and Wildlife Observation
• Visit the local pub, which often hosts popular Aussie entertainers.
The area around Sandy Hollow is a well-kept secret. A visit will reward you with vistas of dramatic sandstone escarpments, hidden valleys, world famous horse studs and welcoming country towns. And of course, there are the Upper Hunter Wineries with their personal and peaceful cellar doors allowing you to sample some of the best wines in the world with Rosemount, James Estate and Yarraman to name a few.
Of course you could just relax and unwind!
A good ½ day – day trip would be a scenic circular drive leaving Sandy Hollow, going down the scenic Bylong Valley Way with it’s craggy hills of Wollemi and horse stud country, turning off at the Ringwood Rd into the Goulburn River National Park.
On the way, you can park up at Phipps Cutting and take a walk along one of the way marked trails in Wollemi National Park, or picnic at peaceful and shady Honeysuckle Creek, or cool your feet off with a dip in the river at O’Brien’s Crossing, and then stop off at Lees Pinch in Goulburn River National Park, which has walking trails and exhilarating lookouts. Eastern grey kangaroos, wombats, red-necked wallabies and wallaroos frequently graze on the grassy river banks and goannas, water dragons, turtles and platypus may also be seen. Lyrebirds and emus are amongst the 150 species of birds in the park.
Continue up the Ringwood Rd until you get on to the Golden Highway and head for Merriwa. Here you can have a stroll around the relaxed and friendly town, with a good choice of a bite to eat or you can partake of a cold beer in one of the old pubs. Then back to Sandy Hollow where you can watch the sun set over the hills of Giants Leap.
