Blue Gum Hills Regional Park
Overview
Blue Gum Hills Regional Park is a great family day out. Learn about the park's mining heritage on a school excursion, or enjoy a barbecue in peaceful bushland, and then explore the maze, walking tracks or mountain biking trails.
Read more about Blue Gum Hills Regional Park
Blue Gum Hills Regional Park provides a delightful day out for Newcastle residents and visitors. In a protected bushland setting, your family and friends can enjoy barbecue areas, play equipment, a maze and plenty of green space to refresh the soul.
The playground features a range of inclusive and accessible play equipment designed to accommodate children with diverse needs. If you’re feeling active after lunch you can play cricket, go bike riding down one of the many trails or enjoy one of the easy-access walking tracks to check out the mining heritage of the park. As this is a dog-friendly park, you can take your dog for a walk, as long as they’re on a leash.
Don’t miss the TreeTop Adventure Park if you feel like getting right up into the forest canopy.
Local alerts
For the latest updates on fires, closures and other alerts in this area, see https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/blue-gum-hills-regional-park/local-alerts
Map
Map legend
Contact
- in the North Coast region
Blue Gum Hills Regional Park is open 7.30am to 8pm during daylight savings (7.30am to 5pm at other times), but may have to close at times due to poor weather or fire danger.
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Newcastle office
02 4946 4100
Contact hours: Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm. - 1 Wetlands Place, Shortland NSW 2307
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Email: npws.lowerhunter@environment.nsw.gov.au
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Newcastle office
Visitor info
All the practical information you need to know about Blue Gum Hills Regional Park.
Getting there and parking
Get driving directions
From Newcastle, travel towards Wallsend and follow Minmi Road to Minmi village. The park entry gates will be on your lefts, approximately 500m before the village.
To access the park from the F3, take the Newcastle Link road exit and turn left onto Woodford Street. Turn right into Minmi Road at the lights and you'll see the park entry gates on the right about 500m along Minmi Road.
Parking
- Back Creek picnic area See on map
- Village Green picnic area and playground See on map
Road quality
- Sealed roads
Vehicle access
- 2WD vehicles
Weather restrictions
- All weather
By bike
Check out the Bicycle information for NSW for more information.
Best times to visit
There are lots of great things waiting fopr you in Blue Gum Hills National Park. Here are some highlights.
Autumn
A great time for cycling and walking as it cools down after the summer months.
Spring
The weather is beautiful and fresh; perfect for a spot of walking or cycling.
Summer
The picnic and barbecue areas offer lots of shade so it's a good time to visit to escape the heat.
Weather, temperature and rainfall
Summer temperature
Average
20°C and 28°C
Winter temperature
Average
10°C and 18°C
Rainfall
Wettest month
December, January
Driest month
July
Facilities
Toilets
Picnic tables
Barbecue facilities
Maps and downloads
Permitted
Pets
You can walk your dog on-lead at this location. See other regional parks in NSW that have dog walking areas.
Dog walking is permitted in this park away from picnic areas and children's play areas. You will need to keep them on a leash at all times and remember to pick up after them.
Nearby towns
Warners Bay (16 km)
Warners Bay offers a great lifestyle with a vibrant cultural precinct. It's a pretty lakeside suburb.
Newcastle (18 km)
Newcastle is a harbour city surrounded by amazing surf beaches that are linked by a great coastal walk, the Bathers Way. The walk from Nobbys Beach to Merewether Beach takes about three hours and is a great way to explore the city.
Cessnock (33 km)
Some of the finest wines in the world are created in the Hunter Valley and its towns, gourmet food is acclaimed and luxury, boutique accommodations are matched by the most beautiful natural scenery.
Learn more
Blue Gum Hills Regional Park is a special place. Here are just some of the reasons why:
Learn about the area's mining history
From the middle of the 19th century right up to the 1980's, much of the area of Blue Gum Hills Regional Park was used for mining, mostly Newcastle's famous black coal. You will see evidence of the park's mining history in its unusual topography, undulations and scars are still a feature of the landscape. There is so much to discover about the park's mining history, start by walking the easy Heritage Track which features an historic 1870's chimney, one of the few in good condition in NSW. This park is a fascinating work-in-progress, undergoing rejuvenation and transformation into the beautiful bushland setting much of the park already enjoys.
- Heritage walking track Join the Heritage walking track for a glimpse into the park’s mining history. This short walk follows the old rail embankment to a ventilation shaft from the 1870s.
- Minmi Cemetery walk Take this gentle walk to Minmi Cemetery, a charming historic site that dates back to the coal-mining boom of the mid-1800s.
The kids will love it too
For the kids there’s a maze, a cool mine-themed playground, easy bush tracks for biking and burning off energy and the flying foxes and rope challenges of the TreeTop Adventure Park. And while they’re getting back to nature, see if they can spot the yellow tailed black cockatoo, with its huge, bulbous bill and bright yellow ear feathers and tail panel, and the masked owl, 50cm long, with a flat, heart-shaped face encircled by a dark border.
- Blue Gum Hills Aboriginal cultural tour Join an Aboriginal ranger on a cultural journey you won’t forget in Blue Gum Hills Regional Park, near Minmi. Bring the kids along to enjoy this outstanding tour.
Stacks to do
The local community has already discovered just how much there is to do at Blue Gum Hills Regional Park, and everyone’s welcome. You can make the most of the wide open spaces, pretty bushland setting and picnic and barbecue facilities, to spend the day bushwalking, cycling, orienteering, picnicking, horse-riding, playing ball games or simply reconnecting with the bush.
- TreeTops Newcastle Challenge yourself on a high ropes course in the forest canopy at TreeTops Newcastle. Adults and kids can choose from over 100 elevated obstacles including rope ladders, wobbly bridges and zip lines.
- Village Green picnic area and playground With picnic table, barbecues, mountain biking trails, an adventure playground and bushland setting, Village Green picnic area is ideal for families and large groups.
Plants and animals protected in this park
Animals
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Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)
Of the 2 species of kookaburra found in Australia, the laughing kookaburra is the best-known and the largest of the native kingfishers. With its distinctive riotous call, the laughing kookaburra is commonly heard in open woodlands and forests throughout NSW national parks, making these ideal spots for bird watching.
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Superb fairy wren (Malurus cyaneus)
The striking blue and black plumage of the adult male superb fairy wren makes for colourful bird watching across south-eastern Australia. The sociable superb fairy wrens, or blue wrens, are Australian birds living in groups consisting of a dominant male, mouse-brown female ‘jenny wrens’ and several tawny-brown juveniles.
Environments in this park
Education resources (1)
School excursions (4)
- Aboriginal culture , Stage 2 (Years 3-4), Geography
- Aboriginal culture , Stage 3 (Years 5-6), Geography
- Bush art, Stage 1 (Years 1-2), Geography
- The earth's environment, Stage 2 (Years 3-4), Geography
What we're doing
Blue Gum Hills Regional Park has management strategies in place to protect and conserve the values of this park. Visit the OEH website for detailed park and fire management documents. Here is just some of the work we’re doing to conserve these values:
Managing weeds, pest animals and other threats
Pests and weeds have a significant impact to the ecosystems within Blue Gum Hills Regional Park. Risk assessments for new and emerging weeds are carried out as an ongoing initiative within the park. Pest management is an important part of the work NPWS does to protect the integrity of biodiversity which exists within Blue Gum Hills.
Historic heritage in our parks and reserves
Blue Gum Hills Regional Park is known for its mining history. Heritage sites within the park receive ongoing conservation work to preserve it for years to come. Improvements to national park walking tracks are also carried out. Blue Gum Hills Regional Park undertakes routine maintenance and upgrading of all its facilities.
Developing visitor facilities and experiences
Blue Gum Hills Regional Park values the visitor experience of the area and encourages use of all facilities. Part of park management priorities includes ongoing work to develop new walking tracks and install interpretative signage. The inclusive and accessible space for children of all abilities to enjoy includes a musical play space, sand play and rock play areas, new balance beams, and accessible picnic tables.
Managing fire
NSW is one of the most bushfire prone areas in the world as a result of our climate, weather systems, vegetation and the rugged terrain. NPWS is committed to maintaining natural and cultural heritage values and minimising the likelihood and impact of bushfires via a strategic program of fire research, fire planning, hazard reduction, highly trained rapid response firefighting crews and community alerts.