Blue Gum Hills Aboriginal cultural tour
Blue Gum Hills Regional Park
Overview
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.
- When
Wednesday 10 January, 24 April, 17 July and 9 October 2024, 10am to 12pm.
- Where
- Blue Gum Hills Regional Park in North Coast
- Accessibility
- Easy
- Grade
- Medium. Suitable for adults and children 4 years and over. You’ll walk 2km.
- Price
-
Adult $15 per person. Child (4-16 years) $10 per person. Family $40 for 2 adults and 2 children.
- Meeting point
- Blue Gum Hills Regional Park main carpark.
- What to
bring - Hat, insect repellent, sturdy shoes, drinking water, snacks
- Bookings
- Bookings required. Phone 1300 072 757 for more information or book online. To book large organised groups and school tours email or call the NPWS Discovery Coordinator on 02 4927 3267.
Explore this amazing park, while gaining a unique insight into the wisdom of the world’s oldest living culture. You'll connect with this beautiful country as you listen to cultural stories. Discover the amazing variety of native plants that were used for food, shelter and medicinal purposes.
Aboriginal culture is very much alive today in NSW national parks. Aboriginal people have always and will always have a deep connection with the landscape. Everything in the landscape has significance, including the land and waterways, plants and animals. This history will forever be an integral part of this landscape.
Please wear enclosed shoes and bring insect repellent, drinking water and snacks.
Local alerts
For the latest updates on fires, closures and other alerts in this area, see https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/guided-tours/blue-gum-hills-aboriginal-cultural-tour/local-alerts
Bookings
- National Parks Contact Centre
- 7am to 7pm daily
- 1300 072 757 (13000 PARKS) for the cost of a local call within Australia excluding mobiles
- parks.info@environment.nsw.gov.au
Operated by
- NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
Park info
- in Blue Gum Hills Regional Park 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.
Visitor info
All the practical information you need to know about Blue Gum Hills Aboriginal cultural tour.
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 left, 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 onto Minmi Road at the lights, and you'll see the park entry gates on the right about 500m along Minmi Road.
Parking
Free parking available on entering the park.
Maps and downloads
Accessibility
Disability access level - easy
There are level paths throughout the tour and wheelchair-accessible toilets at the carpark.
Learn more
Blue Gum Hills Aboriginal cultural tour is in Blue Gum Hills Regional Park. Here are just some of the reasons why this park is special:
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.
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.
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.
Plants and animals protected in this park
Animals
-
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.