Type

Picnic areas

Where

The Rock Nature Reserve - Kengal Aboriginal Place in Murray-Riverina

Opening times

The Rock Nature Reserve – Kengal Aboriginal Place is always open but may have to close at times due to poor weather or fire danger.

What to
bring

Hat, sunscreen, drinking water

Please note

• Remember to take your binoculars if you want to go birdwatching.
• The weather in the area can be extreme and unpredictable, so please ensure you’re well-prepared for your visit.

A terrific place to settle down and admire the scenic splendour of The Rock is the nearby picnic area. Just off Lockhart -The Rock Road, this is both easy to access and equipped with everything you need to make the most of sunny afternoons. Pack a picnic hamper and a soccer ball to keep the family entertained, or bring along a paperback and take advantage of a shady spot beneath the box trees. How ever you travel, this is a prime picnicking spot for all types of visitors.

In spring, the area blooms with native wildflowers, though woodland birds provide a soothing soundtrack at any time of year. Bring your binoculars for birdwatching, or perhaps some hiking boots to drum up an appetite on Yerong walking track, which leads you to the top of the rock formation. Kengal (The Rock) picnic area is just one of several places to visit at The Rock Nature Reserve. It is a terrific place to begin and end any visit to the reserve.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Visitor info

Maps and downloads

Learn more

Geological significance

The reserve sits on the boundary between two major biophysical regions: the Riverine Plains and the western slopes of the Eastern Highlands. This geographic mix gives the area a terrific diversity of landscapes and animal habitats. The Rock itself, unique in the district, is the result of a pressure uplift of sedimentary materials, and is the highest point of a hogback ridge running north to south (The Rock is at the northern end). The summit stands 364m above the surrounding plains.

Living Aboriginal culture: Kengal

The dual name of the nature reserve (since 2005) acknowledges a Wiradjuri cultural presence that stretches back many generations. The Rock is also known as Kengal (meaning ‘sloping hill’), a Dreaming place, lookout, and ceremonial site for the Wiradjuri People and their descendants. It was once used for male initiation rituals. Traditional lore has it that Kengal was created by Baiame, the creator who also taught the Wiradjuri People how to make fire and spears. When settlers arrived in the area, stories go, Baiame left his male and female dingo (Mirrigan) companions, who lay in wait for Baiame’s return, forming The Rock.

'The Hanging Rock’

Charles Sturt first saw The Rock in 1829, though the area wasn’t settled further by Europeans until 1874. They called the remarkable geological feature ‘The Hanging Rock’ because of an overhang on its eastern face. This collapsed in 1874, however, leading to the adoption of its current name – simply, ‘The Rock’. For much of its modern life, the feature has sat on Crown land, and from 1891 its lower slopes were quarried for road base material to provide ballast on a Sydney-Melbourne rail line.