Old Great North Road - Clare's Bridge (2 days)

The Dubbo Gully and Ten Mile Hollow Circuit, taking in parts of the Old Great North Road, is one of the great multi-day walks of New South Wales — and one of the most historically layered.

Over two days and one night, this loop through Dharug National Park traces some of the earliest colonial infrastructure ever built on the continent: convict-constructed roads, stone bridges and pastoral tracks left largely untouched since the mid-twentieth century.

This is not a walk about scenery alone. It moves through the lived experience of the convict road gangs — up to 720 men who quarried, shaped and laid the sandstone that became the Great North Road between 1826 and 1836 — and through land cared for by its traditional Aboriginal owners long before settlers and pastoral families arrived.

The loop follows the World Heritage-listed Great North Road, Simpsons Track (1828) and Donnys Track (1940s), passing a landscape that still holds its evidence: Clares Bridge, one of the oldest surviving stone bridges on the Australian mainland; Fairview Homestead, the last remaining original homestead in the area; and the Upper Mangrove Creek Cemetery, overlooked by the site where St Thomas’s Anglican Church once stood.

Highlights

• Walk sections of the World Heritage-listed Great North Road (1826–1836), built by convict gangs, some working in leg irons
• Cross Clares Bridge, one of the oldest surviving stone bridges on the Australian mainland — built in 1830 and named after convict overseer Arnold Clare
• Explore Fairview Homestead (1922), the last remaining original homestead in the area
• Visit Upper Mangrove Creek Cemetery, Dubbo Gully (1847–1949) — overlooked by the site where St Thomas’s Anglican Church once stood; resting place of at least 21 early settlers
• Trace Simpsons Track (1828) and Donnys Track (1940s), historic roads given back to the landscape
• One night under canvas at Ten Mile Hollow Campground
• Creek crossings, rock scrambling and sweeping sandstone country throughout Dharug National Park
• Specialist-guided experience with qualified archaeologist/historian guides, small-group format

Overview

• Location. Mangrove Mountain, Dharug NP
• Duration / Distance. ~28km / 2 days (circuit)
• Track Grade. Grade 4 - Medium/Hard
• Fitness Level. High