Wilcannia, NSW

Darling River Towns

Wilcannia, the Darling River town on the Barrier Highway between Cobar and Broken Hill, is a largely undisturbed port on the Darling River. Cross the bridge driving from Sydney to Broken Hill and turn either to your right or left when you enter the town and you will be amazed at the richness of the architecture.

About one hours drive (sealed) north of Wilcannia is the opal town of White Cliffs. Well worth a visit!

Being at the junction of the major east-west highway and the iconic 'Long Paddock' (The Cobb Highway which runs down to Echuca-Moama on the Murray River), it is a great access point for the Darling River Run. Upstream from Wilcannia is Tilpa and downstream is Menindee and the Menindee Lakes.

It is easy to see that Wilcannia was once a very important Outback NSW town and Darling Riverport and the remnants of a once-important inland port are evident. Some of the town's historic treasures include the National Trust classified old centre-lift bridge (1896), the beautiful 1880 post office, the Athenaeum Library (1883) and the impressive courthouse (1880), police station (1881), and the police residence (1880), which were all built of locally quarried sandstone and designed by James Barnet.

Wilcannia is located 965 km northwest of Sydney via the Great Western, Mitchell and Barrier Highways. It is on the very edge of the New South Wales desert experiencing only 252 mm of rainfall per annum, and much of that rain will fall in violent, if short, desert storms