Great Northern Road - Bucketty Wall Picnic Area - Bucketty Precinct - Yengo National Park morning tea and Lunch areas Bucketty, New South Wales, Australia
By HansJJ on 23-Jul-24. Waypoint GA28198

Geocaching takes you to many interesting places this series of Virtual caches will take you to lunch camping spots.

Over the years; caching has brought me to many interesting places which in turn many top camping / lunch spots.

The BIG problem is many had traditional caches & for many reasons they have been archived. So, my idea is to make them Virtual caches on the Australian caching site so people can enjoy them also & there isn’t any cache maintenance issues to be had into the future.

Next to Bucketty Wall Walking Track area

It has 2 off picnic tables & information board of national park

The Great North Road Convict Trail, surveyed in 1825 and completed in 1836, was constructed using convict labour. Up to 720 convicts - some in chains - worked on the road, which spanned 264 kilometre, connecting Sydney to the settlements of the Hunter Valley. It features spectacular and beautifully preserved examples of stonework, including buttresses, culverts, bridges and twelve-metre high retaining walls. Only 43 kilometres of the road remains undeveloped and relatively intact. Running through and alongside Dharug National Park and Yengo National Park, this section has been named the Old Great North Road. It goes from Wisemans Ferry in the south to Mount Manning (near Bucketty) in the north, and includes the oldest surviving stone bridges in mainland Australia. The road is closed to motor vehicles but makes a great walk over two or three days - or an exhilarating day's cycle.

Three ways to explore the Great North Road

European settlers were lured into the Hunter Valley by productive land and soon demanded a road be built to connect settlements and to transport supplies in and out.  Unfortunately, the road never became a popular connection due to improvements in shipping and the road was considered to be too remote - think feed and water for horses and bullocks rather than the fast food drive thru's and petrol stations of today.

Today parts of the road can still be driven but other parts are closed to vehicles making them the perfect playground for bushwalkers and mountain bikers.   While it isn’t the fastest route for Sydney siders to make their way into wine country it’s definitely a great way to go for those who prefer the road less travelled and take a look around.

The road is considered to be a great feat of engineering with remnants including stone retaining walls, wharves, culverts, bridges and buttresses. These can still be appreciated right along the entire Great North Road even in busy Sydney City suburbs including Epping and Gladesville, right through to the more remote parts of the road at Wisemans Ferry in Dharug and Yengo National Parks.

Best ways to experience the road:

1. Bushwalking

2. Mountain Bike

3. By Car

Follow the entire route from Sydney to Newcastle.

Plan ahead to follow the route by road - parts of the trip are remote and parts are on dirt road.  You won't be able to drive on the closed section between Wisemans Ferry and Bucketty but there is an alternate route via Settlers Road to St Albans and then following the St Albans Road to Mogo Creek.

All you need to do to log this Virtual is take a photo or photos of your stay / visit & 1 of them with your GPS in it

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