Walk among the forest surrounding a frontier goldmine in the foothills of Barrington Tops at Copeland Tops State Conservation Area.
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Only a short drive from Gloucester town, Copeland Tops offers a couple of easy to moderate walking tracks with the option of a guided tour of the longest operating goldmine in New South Wales.
Copeland Tops is 18 kilometres from Gloucester heading northwest out of town on the Thunderbolts Way. After passing through the village of Barrington and over the Barrington River, continue on Scone Road until to reach the turn off for Copeland village, via Copeland Road. Follow Copeland Road through the historical mining town until you get to the Copeland Tops car park.
A word of warning: as Copeland Tops was once an active frontier goldmine there are still many exposed mine shafts and visitors are asked to stick to the marked paths.
Mountain Maid Gold Mine and Hidden Treasure Track are only accessible through a guided tour and pass remnants of the area's mining heritage, including a historic boiler and disused mine entrance. It's an easy walk through dry rainforest following Copeland Creek beneath a canopy of grey myrtle, shatterwood, yellow tulip and other dry rainforest species. Hidden Treasure Gold Reef was discovered in 1877. Despite the name, the treasure did not really stay hidden for long, and this mine became the area's second most productive, yielding 269 kilograms of gold after its construction.
A free option for a walk at Copeland is the Basin loop track, a fairly easy 7km loop that takes three and a half to four and a half hours to walk. It's a continuation of Hidden Treasure track and follows, for the northern part of its loop, historic Old Copeland Road. The track will lead you through dry rainforest to open forest that lines the ridge tops of this area. See how the vegetation changes along the way from red cedars, giant stinging trees and strangler figs in the moister, more protected sections of rainforest, to Sydney blue gums and Craven grey box in the sclerophyll forest on the more exposed and drier ridges.
For more information or to book a guided tour, visit the Barrington Tops Area National Park and Wildlife Service office on Church Street, Gloucester or the Gloucester Visitor Information Centre, 27 Dension Street.
