Lower Darling - river in Australia

The Lower Darling region covers the southwestern part of Outback New South Wales, strongly influenced by the Darling River, and to a lesser extent, the Murray River. The region is visited by many from Victoria as a weekend-trip, often to visit Mungo National Park.

For practical purposes, this article covers both Wentworth and Balranald Shires. Although the Central Darling Shire is sometimes considered to be a part of the Lower Darling geographically, it is not from a practical perspective – there is only one partially paved road, Pooncarie Road. Its main regional centre, Menindee, is easier accessed from Broken Hill.

Towns

There are two regional centres in the Lower Darling, both on the Sturt Highway (A20): Balranald and Wentworth. Although Pooncarie is not considered a regional centre, it's the only sign of civilization for kilometres on end, and can be considered one for the northern Lower Darling.

• Balranald – wedged between the edge of the Riverina and the Lower Darling, this town contains many well-preserved homesteads, especially in nearby Yanga National Park.
• Pooncarie – a waypoint town that practically has little to no purpose today
• Wentworth – famed for the merging point of the Murray and Darling Rivers In addition, there are also three other settlements, all on the banks of the Murray River, that are covered in another article. Buronga and Dareton are covered under Mildura, while Euston is covered under Robinvale.

Other destinations

The Lower Darling has two major national parks, including one (as part of the greater Willandra Lakes Region). Mungo National Park is what draws tourists to this region, but it has zero sealed roads to it, while Yanga National Park is a park visited more so as a stopover on the Sturt Highway.

• Mungo National Park – the region's main highlight, known for its eye-opening Walls of China
• Yanga National Park 📍 – contains many well-preserved homesteads In addition, there are also two other national parks:
• Kemendok National Park 📍 – a park alongside the banks of the Murray, but only contains one campground – see Robinvale
• Malle Cliffs National Park – a park with restricted access (and is closed to the public); this was done as a measure to protect vulnerable malleefowls (and is the only living species of its genus)

Understand

Get in

Non-vehicular transport to the Lower Darling is practically nonexistent – the only kind that does are the occasional buses that cross over from Victoria. This means that most of the region is only visitable by car, as there are no airports that receive regular scheduled flights.

There are four major roads that enter or pass through the Lower Darling:

• Sturt Highway (A20) from the Riverina (how most visitors from Sydney and the coast come from), and the Victorian side of the Murray (how most visitors from South Australia come from).
• Calder Highway (A79), the highway from Bendigo and eventually Melbourne (the road is known as the Calder Freeway south of Bendigo), how most Victorians arrive.
• Silver City Highway (B79) is not a common way of entering the region, but it connects Wentworth and Buronga from Broken Hill and Tibooburra in the Far West.
• Murray Valley Highway (B400) ends in Robinvale–Euston, and is a riverside route that parallels the Murray River from the NSW border near in the Snowy Mountains all the way in northeast Victoria.

If you're visiting Mungo National Park, you may be able to join a tour at Mildura, depending on avaliability – see Mungo National Park § Get in for more specific information.

Get around

Unless you're only getting around a town, which can be done on foot, or visiting Mungo National Park, you'll need a car to get around the small towns.

If you are walking in a town, make sure to bring water (at least half a litre), as the heat can exhaust you during summer.

See

By far, the most important thing to see are the Walls of China in Mungo National Park – the other dry lakes in the Willandra Lakes Region don't fall far behind. Otherwise, most towns will have at least one or two museums, and some towns like Wentworth or Pooncarie may have some historic sites back when the Darling River was important for trade.

Balranald has historic homesteads and museums that contain artifacts that highlight what life was like in rural southwestern New South Wales in the 19th century, while Yanga National Park contains many homesteads and woolsheads (warning: these woolsheads may be confronting if you're not prepared to find out about Australia's grueling sheep industry).

A hidden secret gem in the region near Wentworth is the Perry Sandhills – the sand here dates from about 40,000 years ago, before the last ice age. Who doesn't want to wrap up the day by sliding down a sandhill?

If you're into plants, consider visiting the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens in Dareton – while it contains flora from every inhabited content, there is a special emphasis on plants from inland Australia (and you can also see the South Australia's floral emblem, the sturt's pea)

Do

There are not that many things to do in the Lower Darling, but you can hike at one of Mungo or Yanga National Park's bushwalking trails.

Eat and drink

Food is limited here – if you're in one of the riverside towns along the Murray, you may have a better chance by sneaking over the border as Mildura and Robertson are significantly larger than their NSW counterparts across the border.

Most towns should have at least one hotel, pub, or bar, that serves hard drinks, though again, if you're in a riverside town along the Murray, you have a greater variety by peeping into Victoria.

Stay safe

Distances can be fairly vast across the Lower Darling, but unless you're venturing out deep into the Outback, then you don't need to fall into panic mode. If you're only travelling on the Sturt or Silver City Highways, you do not need a satellite phone – most networks have one bar, which is poor, but may not outweigh the costs of renting a satellite phone.

Like many other regions of rural New South Wales, animal collisions are common. Be extra vigilant while driving, especially during dawn and dusk.

Go next

Consider visitng Far West NSW to the north, and explore the Wild West, or even consider heading further up to geographical northwest New South Wales, and possibly to Cameron Corner via the Silver City Highway.

Alternatively, consider heading east or west along the Sturt Highway or south along the Calder and visit the Riverina or the Murray.