Dungog is an idyllic countryside town on the Williams River, surrounded by rolling green hills scattered with towering cedar trees. Its location an hour’s drive away from Newcastle and close to the natural beauty of Barrington Tops and Myall Lakes National Parks make it perfectly situated for visitors looking to discover Australia’s lush nature or hit the beach to catch some of the country’s renowned rays. Every week, the town hosts the Dungog Local Growers Stall, which provides a great opportunity to try community-grown products and learn about local food production. Sitting to the west of town, nearby Dungog Common is a large outdoor area that focuses on protecting nature while also recognising the presence and importance of the Indigenous community in the region.

Dowling Street is a nice place to peruse boutiques, grab a coffee at a family-owned cafe, and sit down to lunch at a farm-forward restaurant. There’s also a small craft brewery where you can sample some of the local batches. The town’s close proximity to the coast, rushing rivers, and untamed bushland draw visitors searching for fresh country air and the thrill of sleeping under clear, starry skies.

International visitors will land at Sydney Airport (SYD); from there, the journey is 2.75 hours by car to your accommodation. Dungog is much closer to Newcastle, however, so you can also grab a local connection — it’s just a 40-minute flight — to Newcastle Airport (NTL), where you can pick up a rental car and drive to Dungog in 50 minutes. In either case, you’ll need a car to get around, as public transport is very limited in this area. The town itself is quite walkable along the northern end of the main strip of Dowling Street.

There’s not much rainfall in Dungog throughout the year, but the wettest season is the summer between December and March. This is also when the weather is the hottest, but its inland location keeps average temperature in the mid-20s Celsius. Visitors head down to the beaches along the coast in the summer months, but be prepared for the odd wet day. Autumn sees less rain between April and June and slightly cooler temperatures, which make it a prime time for outdoor activities like hiking and cycling. The winter months still boast comfortable conditions, but temperatures tend to drop a bit at night, so it would be wise to pack a jacket. This is also the dry season, so less rain between June and September balances out cooler days.

Barrington Tops National Park

This expansive nature preserve can be reached by car in just 35 minutes. It is listed as a World Heritage Area, too, given its unpolluted wild rivers and location in the Great Dividing Range, as well as its protection of unique fauna. Visitors come to hike its many trails, particularly to get up to Captain Thunderbolt’s lookout for panoramic views of the landscape.

Dungog Common

These 650 acres of land are designated for recreational use and environmental protection purposes. It’s also where the locals and visitors from Newcastle come to ride over 20 kilometres of local mountain biking tracks and spend an afternoon bushwalking. This place has maintained the biodiversity of this area, which has been home to the Gringai Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.

Worimi National Park

The area around Dungog is known for its nature, and Worimi Park, just an hour’s drive away, offers a coastal experience unlike any other in the region, thanks to its vast stretch of dunes. This area is not for swimming — most visitors come for activities like dune boarding or renting a quad bike for the day to take a tour of the sands.