An old goldmining town on the Barrier Highway in the New South Wales western outback. The Cobar Shire's prosperity is built around the thriving mining (copper, lead, silver, zinc, gold) and pastoral industries.

Location: 723 km north west of Sydney.

Fort Bourke Hill: affords an excellent view of the town and the surrounding mining activities and Towser's Huts (take the first turn on your left as you descend from the lookout), a series of stone miner's cottages dating from the late nineteenth century. The date of the cottages is not known for certain. They may have been constructed as early as the 1870s.


Aboriginal Rock Art: the Upper Western region is known for its fine Aboriginal art works. Outside Cobar at Mount Grenfell are some of the finest examples of rock art in Australia. There are three main rock shelters with over 1300 richly coloured images including human and animal figures. There are also excellent examples of hand stencils which are made when the hand is placed on the rock and ochre is blown over the hand. There are also some interesting abstract linear designs. These displays, most of which are applied with either fingertip or brush, are regarded as some of the best examples Aboriginal rock art in New South Wales.

Around 1,300 figures have been created in solid blocks of colour rather than as stick figures or single line designs. Large multicoloured panels are the result of superimposition by the Aboriginal painters. Aborigines were drawn to the site by a semi-permanent waterhole in what was an otherwise arid area. Head along the Barrier Highway for 40 km towards Wilcannia then take the signposted turnoff along a good gravel road to the picnic-barbecue-toilet area 32 km from the highway.