Canberra to Tamworth road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops

Canberra to Tamworth drive: Aberdeen and Scone

After Muswellbrook, the first town is Aberdeen, where you can hang out by the Hunter River in Jefferson Park.

There’s a potential detour to picnics, fishing and watersports-friendly Lake Glenbawn. Otherwise, Scone is the next town. The 4km Figtree Creek Track through Scone Mountain National Park is the highlight here.

The best places to stay in Scone

The top Scone accommodation options are:

For a cheap, but surprisingly good quality motel: Isis Motel.
For a bed and breakfast with an indoor pool: Strathearn Park Lodge.
For town centre location: Portman House.

Canberra to Tamworth road trip: Wingen, Murrurundi and Tamworth

Near Wingen, Towarri National Park offers a fabulous swimming spot – the Washpools Waterhole by the Washpools Picnic Area.

Then, between Wingen and Murualla, Mount Wingen is a smouldering coal seam where rocks change colour. The 4km walk trough the Burning Mountain Nature Reserve showcases the vents breaking through the earth’s surface.

Keep going and you’ll reach Murrurundi, a decent lunch stop with a few cafés, art galleries and hotels. You can dose up on local history at the Murrurundi Museum.

After the junction with the Kamilaroi Highway in Willow Tree, plough on towards Tamworth. On the way in, you can visit the First Fleet Memorial Garden in Wallabadah or take a tour of the Nundle Woollen Mill in Nundle.

Things to do in Tamworth include the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Tamworth Powerstation Museum, which is all about electricity and electronics.