Nyngan, NSW: What are the best things to do and attractions?

The best things to do in Nyngan, NSW, are visiting the Nyngan Museum and stopping for photos at the Big Bogan.

Nyngan, NSW, is way off the normal tourist track. In the Orana region of Central New South Wales, Nyngan is roughly halfway between Dubbo and Bourke. It’s a junction town on the Mitchell Highway and Barrier Highway, so you’ll pass through if driving from Dubbo to Broken Hill via Cobar and Wilcannia.

Nyngan, NSW, is very much a service town. But there are a few things to do in Nyngan if you happen to be passing through.

Things to do in Nyngan, NSW: Museums

The two main cultural attractions are the Nyngan Museum and Mid State Shearing Shed. The Nyngan Museum, which would be your bog-standard local history museum, were it not for the section showing videos of the 1990 Bogan River flood. In fact, the museum was built in response to the flood, as the town realised it needed to save what it had left.

The Mid State Shearing Shed is inside an old railway goods shed. It takes a well-meaning look at the shearing industry, and its historic impact on the region.

Things to do in Nyngan, NSW: The Big Bogan

But the attraction most visitors will stop for in Nyngan, NSW, is the Big Bogan. This is one of Australia’s famed Big Things – cheesy, giant roadside tourist traps that somehow become loveable because of the naffness.

The Big Bogan in Nyngan, New South Wales. Photo courtesy of Destination NSW.

Erected in 2015, the Big Bogan is a 5.96m-tall statue of a man in a singlet, thongs and baseball cap, holding a fish he’s just caught on a line. This is, of course, an affectionate tribute to the vernacular Australian bogan – the unrefined Aussie bloke. And it’s in Nyngan, because Nyngan’s on the River Bogan

Nyngan accommodation options include the Alamo Motor Inn.

Driving times to Nyngan, NSW

Bourke to Nyngan: Distance 204km, driving time 2h5m.

Broken Hill to Nyngan: Distance 588km, driving time 6h4m.

Cobar to Nyngan: Distance 131km, driving time 1h21m.

Dubbo to Nyngan: Distance 166km, driving time 1h47m.

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