The best things to do in Cobar, NSW – free, exclusive guide

The best things to do in Cobar, NSW, include the Great Cobar Museum, Cobar Sound Chapel and Mount Grenfell National Park.

4 best things to do in Cobar, NSW

Discover copper mining heritage at the Great Cobar Museum.
Look deep into an open cast mine at the Fort Bourke Hill Lookout.
Visit Aboriginal rock art sites in Mount Grenfell National Park.
Check out a weird art installation in an old water tower at the Cobar Sound Chapel.

Where is Cobar, NSW?

Cobar, NSW, is an outback town on the Barrier Highway. You’ll pass through on the drive from Sydney to Broken Hill, and it’s the last town on the highway that can even vaguely pass itself of as being in the country rather than the desert.

Things to do in Cobar, NSW: Great Cobar Museum

Things to do in Cobar, NSW, largely revolve around mining. The town was once Australia’s biggest copper producer, and the remnants of the Great Cobar Copper Mine are outside the Great Cobar Museum. This was former administration building for the mine, built in 1912.

As regional museums go, the Great Cobar Museum is pretty good. It covers local Aboriginal history as well as mining heritage. You can also get behind the controls of a massive excavator, while the building also hosts the Cobar Visitor Information Centre.

Things to do in Cobar, NSW: Miners Heritage Park and Fort Bourke Hill Lookout

Across the road from the Great Cobar Museum is the Cobar Miners Heritage Park, which assembles various bits of mining paraphernalia, including the 15 metre tall poppet-head from the New Cobar Mine. There’s also a pretty cool sculpture of a miner.

South-east of the town centre, you can visit the Fort Bourke Hill Lookout, which looks out over an open cast mine. The patterns carved into the ground to allow the mining trucks into the mine are pretty darned impressive.

What to do in Cobar, NSW: Cobar Sound Chapel

The newest tourist attraction in Cobar, NSW, is the Cobar Sound Chapel. This is an art installation inside a disused, century-old water tank.

Inside, a recording of a string quartet plays on a loop, 24 hours a day. The interior architecture was designed with the music in mind, and William Blake poetry is inscribed on the wall.

Cobar attractions: Mount Grenfell National Park

Perhaps the most important attraction in Cobar, however, is Mount Grenfell National Park. About 40km north-west of Cobar, this national park protects one of the most significant Aboriginal rock art sites in the country.

From the picnic area, it’s an easy 3km return walk to the rock art site. Slightly tougher is the Ngiyampaa walking track to the top of Mount Grenfell. This 4km loop track offers excellent views from the top.