Beautifully located in its own valley and watched over by rocky sentinels, Gloucester is the closest town for adventures in the Gondwana rainforests of Barrington Tops.
Make Gloucester your basecamp for adventures in world heritage Barrington Tops.
Directions to Gloucester
How to get to Gloucester by car, train, coach or plane.
Famously scenic since 1826
A scenic one hour drive from the Pacific Ocean coastline brings you to Gloucester via the Bucketts Way. It’s one of the state’s oldest tourist drives, and for good reasons: short drives around the district take you to dramatic mountain ranges and picturesque valleys and rivers.
Gloucester is a small country town with a remarkable backdrop of the Buccan Buccans (Bucketts Mountains) surrounded by productive farms and high forested mountains. The town sits in its own valley at the junction of three rivers - the Gloucester, Avon and Barrington - in the upper catchment of the Manning River. These waters that were born in the high altitude wetlands of Barrington Tops eventually meet the sea via the Manning River double delta at Harrington.
World heritage parklands
Gloucester is the closest town to renowned wilderness destinations in the Barrington Tops parklands, Woko and Copeland Tops.
You’ll be enthralled by high altitude ancient rainforests, towering tree fern groves, snow gum glens and exhilarating mountain views. Gloucester has long enjoyed the epithet of basecamp for Barrington Tops so it’s the perfect place to set out on your Gondwana adventures.
A town full of things to do
Gloucester is justifiably proud of its many parks and public areas that make the most of the scenic location. Greeting you at the southern entrance to town is the golf course which must be the prettiest in the state, you’ll be challenged to keep your eyes off the stunning views. In the centre of town is Gloucester District Park that offers an unbeatable range of sporting facilities in its beautiful riverside location: a fully equipped recreation centre for indoor sports, football fields for all codes, basketball, tennis, lawn bowls and even croquet. Plus the jewel in the crown is the Olympic pool complex that includes a heated hydrotherapy centre.
Gloucester’s popular café culture caters to all tastes, there are two pubs with excellent bistros plus three licensed clubs for drinks with friends, meals, entertainment and ever-changing shows. And if you like wine, then you’ll love the selection of boutique wineries scattered in the pretty valleys from Stroud to Gloucester and towards the coast.
Outdoor activities are our specialty
Further afield there’s a huge range of outdoor adventure and activities to enjoy. Try white water paddling by canoe or kayak, the local rivers are good for beginners, intermediate and experienced paddlers too. Or go horse riding, you’ll ride the same scenic riverside trails of Captain Thunderbolt. Plus there are plenty of fishing spots and walking trails in the parks that take you to rarely visited waterfalls, wetlands and breathtaking lookouts.
Tidy Towns winner 1981 to 2015
Gloucester was awarded the first-ever NSW Tidy Towns Award in 1981. The town has enjoyed a stellar performance in subsequent years with category awards in 1983, 1984, 1996, 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2013. And in the final year of the awards under the Tidy Towns name, Gloucester again won the coveted NSW Overall Tidy Town Award in 2015. We’re proud of our town.