Mountain Maid Gold Mine

Mountain Maid Track
Copeland NSW 2422
Australia

Wednesday Open 24 hours Open today, Open 24 hours

In 1876, a man by the name of Saxby first discovered gold in the district. He found it around Back Creek, now Copeland Creek, near to what is now the village of Copeland. After his discovery, miners from everywhere descended on the area and the population grew to 1,100. Three pubs and four stores soon catered for the needs of 800 miners.

Find out more about the history of mining in the area and see where these gold-hungry souls toiled in Mountain Maid gold mine – one of New South Wales’ longest running operational gold mines. Walk around some historic buildings and get up close and personal with old machinery such as a battery stamper, whirly-gig gold separator, air compressor and gold carts.

Imagine what it was like for them working out here in this remote location. Do you think many noticed the beauty of the surrounding natural environment?

Copeland State Conservation Area, Mountain Maid Heritage Tour

What did others have to say?

Sean Lancaster

a year ago

This track is an easy 3-4km track that leads through some spectacular rainforest to an abandoned gold mine. The path is clearly sign posted and straightforward for most fitness levels. I would recommend 1-2hrs for the loop. At the base there is a car park and drop toilets. I'd recommend getting a map from in town to get there as there's no phone reception and Google Maps struggled to find the start of the track . Also make sure to check out the ancient fig tree at the end of the loop. There are guided walks available some mornings but I'd recommend checking with the tourist information centre in town as you must book first before showing up.

Timothy Rowe

3 years ago

Accessible by booked tour only, presently the tour doesn't enter a gold mine but the beauty and history of the area is well worth the visit. The volunteer National Parks Guides were very knowledgeable and did a fantastic job. A must see attraction specially while the creeks are running with water!

Zoe Whiting

4 years ago

We did this unexpectedly after stopping in at the visitors centre the day before. Once we had the information we thought we'd check it out and booked the guided walk through the NSW National Parks website. We had two guides, both were extremely knowledgeable, and a small group of 6. Whilst the mine isn't open to go in we learnt a lot about the machinery and mine methods and got to see some of the equipment in working action. The guides walk was an excellent mix of history and nature and the guides were extremely knowledgeable about plants and through in some info about their indigenous uses. We would highly recommend this tour which took just over 2 hours.

Clare Jennings

4 years ago

It is a beautiful place, but there are limited "mine" activities. More like a bush walk with a few things mine related to look at. You cannot access the mine itself, and to see inside the buildings you need to be with a tour guide.

Anne Rzechowicz

4 years ago

Just did ran the ghost tour with Renata from Newcastle Ghost tours at the old gold mine. What an amazing, beautiful forest AND some great ghostly experiences to boot. Make sure you go to the Gloucester museum too to see all the artifacts. AnneandRenata.com