The Fascinating Breadknife and Grand High Tops Walk in the Warrumbungle National Park NSW #hiking

Warrumbungle National Park is the first and only Dark Sky Park in Australia. Warrumbungle means crooked mountain in Gamilaroi. It is one of those places perfect for stargazing and also hiking. Ones will be amazed by its majestic ancient volcanic landscape and enchanting starry skies. During the Easter long weekend we decided to visit the Warrumbungles with some friends. This was our second visit and we were looking forward to sharing this wonderful hiking experience with our friends who were their first. We went for the Breadknife and Grand High Tops Walk and it is regarded as one of the best day walks in NSW. The details of the walk is as below: Breadknife and Grand High Tops Walk Steep Distance: Approximately 12km return Time: 4 - 5 hrs Start: Pincham Car Park Most parts of the walk was manageable for us except for the 600m climb to the Grand High Tops summit through the Breadknife. It’s a steep walk up to the summit. But the reward made all the hard work worthwhile. The views are truly captivating. On the top, we could see the close up views of the Warrumbungle NP iconic volcanic formations. The star attraction is definitely the Breadknife, a volcanic dyke standing at almost 100m tall and is particularly rare. The park contains the best representation of exposed volcanic features like spires, plugs, domes, dykes, sills, lava-flows, tuff layers and horizontal and vertical columns within the main north-south volcanic line in eastern Australia. The first European to sight and explore the area was John Oxley in 1818 on his second expedition through New South Wales. The area was first proclaimed as a reserve in 1953. In 1967 management of the park was signed over to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The construction of a network of walking tracks done by hand was headed by the parks first ranger, Carl Dow. Thanks to him that we can now walk on them. What a wonderful adventure we had together with our friends. Music: Cozy Place and Way to Dream Musician: @KeysofMoonMusic