Discover the feet friendly trails and stunning scenery along the Great Dividing Range

Enjoy one of the finest guided walking tours in Australia’s World Heritage wilderness and National Parks.

Explore Australia’s most influential land form and awesome scenery along the Great Dividing Range, an 11 day “green” journey in absolute contrast to the arid outback perception of Australia.

Visit the Girraween and Bald Rock National Parks, World Heritage New England, Oxley Wild Rivers, Barrington Tops and Greater Blue Mountains National Parks – Experience the very evolution and natural heritage of Australia.

2023 departures and prices now available. Register now for your priority reservation and advanced releases.

Secure your reservation by firstly enquiring about availability today. 

From our guests:

“You provided more than just a good local guide, which all tours do, but an all encompassing presentation of the evolution of Australia and what you see today, including land management, history, legends, Aboriginal culture etc. You have a world class program and must continue on this way – keep going” - Maile USA

“Thank you so much for a most enjoyable and memorable tour.  There were many highlights - the superb lyrebirds being one of them, of course. We didn’t realise such countryside and scenery existed in Australia and the birding and photography opportunities were plentiful. We very much enjoyed your company and hope that our paths will cross again. Our best wishes and let’s keep in touch.” - Stephen and Maureen UK

 

Tour Highlights

Why you'll like this tour

Surprise yourself. Step into the very evolution of Australia from the Antarctic connection to drifting tectonic plates passing over volcanic hot-spots. Then continental separation giving rise to thousands of unique endemic species.

  • Wander through wild landscapes of giant granite monoliths, tors and precariously balanced boulders, the powerful acts of nature over 225 million years
  • Explore the amazing escarpment and canyon trails of the Greater Blue Mountains, a one million hectare reserve preserved for its geographic, botanic and cultural values, including the Wollemi Pine of the dinosaur era
  • View tortuous gorges and waterfalls carving into the New England and Oxley Wild Rivers National Parks
  • Enjoy a guided tour deep into the wondrous world of historic limestone caves
  • Discover back country insights into bushranger legends, pioneering history, pastoral stations and dynasties, plus villages of the “Forgotten Valley”, roads designed and built in the convict era
  • Witness some of the finest untracked wilderness panoramas in Australia
Enlarge Map
walking-tours-great-divide-tours

Itinerary

Day 1 - Brisbane to Tenterfield

- back roads through the world heritage scenic ranges

Leave the river city, once a penal settlement, for the world heritage Border Ranges, waterfalls and grand granite monoliths, then discover the birthplace of our nation.

Features

  • You’ll travel south from the city toward the lush farming land of the “Scenic Rim” and “Border Ranges” to enjoy a coffee/tea break in the village of Boonah
  • View a rich tapestry of hinterland and lifestyle seeker farming lots with the Scenic Rim drawing near
  • Learn a little of Brisbane, chosen as a penal settlement, local exploration by the tyrant commandant, early pioneering endeavours and conflict with the Indigenous peoples
  • From Mt French National Park assimilate the volcanic creation of a world heritage mountain range and subsequent millions of years of weathering to form the ever changing landscape
  • Journey through lush forests between mountain peaks to the spring fed headwaters of Australia’s longest and historic inland river system - the Darling River
  • Take a circuit walk to view the Queen Mary Falls plunging over its volcanic ledge
  • Remote back roads lead toward an historic stone fruit growing and wine producing region for a unique lunch break in a local farm shed
  • Contemplate life on the run for “Thunderbolt”, one of our legendary bushrangers. Visit one of his hideouts and learn of his gentlemanly ways, hero following and questionable demise
  • Enjoy a 2 hour return summit walk on Bald Rock, the monolith offering amazing 360 degree views of the granite belt which stretches 400 kms across two States
  • Enter the historic township of Tenterfield, where the impassioned speech of an English immigrant turned politician, Henry Parkes, led to the “birthplace of the nation”
  • There is much to explore in this township, set around bush legends and folklore, our First Nations peoples, Australia’s fondest bush poet Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson, scoundrel from the Boer War, Breaker Morant, the Tenterfield Saddler and his grandson, broadway star Peter Allen

Accommodation

Quality ensuite rooms - Regional Motel - 2 nights

Meals

Cafe style M/Tea, A/Tea and tailgate picnic lunch

Motel restaurant dinner

Travel

Driving:  330 kms in 4 relaxed stages over the full day

Walking:  2 short 1.5 kms / 45 min walks and an optional 2.4 kms / 2 hr walk with steady ascent and descent on granite monolith, all on formed national park trails

Day 2 - Day visit exploring Girraween National Park

- Inspirational walks in an iconic granite boulder strewn landscape

Enjoy a day of guided trail walks through an extraordinary world of granite, wildflowers, birds and wildlife known as the Granite Belt, part of Australia’s spine, the Great Dividing Range

Features

  • We’ll pack our supplies for an active walking day and head for Girraween National Park. The walks will range from 2 to 4 hours each, to features creatively described as Castle Rock, Turtle Rock and The Sphinx, or the granite slabs lining Bald Rock Creek to The Junction
  • Discover an evolutionary inselberg landscape of massive granite outcrops, large angular tors and precariously balanced boulders. Explore in, around and under this fascinating world
  • The story unfolds of the interdependent connection between rock, soil, flora, fauna and humans
  • Enjoy the showcase of spring wildflowers and foraging honey eating birdlife - Girraween being defined as the “place of flowers”
  • The park is also the merging point of ranging wildlife and birds from all points of the compass and habitats

Accommodation

Quality ensuite rooms - Regional Motel

Meals

Picnic style Tailgate M/Tea, A/Tea and Lunch

Evening restaurant dinner and breakfast

Travel

Driving: 76 kms locally in 2 stages throughout the day

Walking: Optional 2 walks on formed National Park trails each of 2 to 3 hrs, the first over undulating terrain and a short moderate climb, the other flat and easy

Day 3 - Tenterfield to Armidale

- traversing the high tableland country

The New England Tablelands signifies your arrival in some of Australia’s most elevated pastoral country, where dynasties have prospered and forces of nature are carving into the volcanic escarpment

Features

  • Pass through the acclaimed Celtic hub of Australia, complete with its own “standing stones” and small towns lined with the autumn beauty of willows and elms
  • Contemplate the conflict and terror between European settlers and Aboriginal peoples where cultural differences led to a tragic local massacre
  • Enter historic Armidale with its cold climate gardens and parks and institutions of higher regional education
  • Take an afternoon walk to the rim of a dramatic gorge and falls in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park and search for the endangered and shy Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby family. Detect the haunting cries and powerful flight of Peregrine Falcons nesting seasonally on the precipice of the 120m deep ravine.
  • Visit some of Australia’s wealthiest Merino wool growing regions where dynasties hosted royalty and pioneering settler families were so moved to build a chapel and extraordinary memorials to their fallen family heroes
  • Pause in the tiny town of Uralla and reflect on a childhood of connective experiences which has led to the establishment of Nature Bound Australia

Accommodation

Quality ensuite rooms - Regional Motel - 2 nights

Meals

Motel restaurant breakfast and dinner

Cafe lunch and tea breaks

Travel

Driving:  227 kms in 4 relaxed stages throughout the day

Walking: Roaming at travel breaks and features, plus 2 kms flat walk on formed national park trail in the afternoon

Day 4 - Day visit exploring New England National Park

- Immerse yourself in the ancient world heritage wonders

Tread deep into an ancient and wondrous world of rainforests and twisted snow gums, then gaze across ridges of untracked wilderness, the protector of habitats, wild creatures and mystery of life

Features

  • Discover tortuous gorges carving their way into the Great Divide escarpment headed with plummeting waterfalls
  • Search for our largest bird of prey, the Wedge-tailed Eagle, soaring on the thermals or detect the shuffle of an Echidna across the forest floor, one of our unique living fossils
  • Enjoy a 2 hr walk along undulating trails to view two of Australia’s most dramatic ravines and gorges
  • Find yourself on the wilderness edge of the world heritage New England National Park, a reserve of high geological significance, diversity of habitats, plants and animal species
  • Impenetrable ridges of volcanic origin dating back 500 million years protect dense sub-tropical and cool temperate rainforest through to high country snow gums and a windswept plateau of stunted heath
  • Be on the alert for a chance meeting with a Superb Lyrebird or a Spotted-tailed Quoll
  • Enjoy the crater’s edge panorama stretching over 75 kms of trackless wilderness to the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean
  • Deep in the cool temperate rainforest you will discover a remnant community of ancient Antarctic Beech Trees, thousands of years old, having direct link to the super-continent of Gondwanaland, 125 million years ago
  • All around hanging from mist moistened trees are curtains of epiphytes or “air-plants”
  • Follow the “Waterfall Way” to the twin drops of Ebor Falls before returning to Armidale

Accommodation

Quality ensuite rooms - Regional Motel

Meals

Motel restaurant dinner and breakfast

Tailgate picnic tea breaks and lunch

Travel

Driving:  185 kms in 4 relaxed stages throughout the day

Walking: 2.5 kms return / 1.5 hr walk on undulating formed National Park trail

Optional 2.5 kms / 3 hr National Park rainforest trail with a few challenging scrambles over boulders - ok for moderately fit

Optional 3.00 kms / 2 hrs National Park fire trail walk with slight grade variations

Day 5 - Armidale to Gloucester

- discovering wild rivers and the lives of legendary heroes and villains

Learn of the life and times of revered, unsung and notorious Australians as you travel  through their homeland and discover the spectacle of an Oxley Wild Rivers gulch

Features

  • The rolling landscape is home to Australia’s finest Merino sheep where world record fleeces were recorded. A Tiger Moth aircraft was the first ever to fertilise our rural landscape from the air
  • Visit the final resting place of legendary cattle drover Nat Buchanan. His prodigious droving feats, with huge herds of cattle, into the Northern Territory and Western Australia meant he settled more country than any other man. But he died with very little. He survived on an uncanny sense of observation, direction, Indigenous awareness and bushcraft
  • The central streets are an open air gallery of sculptures carved from local timbers, firming Walcha’s place on the Australian cultural map - an art friendly town
  • Take a walk along the spectacular Apsley Gorge in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, where nearby, explorer John Oxley camped and opened the settler pathway to the New England Tableland. View nature’s gulch from the rim.
  • Oxley wrote in his journal, he was "lost in astonishment at the sight of this wonderful natural sublimity”.
  • Here the unspoken history of conflict around Aboriginal land dispossession, killing of wildlife and domestic animals, saw settlers taking the law into their own hands with tragic outcomes
  • The forested wilderness around Nowendoc once provided a retreat for bushrangers and “wanted” fugitives
  • Part of the glorious descent down Thunderbolt’s Way could well have been called “family way” given it was a local pioneering sawmiller and his two sons who built challenging sections of the road, tired of inaction by politicians of the time
  • Find Gloucester nestled in a picturesque valley beneath the Bucketts Range. The town of 2300 has become the unofficial  “base camp” for visitors to the nearby world heritage Barrington Tops National Park and our walks in the wild tomorrow

Accommodation

Spacious ensuite rooms - country motel - 2 nights

Meals

Cafe M/Tea & A/Tea

Tailgate picnic lunch

Breakfast at motel restaurant

Dinner at a community club

Travel

Driving:  244 kms in 4 stages throughout the day

Walking:  Roaming at travel breaks and features plus one 3 kms return walk in 1.5 hrs on formed national park trail

Day 6 - Day visit exploring Barrington and Gloucester Tops

- Friendly trails through an ancient world heritage wilderness

Visit the magical wilderness of Gondwanaland where all is rare and pure, even after millions of years and defying mankind’s penchant to interfere

Features

  • Barrington Tops National Park, incorporating Gloucester Tops, protects the most extensive strip of diverse rainforest anywhere on earth
  • A declared wilderness it contains an irreplaceable record of life on our planet carved out of ancient volcanic flows. The evolution of species over millions of years. It rises in elevation from near sea level to 1500 metres
  • Stroll for 3 to 5 hours along easy formed trails, through cool temperate and dim ancient Antarctic Beech forests, to open snow gum woodland and grasses. Linger by pure streams flowing over moss covered glades

Accommodation

Spacious ensuite rooms - country motel

Meals

Walking sustenance

Tailgate picnic M/Tea. A/Tea and lunch

Down town cafe breakfast and local hotel dinner

Travel

Driving:  116 kms in 3 stages throughout the day

Walking:  Total of 7 kms of walking on 3 different easy going formed national park trails

Day 7 - Gloucester to Wisemans Ferry

- through “The Forgotten Way”

Values spring to mind when travelling through a region of apparent wealth then into a forgotten valley where convicts and “First Fleeter” chose a life of humble obscurity, in the wild

Features

  • Today’s journey through Dungog and Gresford is filled with Welsh settler and timber industry history.
  • The Hunter Valley with its wineries, manicured horse studs and extensive coal mining sites, is one of Australia’s most productive and wealthy regions. Savour a vineyard lunch?
  • We pass by Yengo National Park heading for a convict built back road in the wilds of “The Forgotten Valley” leading to the historic village of St Albans and your overnight break at Wisemans Ferry on the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury River.
  • You are entering magnificent sandstone country synonymous with the unique native flora of Australia.
  • “The Forgotten Valley”, a beautiful but very remote retreat which has been by-passed by all major road and rail corridors out of the city of Sydney.

Accommodation

Quality ensuite rooms at country motel

Meals

Motel room service breakfast

Cafe M/Tea

Winery for Lunch

Tailgate A/Tea

Hotel restaurant dinner

Travel

Driving:  289 kms in 4 stages throughout the day

Walking:  Roaming at various feature stops and serendipity moments

Day 8 - Wisemans Ferry to Blackheath

- bound for The Greater Blue Mountains

Beyond the chaos of a celebrated city lies a rich natural heritage and health retreat of the 1800’s, still nurturing mankind’s quest for balance, inspiration and adventure in a demanding life

Features

  • You are headed for the world heritage area of the Greater Blue Mountains, a reserve of over one million hectares, noted for its geographic, botanic and cultural values.
  • Time for a botanic treat with a visit to the Blue Mountains cold climate gardens and terraced exhibits dating back 120 years.
  • Look for the extraordinary inclusion of Wollemi Pines drawn from base specimens found deep in a secret canyon of the Wollemi National Park in 1994, thought to be extinct but located accidentally by a bushwalker / parks employee. One of the world’s oldest and rarest plants from the dinosaur era in natural history - oldest known fossil 90 million years
  • We’ll complete the day with a 6 kms return walk to Pulpit Rock from the staggering view over Grose Valley at Govetts Leap and an equally stunning experience at Pulpit Rock. A taste of walking excitement to come.

Accommodation

Quality ensuite rooms - Federation Gardens Cabins - 3 nights

Meals

Motel restaurant breakfast

Gardens cafe M/Tea

Village cafe lunch

Village restaurant dinner

Travel

Driving: 146 kms in 3 stages throughout the day

Walking: Roaming at feature stops plus afternoon 6 kms / 3 hr return walk, gently undulating on formed national park trail

Day 9 - Discovering the Greater Blue Mountains National Park

- Sublime scenery and moments of mindfulness along historic trails

The most wondrous moments in life are often discovered on foot as you connect deeply with nature, searching across a grand panorama, finding intimacy within a hidden canyon and embracing the possibility only you have experienced it.

Features

  • Fancy an invigorating picnic breakfast on a sublime point overlooking the grand Blue Mountains panorama 
  • Enjoy a magnificent 4 kms / 4 hr trail walk along the escarpment cliff face or other historic pass, built by passionate naturalist walkers swinging pick and shovel over 100 years ago
  • Ascend through cascading waterfalls to a homely mud brick restaurant serving a delightful and rewarding walkers lunch
  • Step across the dampened trail behind a wall of water showering from the hanging swamps above
  • Fired with enthusiasm for the Greater Blue Mountains, you’ll visit the headquarters of the National Park Service and plan further experiences for the days ahead.

Accommodation

Quality ensuite rooms - Federation Gardens Cabins

Meals

Picnic breakfast

Morning walking sustenance

Lunch at heritage cafe in the wild

Village restaurant dinner

Travel

Driving:  Nominal local access travel only

Walking: Select guided walks morning and afternoon, each of 2 to 4 hour duration on formed national park trails, subject to trail availability and park management

Day 10 - Exploring the wonders of Jenolan Caves and Kanangra Boyd National Park

- From fresh mountain air to glorious caves and precipitous walls

Beauty and grandeur will be discovered above and below mother earth in this stunning day of contrast, strolling through illuminated show caves and along the awe-inspiring walls of the Kanangra Deep

Features

  • Descend into the steep forested Jenolan valley for a guided tour of the underground wonderland, historic Jenolan Caves,
  • A remarkable discovery of large chambers, richly draped illuminated limestone formations, crystals, straws, stalactites, stalagmites, columns and underground river systems
  • Enjoy a coffee in the classic alpine, federation arts and crafts style wilderness retreat of Caves House, designed and built in 1897
  • Walk out onto and along the Kanangra Walls wilderness to enjoy a day-pack lunch while gazing down into “The Deep” of Kanangra Boyd National Park.

Accommodation

Quality ensuite rooms - Federation Gardens Cabins

Meals

Early continental breakfast in room

Cafe M/Tea

Day-pack lunch on the walk

Village cafe A/Tea

Village restaurant for dinner

Travel

Driving: 264 kms in 5 stages throughout the day

Walking:  Guided show cave inspection in morning. 3 to 4 kms / 2 to 3 hrs plateau walk, mainly flat going, a few minor climbs on formed national park trails

Day 11 - Blackheath, Blue Mountains to Sydney

- Parting discoveries and memories in a grand canyon

The quiet solitude of a canyon walk seems a fitting time to commit all the iconic landscapes, people and serendipity moments of the tour to your personal archive of fond memories

Features

  • End your memorable Great Divide Tour in the secluded depths of a grand canyon complete with its descending stone stairs and trail constructed in 1907. Peer into the adventurer canyoning slots, brush by the sandstone walls and feel part of, at one with the unique ecosystem
  • Take in the select offerings of inspirational lookouts, famous galleries and historic villages before descending to your journeys end in Sydney

Accommodation

Tour completed

Meals

Village cafe breakfast and lunch

Morning walking sustenace

Travel

Driving:  85 kms drive into Sydney

Walking: Morning 6 kms / 3 to 4 hr loop canyon track with stone staircase descent and ascent on formed national park trail

Best Value Inclusions

  • All accommodation
  • All meals with breakfast, lunch and min 2 course dinner with choices
  • Morning and afternoon teas
  • Glass of wine with dinner if you wish
  • Spontaneous travel treats and refreshments
  • Tour transport and guides
  • All National Park entry fees
  • A number of feature entries
  • Pre-tour briefing and meet ‘n greet function
  • Local guides and guests, as available
  • Tenterfield Historic precinct entry
  • Jenolan Caves guided tour
  • Informative travel reference kit
  • Use of on-board reference materials and facilities
  • A meaningful tour memento
  • Personalised pre-tour planning advice to maximise your enjoyment of the experience
  • What we don't include:
    • Expenditure of a personal nature
    • Pre and post tour travel and accommodation arrangements
    • Travel and comprehensive contingency insurance

Pricing & Departure Dates

All Inclusive Prices. Loyalty and Group Discounts apply - enquire

2025 Departures

Departs Concludes Early Bird Offer Regular Price
02 Mar 2025 12 Mar 2025 - pp / twin share $8190 pp / twin share Book Now
05 Nov 2025 15 Nov 2025 $7890 pp / twin share $8190 pp / twin share Book Now
Departs 02 Mar 2025
Concludes 12 Mar 2025
Early Bird Offer - pp / twin share
Regular Price $8190 pp / twin share
Book Now
Departs 05 Nov 2025
Concludes 15 Nov 2025
Early Bird Offer $7890 pp / twin share
Regular Price $8190 pp / twin share
Book Now

WHAT OUR GUESTS SAY


  • “John’s and Ros’ best attributes are their attention to detail, extensive general knowledge about the areas we travel through, their flexibility and their ability to cater to each guest’s needs and interests.  It is like traveling with the best of old friends!”
    Merri (Sth Aust.)

Have you completed this tour? Click here to submit a review!

Other tours that may interest you

Uniquely Australia National Parks Tour

15 days
FROM $9974
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Great Divide Iconic Landscapes Tour

11 days
FROM $8190
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Australia World Heritage Wilderness Tour

7 days
FROM $5250
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Corner Country Outback Tour

14 days
$9100
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Tasmania National Parks Tour

17 days
FROM $10748
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Big Rivers Outback Tour

11 days
FROM $8050
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Adelaide to Alice Springs Classic Outback Tour

15 days
FROM $10250
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Central Australia - Red Centre Tour

11 days
FROM $9900
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Outback to Reef Tour

13 days
FROM $9918
pp / twin share
all inclusive
View Tour

Booking for Great Divide Iconic Landscapes Tour






    Enter your email address to receive the latest news on feature tours,
    walking tips, new release Blog posts and connecting with nature

    Loading