| Burragorang New South Wales | |
|---|---|
 View of the Burragorang Valley | |
| LGA(s) | Wollondilly Shire |
| Region | Macarthur |
Burragorang or Burragorang Valley is a locality in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia, in Wollondilly Shire. It is home to Lake Burragorang, which is impounded by Warragamba Dam. It is partially encompassed by Blue Mountains National Park and Nattai National Park.
For tens of thousands of years before European colonisation, the Burragorang area was inhabited by the Gandangara (or Gundagurra) people, who lived throughout the south-east region of New South Wales. [1] [2] [3]
In 1827, the town of Burragorang was established.[ citation needed ] Coal mining commenced in 1878 and, up to the 1960s, the area was a major supplier of coal. [4] [5] Lead and silver were also mined in the valley until about 1927.[ citation needed ]
With the boom in Sydney's population after World War II, the Warragamba Dam was constructed between 1948 and 1960 [6] on the Warragamba River, inundating the Burragorang Valley, creating Lake Burragorang. Consequently, the town of Burragorang and others like it in the valley were lost under water. [4]
The area around Burragorang and Nattai had been home to numerous collieries from the 1920s to the 1990s, such as the Nattai-Bulli, Oakleigh, Wollondlly, Nattai North and Valley collieries. It is estimated 72 million tonnes of coal was mined in the Burragorang-Nattai region. [4] The area also had deposits of oil shale, and some mining of shale occurred. [7] [8]
The ABC programme, A Drowned Valley, [9] by ABC Open producer, Sean O'Brien, documented former residents' memories of living in the valley before its inundation.
The Burragorang Valley has some scenic lookouts over the valley and lake. [10] [11]
The name Burragorang derives from the language of the indigenous Gandangara people, perhaps from the word "burro", which means "kangaroo", or perhaps from "booroon", which means "small animal", and the word "gang", which means to hunt. Therefore, Burragorang is believed to mean "place to hunt kangaroo" or "place to hunt small animals". [4] However, another reference claims that Burragorang is a Gandangara word which means "home or place of the giant Kangaroo". [12]
The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 267,954-hectare (662,130-acre) national park is situated approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of the Sydney CBD, and the park boundary is quite irregular as it is broken up by roads, urban areas and areas of private property. Despite the name mountains, the area is an uplifted plateau, dissected by a number of larger rivers. The highest point in the park is Mount Werong at 1,215 metres (3,986 ft) above sea level; while the low point is on the Nepean River at 20 metres (66 ft) above sea level as it leaves the park.
The Nattai National Park is a protected area located in the Macarthur and Southern Highlands regions of New South Wales, Australia. The 48,984-hectare (121,040-acre) area is situated approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) southwest of the Sydney central business district and primarily encompasses the valley of the Nattai River, which is surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Part of the Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland, the park is covered in dry sclerophyll (hard-leafed) forest – mostly eucalypt, and has frequent forest fires. As of May 2024, the park has no facilities.
Warragamba Dam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is a concrete gravity dam, which creates Lake Burragorang, the primary reservoir for water supply for the city of Sydney. The dam wall is located approximately 65 kilometres (40 mi) W of Sydney central business district, 4½ km SW of the town of Wallacia, and 1 km NW of the village of Warragamba.
Lake Burragorang is a man-made reservoir in the lower Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, serving as a major water supply for greater metropolitan Sydney. The dam impounding the lake, the Warragamba Dam, is located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of the Sydney central business district.
The Jamison Valley forms part of the Coxs River canyon system in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated approximately 100 kilometres west of Sydney, capital of New South Wales, and a few kilometres south of Katoomba, the main town in the Blue Mountains.
The Wollondilly River, an Australian perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury–Nepean catchment, is located in the Southern Tablelands and Southern Highlands regions of New South Wales. The river meanders from its western slopes near Crookwell, flowing south-east through Goulburn, turning north-east to near Bullio, flowing north-west to Barrallier, before finally heading north-easterly into its mouth at Lake Burragorang.
Megalong Valley is part of the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is located west of Katoomba. On its eastern side, the valley is separated from the Jamison Valley by Narrow Neck Plateau. The Shipley Plateau overlooks part of the valley.
The Katoomba to Mittagong Trail is a 132-km long-distance walking trail that starts in the Blue Mountains at Katoomba and finishes at Mittagong in the Southern Highlands.
The Greater Blue Mountains Area is a World Heritage Site located in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The 1,032,649-hectare (2,551,730-acre) area was placed on the World Heritage List at the 24th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Cairns in 2000.
Wentworth Falls is a town in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, situated approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, and about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) east of Katoomba, Australia on the Great Western Highway, with a Wentworth Falls railway station on the Main Western line. The town is at an elevation of 867 metres (2,844 ft) AHD. At the 2016 census, Wentworth Falls had a population of 6,076.
Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area, located on the south west fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia, parts of which fall into the Macarthur, Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands regions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wollondilly is seen as the transition between Regional NSW and the Greater Sydney Region, and is variously categorised as part of both. Wollondilly Shire was created by proclamation in the NSW Government Gazette on 7 March 1906, following the passing of the Local Government (Shires) Act 1905, and amalgamated with the Municipality of Picton on 1 May 1940.
The Gandangara people, also spelt Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gundungurra and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Shire, The Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands.
The Oaks is a town in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia in Wollondilly Shire on the south western edge of the Sydney Basin. The Oaks is located 82 kilometres (51 mi) south-west of Sydney via the Hume Highway, 13 kilometres (8 mi) west of Camden and 290m above sea-level. At the 2016 census, The Oaks and the surrounding area had a population of 2,525.
The Warragamba River, a river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Macarthur region of New South Wales, Australia.
The Kings Tableland is a plateau located in the Blue Mountains in Wollondilly Shire, New South Wales, Australia.
The Nattai River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia.
The Tonalli River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.
The Coxs River track is a heritage-listed former walking track and road and now walking track at Cox's River Arms, Lake Burragorang/Warragamba Dam, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. The track is also known as the Warragamba Dam - Burragorang Valley - Wentworth Falls Track. The property is owned by the Sydney Catchment Authority, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 1999.
Warragamba Dam – Haviland Park is a heritage-listed former farm, dam, timber getting, Gundungurra traditional lands and squatter's land and now parkland located at Warragamba Dam in the south-western Sydney settlement of Warragamba in the Wollondilly Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The property is owned by Water NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 1999.
Media related to Burragorang, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons