Lake Glenbawn – a hidden Gem

Lake Glenbawn is Located 285 km from Sydney, and 160km from Newcastle

I was lucky enough to get an invite from some friends to head away for the weekend to Lake Glenbawn recently, and I can’t wait to get back there again. Located approximately 15km East of Scone, camping is possible on the Eastern side of the Dam, which is one of the largest rock-filled dam embankments in Australia.

Friends had the fire going by the time we showed up!

The camping area is managed by Reflections holiday parks, and offers the options of powered and unpowered sites, as well as cabins for those that don’t want to ‘rough’ it.

Tip: Make sure you note down the code you need to get into and out of the park – it is individual to each vehicle.

Once in the park, you have the option of choosing a site in the sprawling camping area if you’ve chosen to go unpowered, or will be allocated a powered site if you had requested. There are options for lakeside camping, as well as lovely elevated spots, and even campsites in more protected re-entrants, which we preferred given the reasonable winds that were blowing during our stay.

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Dinner Cooking after a trip to the Barrington Tops National Park

There are a number of toilet blocks with full amenities, as well as a kiosk where basic supplies and treats are available.

There is also a tidy play area near the boat ramp and kiosk which the kids loved to play in.

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The kids loved the playground, which although fairly simple was very tidy.

Picnic/barbeque areas are dotted around the Campground, which means you could probably camp without cooking gear and just use the BBQ’s available if you desired.

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One of the many picnic shelters dotted around the area

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BBQ’s with gas and even lights make these very useful as a camp kitchen if you’d prefer not to lug your own cooking gear.

Lake Glenbawn is located within 90 minute of Barrington Tops National Park, which we visited due to the snowfall expected that weekend. We left at 5am, and just as it was getting light, we made it up to the National Park after a very pleasant drive, and got to enjoy the snow. Our experience was that the masses started to arrive up in Barrington just after 7, and it got very crowded quickly, so my tip is go early!

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Driving up along the forest road after we hit the snow line

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Snowing while we were up there. Someone left a cute snowman on the picnic table…

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The kids loved being in the snow…

The best part was that we didn’t need to endure a freezing evening above the snowline– despite the cold snap in NSW over the weekend I visited, the temperature at Lake Glenbawn never dropped below about 7 degrees, meaning it was perfect for a nice campfire but not freezing your butt off.

Detail Summary

Nearest Town(s):

-Aberdeen, Scone (approx. 15km away)

Closest Fuel:

-Aberdeen or Scone

Basic supplies available:

-Yes, at Kiosk

Dog Friendly:

-Yes

Other facilities:

-Toilets/Showers

-Picnic Areas/BBQs