Located 400 km north of Sydney via the New England Highway, Nundle is an old goldmining town situated amidst some beautiful scenery between the towering slopes of the Great Dividing Range and the Peel River which is popular with anglers. Sheep, cattle and wheat are the economic mainstays of this little village which today contains some 200 inhabitants.

Nundle is said to derive from an Aboriginal word meaning 'mouth'. Historically, it is located on the eastern boundary of the enormous Goonoo Goonoo grant made out to the Australian Agricultural Company in 1832.

Beyond Nundle the road winds its way steeply, past old mullock heaps where the hillside was overturned in search of gold, to the top of the mountain range (1100 m above sea-level) where the massive treeless rock face of Hanging Rock looms overhead. Once you have ascended the plateau (about 11 km from Nundle) there are two branch roads almost directly opposite each other. Lookout Road on the right leads to the rock itself where there is a scenic vantage point with excellent views of the chasm and the valley below.

Just beyond Hanging Rock village are the dams (with a surface area of 3.6 ha) which were erected by hand over a three-week period in 1888 to serve the sluicing needs of the miners. The operation was carried out by the Mt Sheba Company which leased the water rights for the area the previous year. Today it is a lovely spot for an outing with picnic and barbecue facilities in a bush setting abundant with trees, birds, lizards, wallabies and pademelons. There is also a 1.2-km bush walk. This is regarded as good fossicking country with zircons, sapphires and other semi-precious stones to be found.