Guide to Balmoral New South Wales Australia

Balmoral is the northernmost village of the Southern Highlands, a scatter of houses along Railway Parade in tall eucalypt forest about 100 kilometres south-west of Sydney. It lies between Buxton and Hill Top on the back road from Picton to Mittagong, roughly 450 metres above sea level. It is not to be confused with Balmoral Beach on Sydney Harbour.

Known For

• A quiet village in the bush
• The old loop railway line
• Close to Thirlmere Lakes and Nattai country

It needs saying plainly that Balmoral has no shops, no pub and no visitor attractions of its own. People pass through on a scenic drive between the Macarthur district and the Highlands, or come to see what remains of the railway that created it.

Things To Do around Balmoral

The Loop Line

The village grew up beside the original main southern railway, which opened through here in the 1860s. A siding was put in at this spot in 1878, and it took the name Balmoral ten years later. In 1919 the main line was moved to an easier route through Bargo, and the old one became a quiet branch known as the Loop Line, which carried its last regular trains in 1978. The track is still in place. Heritage trains from the rail museum at Thirlmere run on its northern end on some weekends, and the former station master’s cottage survives at Balmoral.

Scenic Drive

The road through Thirlmere, Buxton, Balmoral, Hill Top and Colo Vale to Mittagong is a pleasant alternative to the motorway, winding through forest and small villages. Thirlmere Lakes National Park, about fifteen minutes north, has picnic areas and an easy walk around a chain of freshwater lakes.

Where To Stay

There is no accommodation in the village.

Mittagong and Bowral, half an hour south, have hotels, motels and guesthouses.

History

Balmoral was all but destroyed in December 2019, when the Green Wattle Creek bushfire burnt through it twice in three days. A large share of its roughly 150 homes was lost. The village has been rebuilding since, and the blackened forest around it has regrown.

Getting to Balmoral

From Sydney, leave the Hume Motorway at Picton and follow the road through Thirlmere and Buxton, or leave it at the Colo Vale exit and come north through Hill Top. Allow about an hour and a half. There is no public transport.