Gloucester

Gloucester is a beautiful country town on the Gloucester river and nestled at the base of the Barrington Tops National Park in New South Wales.

With a population of around 2500 people, it’s part of the Mid-Coast Council, within the Manning district on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Agriculture is the main source of income for the town with dairy and beef cattle the predominant industry. Over the past few years, Gloucester has been seen as the perfect ‘tree change’ for people wanting to escape the larger populations of Newcastle and Sydney.

The trip to Newcastle is just a short 1 hour and 40 minute drive from Gloucester through Bucketts Way, so tourism, particularly for daytrippers and visitors enjoying short stays is becoming more and more popular during the warmer months with people enjoying activities like rafting, hiking and other adventurous activities at Barrington Tops National park.

Visitors to Gloucester can trace the story of the famous local outlaw Captain Thunderbolt at the Gloucester Museum, which has artefacts dating back to 1826. Gold fever struck the district in 1876, and there’s more about the gold rush on the Copeland Historic Gold Mine Tour of the Mountain Maid gold mine.

The hills around Gloucester are perfect for mountain bikes and as the weather warms up there’s an influx of visitors testing their skills at the Steps Mountain Bike Park’s purpose built trails. The annual Mountain Man Tri Challenge in September is a popular sporting event with mountain biking, kayaking and running.

Taree is the closest city, just an hours drive away from Gloucester. Many visitors make the stop in Gloucester coming from Armidale and Tamworth on their drive to Newcastle through Thunderbolts Way.