Your visit to The Great Cobar Museum is self-guided. Upon receiving your admission ticket, our friendly and helpful staff will provide an introduction and a floor plan with a suggested route through the exhibitions. You are also invited to take part in the interactive by taking a ‘job title’ to the ‘pay window’ which can be found within the exhibition. 

The intricate layout of the museum invites exploration and tells a story of mining, people, pastoralism, community and hard work that starts thousands of years ago and leads to the near past. In telling the local story, the Museum reflects the wider movement of National and global history and implicitly comments on the connections between community and broader movements and history.  You can enjoy perusing the Museum inside as well as the outdoor displays of robust machinery.

There is something for every age group to enjoy from marvelling at gold gleaming in rock, or the evidence of hard work put in by miners, farmers and womenfolk. There are tales of a bushranger turned respectable businessman, of the ingenuity of the indigenous people / traditional owners (the Ngiyampaa Wangaaybuwan people), and of the fun everyone had when the hard work was done for the day.

One room is entirely dedicated to the pastoral industry, exploring the particular hardships of agriculture in such a remote and arid region, with an emphasis on the impact of this life on the people.  Photographs and items such as homemade bird cages and bush showers indicate the resourcefulness and the ongoing hardships of this life.  The indigenous story continues as an interwoven thread in this display with comments on the impact of settlement on the traditional owners. 

Enjoy the magnificent super graphic photographs and taking a step back in time on board the Far West railway carriage, one of the museum’s outdoor exhibits. 

Explore the path down to the Open Cut quarry, part of the original mine workings on the site.  This access to the Open cut and view across the original mine and slag dump provides a unique view of the mining history and ties together the stories of the people, the technology, and the place.

On the way back through the Museum building, stop back in to buy a souvenir in the well-stocked shop within the Visitor Information Centre. Our staff will assist you with information and maps for your next tourism experience.

Contact details

The Great Cobar Museum & Visitor Information Centre

Address: Barrier Highway, Cobar NSW 2835

Phone: (02) 6836 5806

Email: visitcobar@cobar.nsw.gov.au

Website: www.visitcobarshire@cobar.com.au