Baradine

The area was originally inhabited by the Gamilaroi Nation of Aboriginal peoples, and first settled by Europeans in the late 1830s and was proclaimed a village in 1865. Baradine's name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word for "red wallaby".[2] Baradine Post Office opened on 1 January 1867.[3]

Baradine is located on the Gwabegar railway line, which was closed north of Binnaway, New South Wales in 2005. The railway reached Baradine in 1923 and the station was closed in 1985. By rail, Baradine is 563 kilometres from Sydney. Baradine is directly linked by road to Coonabarabran, Walgett, and Coonamble which is 68 km to the west from Baradine.

Baradine is the administrative centre of the Pilliga Scrub, whose history is documented in A Million Wild Acres by local farmer Eric Rolls in the 1970s.

The State forests and National Park reserves of the Pilliga are part of a vast and unusual woodland, famous for its cypress pine, its broom plains, its vivid spring wildflowers, its koalas and a rich supply of honey-bearing flora. In a state where eucalypt forests dominate the landscape, the Pilliga offers scenery that is distinctly different.

The State forests and National Park reserves of the Pilliga stretch across the flat, sandy plains between the Warrumbungle Mountains near Coonabarabran in the south and the Namoi River near Narrabri in the north, the single largest area of continuous forest west of the Great Dividing Range. The forests have a long history of harvesting for termite-resistant white cypress pine and durable ironbark.[4]

Baradine is in the Warrumbungle Shire Local Government Area, centred in Coonabarabran. It is a really friendly town with much to offer both visitors and locals. Baradine has two hotels with accommodation, a great caravan park with group cabin accommodation, Bed & Breakfast, two cafes, bowling & recreation club (with squash courts), skate park opened 2020 at the playing fields, an amazing National Parks and Wildlife Discovery Centre, a mechanical workshop/fuel station, a hospital with attached medical centre, a CRT rural supplies merchant, a fantastic IGA supermarket, a chemist, swimming pool (seasonal), lively Catholic and Anglican churches with regular services, police station, post office, pre-school and two schools - St John's Catholic Primary School and Baradine Central School. Active Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service, plus Country Women's Association, Progress Association and Keeping Place run by the Baradine Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Baradine Central School provides for children from Kindergarten to Year 12. Students are drawn from the immediate township, surrounding properties and the villages of Kenebri and Gwabegar. Their Agriculture Program produces many successful entries in the surrounding local agricultural shows.

Baradine is located in the heart of the Pilliga forest, known for harvesting the Australian white cypress-pine which is a termite-resistant timber. This activity has been reduced as large parts of the forest are now fully conserved. The local area is a bird watching paradise, and local attractions such as the Sculptures in the Scrub and the Pilliga Bore Bath (70km north) mean that travelers find much to do in this tiny town. Baradine has a proud agricultural history, with many farming and grazing areas in the district.

Baradine Magpies play in the Castlereagh Cup rugby league competition.

• Anglican: St Andrew's
• Catholic: St John's

The station was closed in 1985[5] and demolished shortly afterwards.

• Craig Emerson, Australian economist and former politician

Media related to Baradine at Wikimedia Commons

• History of the Gwabegar railway line - NSWRail.net
• Warrumbungle Shire Council - Website
• Baradine Progress Association - Website