Great place to stop by on your way to Warrumbungles. Before you go up the observatory, visit the museum in the visitor centre to experience some interesting interactive exhibitions. Lots of telescopes and equipments in the observatory, would be good for someone interested in astronomy. There is also a viewing deck that provides a glimpse of the landscapes ahead.

What a great tour we were lucky enough to be there when they were doing tests and could see the telescope being orientated. You can’t appreciate how big it is and the view from outside at the top is just breathtaking. The tour guide did a brilliant job of explaining the importance of the telescope, how it works and all the fun facts on the universe was so fun and informative. The passion he brings to the tour makes it that much more enjoyable.

Feel like I've had a once in a lifetime experience at the stargazing capitol of Australia. These amazing telescopes set amongst the warrumbungles is surreal and quite magical. Siding springs has an open day once a year where you can get a sausage sizzle, view a few of the amazing telescopes, go inside the planetarium, listen to talks, have ice cream and visit the museum. So interactive, great for kids and fascinating details about planets, our solar system, galaxies, the sun...it's great. You can see how much you'd weigh on mars, and see how heavy a litre of milk is on Saturn. Loved the whole day.

Went here on a road trip. A little out of the way but definitely worth visiting. There's an interpretive centre, lots of telescope including the big one. You can go inside and up to the fourth floor and observe the telescope. Excellent views of the surrounding landscape - particularly the Warrumbungle Ranges.

We recently did the all day tour at Siding Spring Observatory with our two little boys, and it was one of the best tours we’ve ever done. Our guide Branioc was excellent. He was very entertaining, personable, and extremely knowledgeable about the observatory and its workings, as well as the wildlife and history of the area, and even made our coffee and lunch back at the cafe! The views of the Warrumbungles from the exterior catwalk are spectacular, and it was fantastic getting to see the telescopes, and learning more about the field of astronomy. The exploratory was also informative and very well presented. We highly recommend doing a tour - it was a highlight of our holidays. Thank you again to Branioc for making the tour such a wonderful thought-provoking experience!

Great place to visit. The visitor museum place is great has lots of information for the people interested in Astrology. Interactive displays.

Such an astonishing attraction for both amateur and professionals. It also provided night stargaze for Milky Way enjoyment. Highly expect for my next visit.

I really enjoyed the Crystal Kingdom... With a lovely shop full of beautiful crystals and rocks..and the fantastic museum of rocks thru the ages, you'd be best to allocate an hour to view everything. The lovely ladies provided a walker free to use, and they also have a dog pram and wheelchair for free use. 🚻♿ 🚻🅿️ ♿entrance. Entry is free but please give a donation.

I had a wonderful time at Crystal Kingdom. The owner was friendly and invaluable. The museum's crystal room was terrific and mind-blowing. The artwork on the walls only enhanced the atmosphere. It is a must-see place indeed. You can buy a variety of different crystals for yourself or to gift to your loved ones.

Stopped here on part of a long road trip. Loved it. Friendly informative staff. Ny son loves rocks and crytals and this was perfect for him. Beautiful gift shop where we purchased a few bits on the way out. Even toys available for our youngest to play

I think this might be the best thing in the town! Highly reccomend if you're going through. Interesting geology display / museum out the back and a massive selection of crystals. I needed to get a particular number of quartz points for geopathic balancing work (about a month after visiting), rang about four closer places, and finally rang this place. Ang was extremely helpful, contacted her supplier to source them and I had them a few days later! Much appreciated. This place lifts the vibration of the town ☺️ - you can just tell. Cheers ladies, good to meet you.

Knowledgeable staff, and a varied and quality exhibit and shop. We are so glad we took the time to call in on our trip through NSW. 10/10

This is an amazingly set out and informative centre. It has something for everyone: artistic depiction of changes over time; minerals; crystals, fossils; jewelry ( gorgeous earrings) and life size dinosaurs for the kids. A must to visit. It has only had three owners over 50 years and the current owners are well informed and lovely people. Ps I purchased some earrings of course. And remember a small donation is requested so take some cash with u, so worth supporting these museums and collections.

This is the best little shop along the Newell Highway: A unique display of crystals, jewelry, minerals and fossil specimens with many gift items. Very educational and friendly staff that make you feel welcome. Don't forget to stop by when in Coonabarabran, an absolute must!

Stayed 2 nights at John Oxley Caravan Park and really enjoyed it. It’s just on the outskirts of town but still an easy walk into the main street. The drive-through powered sites were super convenient, with plenty of shade around the park. Pet friendly, clean amenities, and very friendly staff made the stay even better. Great value for money too – very affordable. Would definitely stay here again if we’re passing through!

Fantastic experience, clean and brilliant customer service. Beautiful green park. Thank you for offering quality and affordable pet friendly cabins - much appreciated by us pet lovers. Highly recommended.

An excellent caravan park with very friendly staff. The amenities may be a little dated but they are very clean and functionable. Such a beautiful setting and only a short walk to the centre of town. Keen to stay again in the future.

This is a great caravan park plenty of space very close to stoll into shopping area and fantastic showers real hot great pressure booking in was easy weekly rate was very good and first time I've seen a park offering rates for single travellers been travelling 18 months this was a first I think that's very fair other parks always pay for 2 I know you're using area but less water power so well done John Oxley cp others if you have extra person (3) will charge extra $10 /15 so why not a few dollars less for single anyway great clean park on a great location

Great park, lovely spots but the amenities need an update. Taps were a bit dicey, hooks been torn off shower areas.

Nice little studio Only 3hrs of Wifi per device per day, not ideal if raining and trying to plan the rest of your trip Wish that SOME people with dogs wouldn t let them bark early in the morning

We stayed in a cabin, it was a tiny space but we only stayed one night, beds were comfy, hot shower and cheap.

Wonderful park with a winding track through it. Beautiful park

This is a pretty park to stop and stretch your legs. Situated by the river, this park has a fun playground for kids to enjoy with some cool equipment to play on. The toilets are also nearby which is perfect. The toilets are clean and tidy with plenty of toilet paper and soap.

Great spot to have a break. Lovely shady trees plenty of seating. Very pretty by the river. Easy parking, close to town.

A beautiful park, especially in autumn and a delightful place to take your dog for a quick walk when passing through. There were a few benches, a well and some signs around the park, and it was lovely walking through here with a coffee and snack from the nearby town. Definitely one of the better parks to stretch your legs from a long drive here.

Nice park 👍loved the kookaburra 👌toilets 🚻 available

Don’t feed the geese! They will seek you out and hunt you down! The playground was well maintained with easy access to bins and toilets.

Every third Sunday of month..9am to 11 am..community gardening gathering...in park..great advice..plus mini market like tables...bring your extra herbs, plants , vegies , local bottles olive oil for sale..etc...on odd occasion even a coffee van.... Great catch up ,can be had.. Even a band playing...check it out.....

Love dropping into visitors info centres on arrival in a new town. This one has the bonus of a great small museum showcasing mega fauna fossil (well worth seeing) and some great astro photography. It also has a small cabinet of local Aboriginal artefacts. As usual, very helpful and knowledgeable staff and a great collection of info brochures

Excellent stop for travellers and nature lovers! The Coonabarabran Visitor Information Centre is a wonderful place to stop — full of great information about local attractions, walks, and the nearby Warrumbungle National Park. The displays are amazing, especially the dinosaur exhibit, which both kids and adults will love! There’s also a lovely section featuring local produce and crafts, perfect for gifts or treats from the region. And don’t miss picking up the free booklet “Bird Routes of Baradine and Pilliga” — a real treasure for birdwatchers and anyone who enjoys exploring nature. The staff were welcoming and knowledgeable — a genuine credit to this beautiful area. Highly recommended! 🌻

Another thing on the bucket list ticked off to stay in the Shamrock. It was affordable in the heart of historic Bendigo. Room very Comfy with an annex two lounge chairs, large TV good ensuite. Dinner in the down stairs bar excellent, (even pensioner neals) if you love old this is the place and there's a lift.

My husband and I have just discovered that information centres are excellent for stopping at charge EV. Recently we road tripped from a orange to nightcap ridge to get married and we stopped at quite a few Info centres. Coonabarabran was our favourite as the lady on that day was fascinating to talk to. They have an amazing museum of mega fauna fossils that were discovered in the early 1980’s and they had excellent photography exhibits from kids taking photos of space. Our only disappointment was we couldn’t buy any of the photos. Truly a wonderful pit stop filled with great service, information and interesting facts. We’ve enjoyed sending pics of the fossils to our nephews and talking to friends about our new Knowledge.

Well resourced Information centre, staff member Jeff provided a wealth of information on the area and places to visit. Great displays too

Great little museum at back and friendly staff. I charged my phone here. Interesting and unique but expensive local products

The gentleman was very pleasant, talkative & welcoming. Highly recommend the stop

very old school style of park. new owners so improvements happening. new camp kitchen just completed last week. small but clean amenities. great value. site a bit rocky and hard and dusty. manager a friendly young bloke who was happy to have a yarn around the communal camp fire each night. Local Coonabarrabran Stargazing runs astronomy experience nightly in the paddock down the back, book this online.

A lovely bush set park just outside town. The service was friendly and helpful, the sites adequate. The playground was pretty basic, and didn't really get a workout. The pool was freezing, so didnt test! Bathrooms and camp kitchen all acceptable, with the exception that the kitchen didn't have anywhere to wash up! A strange omission. All in all, a lovely stay. Especially recommend enjoying the stargazing while here.

Great overnight stay we had here. Very minimal truck noise, nice amenities, spacious caravan sites and friendly hosts made this brief stop very enjoyable. We also did the stargazing tour (run onsite) and it was fantastic.

Alan was super friendly and accomodating - cheers. Well maintained, toilets are cleaned, we camped and had a pleasant stay. Can be a bit noisy if staying close to the main road if in a tent because of trucks, but still slept through it just fine.

a fantastic spot just on the way into town staff were very helpful and the park was VERY well laid out with pull through powered sites, a fantastic camp kitchen. individual fires are not allowed but there is a communal fire pit and the host brought plenty of fire wood to keep us going! We got to mingle with the other families and had a great time. The only down side was that the park is right on the spot that trucks slow down before entering town and they use compression breaking right in front of the park. star gazing is available, the Solar system drive around and the pool was clean and ready... I decided not to try it in July but it looked good. Laundry Room was spotless

Great little van park. Drive though sites are very easy to park in. If you're staying here, doing the Star gazing tour in the evening located at the van park is an absolute must.

Great park with drive through van sites and cabins. Lovely clean amenities and laundry. Very reasonably priced.

I really enjoyed the food. My steak was done very well. Menu not extensive but there was more than enough to chose from. Would go back and I would recommend it to others.

Lovely and helpful wait staff. Eleasha, the chef owner offers a wonderful fine dining option in Coonabarabran. Yummy food.

Such enjoyable night here. The food is so yummy and staff are 5 star. Thank you for great service guys.

Enjoyed the peppery Sichuan kangaroo. Restaurant was quite nice, not a large menu, but sufficient.

Great food, lovely service. Restaurant clean and well presented. Thank you

Awesome food. They are really nice and friendly

Avoid Coona Subway. Used to be a good reliable place for a feed. Not anymore. Not like other subways. Half the amount of meat as normal. Twice as much lettuce. Terrible customer service by lady who had no idea at all.

Clean nice place, friendly staff and good filllimg for the sandwiches

I am from the UK travelling through Australia and driving through this very small town I saw this Subway. It was hands down the best Subway I have been to. In the UK it is as tasty but the staff are stingy and not as nice, and stores are dirty, but this was by far the cleanest Subway I have been to. A guy named Lewis (I think) made my Italian BMT and was fantastic. He was really chill and made a great sub, oozing cheese, nice balance of ingredients. I may never be able to come back but I will definitely remember it being the best Subway I have been to.

Amazing experience. Fresh delicious food a modern shop fit out very clean . Im a tough critic when it comes to subway as im used to the high standard of my local subway in swan hill Victoria

Dropped in for lunch. Staff friendly and adjusted large veggie salad box with avo to what was asked. Nothing was too much trouble. Good atmosphere and will drop in again.

Terrible 3 people in store and screaming kids and nobody seemed to know what they were doing behind the counter One customer taking for ever to make a payment Ended up getting my usual Veggie patty foot long grilled with salads The young girl There behind counter had some weird attitude After going to the car my meal was half frozen Veggie patties were not defrosted before being grilled My meal I cannot eat until It defrosts After driving from Brisbane this was a disappointing dinner stop Think I’ll avoid this place next time Not impressed one bit

Sat 21st June 5.30 2 staff 15 people waiting in front of me. I waited patiently only to get a soggy roll, half frozen meatballs disgusting. We tossed it out and had nothing for dinner instead.

This is a great motel, convenient location close to town, on the highway yet quiet as it's set back a little. There's a good dog exercise area and pets are welcome in the pet friendly rooms. The rooms were clean and did not smell of dog. The motel was busy with a lot of the rooms occupied. The grounds and the pool were neat and tidy. The carpark has enough room to park trailers and small vans with ease - drive thru.

Absolutely appalling, arrived and there is construction occurring which is a hazard to clients. I was also placed in a pet friendly room (dog feacal mater on the entry mat & scratches all over the door) with a baby where the room was not satisfactory, I had to purchase a new jug. The room I was placed in was not two queen beds as booked. Additionally, a tradesman changed our door locks when we were out for the day, poorly managed business. See images. Only partial refund provided.

Great motel for a night stay between Qld and Central NSW. Room could be updated and would be nice if they left heater on before arrival as very cold. Beds probably need replacing. Friendly staff.

Really great spot. Good large clean rooms, and the kids loved the pool. Well priced. Coonabarabran is a great town to stop along the way, and this Motel has now become a regular stop for my family on the Newell. Bring back the pizzas guys! They were really enjoyable.

This is a great place to stay if travelling through or staying in Coonabarabran. The rooms are really spacious and comfortable with a sofa , great bed, microwave, fridge etc. The management are so thoughtful that there are wine glasses, bottle opener and cold beer glass in the fridge. The bath towels are huge, the shower is really good. The pool looks good and there are things for kids to do. We really enjoyed our stay

First time we have stayed here breaking up our trip from Brisbane to Adelaide. Extremely friendly and helpful young lady handled our reception on arrival. Our room was very clean and tidy with everything you would need for an overnight stay. Great value, well worth a visit

Christine was the lady I was greeted by. Lovely lady only too happy to help sorting out dinner and drinks. Cooked up a very nice fish chips and salad. Older styled unit but nice to step back in time with fashion trends. The cleaning staff are exceptional - could not fault anything in cleanliness. Grounds are kept beautiful also. Would have to rate this property as one of the better places to stay in Coonabarabran. Pool was being enjoyed by several families as it was very hot. Great hosts. Would definitely stay again.

It was brilliant and so informative. We were very lucky to have a clear night and only a couple days after a new moon so the night was magical, we saw shooting stars, the emu, the binary stars at Alpha Centauri, the birthing grounds of stars and the oldest ones in the galaxy. We loved it and could recommend it enough.

We spent such a good time! Doona and her husband are fascinated and captivating. We had the time to discover, learn and see plenty of things about planets, stars and everything in link with the space. Time is going fast in their observatory !

Awesome experience! We got to use telescopes to see beautiful stars and Mars! The guides were extremely educated and clearly passionate about the night sky. You don’t actually get to use the observatory equipment, it is just the base for the session, but it was still a great experience. The night sky was so clear and there was no other light around polluting the area. Perfect! Side note, I left an item at our session and Donna was kind enough to post it back to me immediately! Thank you for everything!

The breadth of knowledge of the cosmos flowing like the milky way from the mouth of a real astronomer. Donna is an absolute star of a host and her associate Chris was equally knowledgeable. The moon did play spoil sport blinding our vision blocking several stars, but the final zoom in on the terminator line of the moon was just magnificent. I will be back with a bigger group on a darker night. P.s. Pack warm clothing as the temperature drops rapidly.

This was a fantastic experience and a unique night out. Donna was very accomodating, knowledgeable and personable - this was a great education session! Absolutely incredible views through the telescopes - awe-inspiring. Highly recommend!

We had weekend away from Sydney. A Friday night booking. We both loved it, guides were very informative and we had an extremely clear night. The largest amount of stars in the night sky that I have ever seen anywhere. Will be back again. Went to Siding Springs observatory tour next day (after morning trek in the Warrumbungles).

Great experience but then we were very lucky with the weather - beautiful clear night. Very interesting and informative.

Fantastic outdoor space for all ages to relax. Lots of seating. Beautiful plantings and a hopscotch for the kids. Stage area and checker board on artificial grass. Beautiful addition to the main street. Safe Space for toddlers to run around in off the road.

Was passing through on my birthday and found this spot to have my birthday dinner. It was absolutely amazing to find it the fairy lights. It made it so special so we we ate here instead of eating back in hotel room.

Little Timor Street Plaza is an excellent space for people to come and relax. Plenty of chairs, shade and play space for the kids. Located opposite the bakery and newsagent. The space was opened in about February 2022. Great to see the laneway converted for pedestrian use.

We saw Saturn with its rings, a galaxy that has one million new stars, along with a dead star and the Milkyway Galaxy, the next Super Nova which could happen any time, amongst many other incredible sights of the night sky while stargazing at Warrumbungle Observatory..

It was a great experience, if you are in the area you will miss a big thing if you don’t visit Warrumbungle Observatory. Josh was great, very helpful and friendly, thanks heaps Josh. Also, bring your SLR Camera and before hand learn how to detach the lens, and change the ISO and Shutter speed setting to take great photos with the telescope. Shutter speed: 30” ISO: 3200

Staff did a good job even on a moon lit night. Would recommend new moon time though. Nice selection of telescopes. Explanations and guidance was for people who don't have much experience with telescopes. For someone who has their own telescope and has done a bit of astronomy you won't get much out of it as the staff keep explanations to a level that everyone can understand. Well worth it though if you are passing through Coonabarabran.

Great experience for star gazing. Lots of telescopes so not competing for your turn. You can attach your camera to their big telescope and get pics like below.

A must place to visit if you travel to Warrummbungles national parks. Good guide by friendly staff.

Awesome place. Thanks for letting me to take a photo of Lagoon Nebula with my old D60. For people visiting, bring some warm clothes as it gets very cold at night.

Great experience. However I went during full moon and it flooded out the sky. The nights are quite cold and it's recommended to bring a warm jacket.

Want to visit

Visitor centre centre closed, very disappointed.

Rudest, most nastiest staff members! Absolutely disgusted being spoken to the way i did being a paying customer.. never again! And their schnitzels are burnt to a crisp whilst the chips are barely cooked?? Yuck!

Enjoyed lunch here today, service was excellent, food was fresh and being there at a busy time during lunch it was a delight to see the calm team working together to produce phone and customer orders and we will be back again. We'll done team. Prices are so fantastic as we ordered a Seafood basket, Fish n chips n calamari. Highly recommend this business

One Star – Never Again Dropped into Eat It Takeaway in Coonabarabran for a quick lunch and left seriously regretting it. I ordered a small chips and gravy plus a chicken schnitzel roll. The chips were hot but half-cooked—like they’d been pulled out before they were ready. But the real disaster was the schnitzel. I watched the guy nuke it in the microwave, tear open a plastic bag, and toss it onto the grill. Sure, it ended up golden and crisp on the outside—but inside it was wet, rubbery, and downright revolting. It was clearly some pre-packaged mess that had no business being passed off as freshly cooked. To be fair, the bun was actually great, the salad was crisp, and the mayo was fine—but that doesn’t save a meal when the main part of it is borderline inedible. I couldn’t even finish it. For a place selling takeaway food, they’ve nailed the “take it away” part—but they might want to work on the “food” part. Hard pass.

Awesome place with cosy vibes, great food and service 🤩

We went to have a look at this cafe because they had a Big Coke Can on their roof. We saw people eating in and lot's of people getting takeaway which is always a good sign that the food is good. Well it was absolutely delicious and so very happy we decided to eat in. We both had a Burger with the Works and boy did it have everything on it. Loved the square rolls they used which was a much better idea than the round hamburger rolls and a great change. Real Hamburgers that tasted delicious. Then we ordered a Small chips which came out in a Big Bowl, Certainly a decent enough serve that we couldn't finish them all. Chips were cooked perfect and just the right amount of salt that didn't over take the taste of the chip. $10 each for the Burgers, differently worth it. $4.50 for Small Chips which was a Big Serve. Lovely happy staff, enjoying jokes as the worked which was terrific to see. It is our regret that we didn't find this Cafe earlier and not on our last day as I'm sure we would have eaten there for the 5 days we stayed in Coonabarabran. I will be telling all our friends to make sure they go there when they are in Town, we were visiting from the Gold Coast. Check out the size of the Burger & Chips. Plus this place gets extra credit for having a Big Coke Can, a little bit warn out but still Big. 👍🤗👏😉😃

Best egg and bacon roll I have had.(So good we stopped there ten days later on our way back home and bought another one)

Chips were nice but gravy was a bit lumpy... would prefer it not to have lumpy bits with a meat stock flavour and instead have a vegetable stock flavour. Potato scallops were yum but could be crispier. Friendly service.

It was my first time in town visting a family member, we went to coona chicks. Hands down the best experience I’ve had at a restaurant. The staff was lovely and kind, service was amazing and the quality of the food was amazing. 100% recommend to anyone thinking of giving it a go! Will be going back. Thanks Coona chicks for the great service.

Since coona chicks have reopened it’s been incredible!! The mood, atmosphere and especially the food! Full fridges, salads ready to go and warm, perfect , delicious meals. Highly recommend!! Especially the new smoothies 😍 New and improved pizzas and chicken!! 10/10 experience always my first go to!!

Coona chicks is always so clean, workers are so friendly and welcoming! Food is ALWAYS made fresh so I don’t mind waiting that extra few minutes! Portuguese burger is always my go to! Definitely recommend!!! 😍

Ordered food over the phone for takeaway. over an hour later had to call again as no food turned up. 15 minutes later it turned up. The food wasn't in a heated bag or anything. It was taken off the back seat of the car. So nothing to keep your food fresh just placed on someone's back seat. When we actually got it we realized it had been sitting for a while. The 2 pizzas were COLD and needed re-heating in a microwave before we could even eat it. The chicken tenders had been sitting in a container for so long they lost their crunch and was basically wet chicken. For the money we spent we did not enjoy it. Not only was the food cold it was in the temperature range of possibly getting bacteria. We got no call to say it was going to be late. We had to call them to see where our food was and even then the food we got had been sitting too long without heating and made me question what standards they have if any. Very poor service and very poor food. I am shocked that our food turned up cold there is no excuse for that I will not be giving them my money again. And lastly we got no reason for why it was late or cold just "sorry". This might seem harsh but we expected a little more than a quick "sorry".

Real shame that the food was so poor as the service was so nice. We went as the google reviews suggested fresh salads for us and chicken for the kid for lunch. Sadly the chicken was flavourless as was the gravy and the chips looked like they had had better days. We ended up having to throw all but some chips away, barely touching the chicken. With more people passing through this lovely town it would be a good idea to focus on improving the food here which is the only reason I leave this review.

👎Place my order - a hamburger with cheese & bacon. The guy rung it up & I seen on screen , it came up as a bacon & egg burger. I said, no , I want a hamburger with cheese & bacon. He said, I’ll add a note & fix it . I said, no problem. I get to my hotel, open it up , cheese & bacon on a bun !!!!!!!!!! - how dose bacon contain 2 small sharp bones ? ( cross contamination, I’m guessing 😡)

I called Coona Chicks to place an order for a family member who couldn’t call themselves. Straight off the bat, the staff member who answered was blunt, rude, and clearly didn’t want to be bothered with answering any questions. When I found out some items weren’t available until 5pm which was an hour wait, I politely asked if they could hold on a sec so I could quickly check if that wait would be okay. Well, that was obviously too much trouble, this young teenager literally hung up on me mid sentence, as I was apologising for holding them up for just a few seconds. The young staff obviously haven't been trained in even basic courtesy or manners, and it genuinely feels like Coona Chicks couldn’t care less whether or not they have your business. If you're in Coonabarabran and looking for a feed, trust me, do yourself a favour and find somewhere else. These guys couldn’t care less about your business. There's heaps of better options around town who’s staff will treat you like they actually want to take your order. Save yourself the embarrassment and frustration. Give Coona Chicks a miss, heaps of other great options in town.