If there is one great, and largely undisturbed, port on the mighty Darling River it is Wilcannia. You will be amazed at the richness of the architecture in this town.
Wilcannia has the remnants of a once-important inland port. Some of the Wilcannia’s historic treasures include the old centre-lift bridge which was built in 1896 and is now classified by the National Trust, the beautiful 1880 post office and its attached residence, the Athenaeum Library (1883) and the impressive courthouse (1880), police station (1881), and the police residence (1880), which were all built of locally quarried sandstone and designed by James Barnet.
In the peak seasons of autumn to spring, the area near the bridge is ideal for picnics.
Wilcannia is on the very edge of the New South Wales desert experiencing only 252 mm of rainfall per annum and often much of that rain will fall in violent, if short, desert storms.
Being at the juncture of the major east-west highway and the iconic ‘Long Paddock’ (The Cobb Highway which runs from Echuca-Moama on the Mighty Murray River), it is a great access point for the Darling River Run to continue upstream or downstream.
Travelling to Menindee on the eastern side of the river is 152km. The western side is the more frequently used road. This will extend the trip by 2km but brings you into town via the amazing oasis of Copi Hollow and the Explorer’s tree at the Dam Wall.