Tourist Information Centre, Mining Museum and Parks
The town's tourist information centre is located in the Water Towers Complex, once Inverell's water source, in Campbell St. The centre is open from 9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m weekdays and from 9.00 a.m. - 12.00 a.m. on Saturdays. It also opens for restricted hours on public holidays and on Sundays in school holidays, tel: (02) 6722 1693.
Within the centre is a mining museum with a gem and mineral display and a working sapphire model.
Adjacent is Campbell Park, a lovely riverside spot where the Hobby Markets are held on the first Sunday of each month. Nearby a footbridge leads over the river to Lions Park.
Inverell Art Centre
At 5 Evans St is The Inverell Art Centre which has a large array of paintings, pottery and craft. It is open weekdays from 10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. It is located in Butler Hall (1909), adjacent the town hall (1905).
Some Heritage Buildings
Turn right into Otho St, the town's main street. To the right are the post office (1904) and the Classical brick-rendered Court House. The town's fourth it was built in 1886-89 and has an impressive clock tower. The interior furnishings, joinery and woodwork are of red cedar. It has been restored to its original colours.
Opposite is the CBC Bank building (1890), a two-storey rendered brick Italianate building with the old stables still at the rear of the building.
Bicentennial Memorial
At the end of Otho St is a roundabout. Opposite is Sinclair Park, home to the Bicentennial Memorial which features a series of panels depicting the history of the Inverell area. They are organised into three courtyards, the first depicting the era before European arrival in Australia, the second covering 1788-1888 and the third 1888-1988. There is a mosaic map in the central concourse depicting the geographical features of the area that were known to the Aborigines before white settlement.
Presbyterian Church
Over Vivian St, opposite, is the Presbyterian Church, the town's second, built to a Gothic design of English bonded brick in 1878. It has a prominent tower, a slate roof with terracotta ridge-capping, rainwater heads, brick lintels, stuccoed trims, finials and articulated quoins.
Anglican Church
Walk along Henderson St, turning left into Lawrence St. In the second block, to the right, is the Church of England, designed by J. Horbury Hunt, arguably the finest architect practising in 19th-century Australia. Like the Presbyterian Church it is a Gothic design with terracotta ridge-capping and a slate roof.
Kurrajong Memorial Ave
At the southern end of Clive St there is a walking track along the riverside and through a native tree reserve. There are picnic facilities and views of the town from John Northey Lookout.
Lake Inverell Reserve
At the eastern edge of town Onus Ave heads south off the highway. At its end is the parking area and information board of Lake Inverell Reserve, an aquatic sanctuary which is a fine spot for picnicking, fishing and bushwalking along the designated walking tracks through open sclerophyll forest. There is plenty of wildlife around the lake which was, for 45 years, the town's water supply.
McIlveen Lookout
Just 3 km west of town is McIlveen Park Lookout which has good views over the town and district. There are picnic and barbecue facilities.
Morris's Honey Farm
4 km along the Copeton Dam Rd is Morris's Honey Farm which has a train ride through the park to see a working demonstration, a chance to taste local honeys, a native bird aviary, a bottle museum,a gem display with a sapphire cutter and polisher in attendance and a range of souvenirs for sale. Fishing bait can also be obtained here, tel: (02) 6722 1725.
Gwydir Ranch Park
On Copeton Dam Rd, not far from the lake, is Gwydir Ranch Park, a 4WD recreation area situated in picturesque and rugged mountain country. A recreation and camping area has been set up by the river where fishing, swimming, canoeing and bushwalking can all be pursued, tel: (02) 6723 6281.
Copeton Dam
39 km south-west is Copeton Dam. There are camp and caravan sites, a kiosk, an amenities block, cabins, on-site vans, fuel sales, boat hire, a six-hole golf course, tennis courts, sailing, windsurfing, power boating, waterskiing, fishing, walking tracks, two adventure playgrounds, waterslides and plenty of wildlife.
Whitewater Rafting
From October to March irrigation water is released from the dam into the Gwydir River creating grade 4-5 rapids. There are one-day and two-day excursions. Ring Wildwater Adventures on (02) 6653 4469 or the visitors' centre on (02) 6722 1693.
Inverell Pioneer Village
Inverell Pioneer Village, just south of town, is a collection of 19th-century homes and buildings, relocated in landscaped environs to present the impression of a colonial village. Included is a printing office, Paddy's Pub (1874, built of pit-sawn timber and once a Cobb & Co stopover on the road to Bundarra), a miner's hut, the Nullamanna Church (c. 1901), a hall, Goonoowigall school (1887), a blacksmith's hut, a telephone exchange, a farrier's shop, a shearing shed, a cottage which houses a collection of gems and minerals, and an 1841 homestead with a stringybark roof from the Tingha area which serves as a museum housing artefacts of the period 1840-1925. There are also old steam and traction engines. Afternoon tea is available on Sunday and by arrangement. The complex is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. and, on Sunday and Monday, from 2.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m.
Goonoowigall Reserve
The 2000-ha reserve, home to an extensive array of flora and fauna, is 5 km south of Inverell, just off the Tingha Rd. In pre-colonial days the Jukambal hunted here and the vegetation is today much as it would have been 200 years ago. The name is Jukambal for 'water and rock wallabies'.
Five short walking tracks lead by huge granite outcrops such as Thunderbolts Rock, which can be climbed, and to other scenic sites and picnic spots. There is a pamphlet, available from the visitors' centre, with a map detailing the walks. Tin-mining commenced here in the 1870s. Chinese earth ovens from those days are thought to still be scattered about. A woolwash was established in the 1880s and a school operated from 1887-1911, catering to about 11 pupils at a time. It has been relocated to the Pioneer Village.
Gilgai
9 km south of Inverell is the small village of Gilgai, an Aboriginal word reputedly meaning waterhole. Daycraft Timber Products, near the airport on Ponds Rd, has a large array of woodturned products made on-site, tel: (02) 6723 1350. Just south of town the Tingha Rd branches right and there you will find Gilgai Winery, tel: (02) 6723 1204.
Dejon Sapphire Centre
19 km east of Inverell via the Gwydir Highway is the Dejon Sapphire Centre, a sapphire plant which is open 7 days a week with free entry. There are guided tours at set times which observe the various aspects of the industry from in-ground to finished gem, including sorting and faceting. There are fossicking opportunities, gems for purchase, antique jewellery, morning and afternoon teas and even farm stays, tel: (02) 6723 2222.
Fossicking
Maps outlining the many fossicking areas of the district and advice on how to go about it are available from the visitors' centre. Fossicking equipment can be hired from centre or from Camping World at 112 Byron St, tel: (02) 6722 3620. Faceting and cutting can be observed, and sapphires purchased at The Gem Centre, 108 Byron St, tel: (02) 6722 1290.
The Draught Horse Centre
Situated amidst lawns and gardens by the Macintyre River, the Draught Horse Centre has five prominent breeds, as well as a harness display and memorabilia in the Pioneer Log Museum. The horses are paraded twice daily (at 11.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m.) and morning and afternoon teas are available by prior arrangement, tel: (02) 6722 1461. It is 4 km from Inverell on Fishers Rd and is open Thursday to Monday from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and seven days in the school holidays.
Fishing
The Tourist Information Centre can furnish maps and directions concerning the many fine fishing spots in the district. Bait can be obtained from local service stations and Morris's Honey Farm.
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