Introduction to Tours

Convict Trail plaque
  • Explore the Convict Trail : Great North Road
  • A road built by convicts - a masterpiece of colonial engineering
  • An alternative route between Sydney and the Hunter Valley for travellers today
  • Convict relics, 19th century buildings and landscapes
  • Scenic drives, leisurely walks, cycle tours
  • Towns and villages with traditional hospitality
  • Cross the Hawkesbury River by vehicular ferry
  • Self-guide tours, walks and cycling trips

Follow the Convict Trail signs and use the free e-Brochures to explore the Great North Road. This road was built by convict labour often working in irons between the years 1826 and 1836. It was built to connect Sydney with Newcastle and the Upper Hunter Valley in NSW Australia.

The Convict Trail is the Great North Road ,its environs and associated convict era heritage.

Extending north from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, the Convict Trail follows the route of the 240 km Great North Road. Most of this road continues to be used today, offering an alternative, slower paced scenic route between Sydney and the Hunter, where one can explore the brilliant engineering works created by hundreds of convicts.

Relics such as dry-stone retaining walls, wharves, culverts, dry-stone bridges and buttresses can still be seen along the entire length of the road - in Sydney suburbs like Epping and Gladesville, at Wisemans Ferry or Wollombi, Bucketty  and Broke, or when walking in the Dharug and Yengo National Parks.

The free e-Brochures are supplemented by a glossy  coloured self-guided tour booklet with maps which has been produced with assistance from Tourism NSW.This booklet is available from the Convict Trail Project (PO Box 96 Wahroonga 2076) for $10.00 posted (within Australia) or from several tourist information centres or local libraries.

Disclaimer: The contents of this section have been compiled in good faith but are published without responsibility in law or otherwise for their accuracy and without any assumption of a duty of care by Tourism NSW, the RTA or the Convict Trail Project.

Acknowledgements: Text and photos - Lorraine Banks & Elizabeth Roberts, Maps –George L. Elliott & Carol Gill, Historic photos - Rosemary Walsh. Brochure photos Elizabeth Roberts. Brochure design Newcastle University Visual Communication Honours Students 2006; Project Manager: Brooke Partridge, Main design: Nicole Leary, Assisting design: Kjetil Skaug, Angela Vangelov, Naomi Ross & Emily Quail


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