Warrumbungle

When professional stargazers needed the clearest, darkest skies in the country, they choose here, Siding Spring Observatory crowning the range and the region around it becoming Australia's first certified Dark Sky Park. Drive in past the planets themselves, scaled along the highway in the world's biggest virtual solar system, then tour the telescope by day. Walk the Grand High Tops to the Breadknife, a ninety-metre blade of volcanic stone, or take one of the park's quieter trails through snow gum woodland and sandstone gorges. Coonabarabran anchors it all as the gateway town, small enough to still feel like the edge of somewhere wild.