Budawang Range

The Budawangs are generally considered to contain peaks located with the Budawang Range, the Pigeon House Range, the Currockbilly Range, and the Wirritin Range.[6][7] The major recorded peaks are:[8]

Monolith Valley

Budawangs subtropical rain forest

• Mount Budawang (1,129 m or 3,704 ft)[1]
• Currockbilly Mountain (1,087 m or 3,566 ft)[9]
• Wog Wog Mountain (893 m or 2,930 ft)[10]
• Mount Cole (876 m or 2,874 ft)[11]
• Sturgiss Mountain (858 m or 2,815 ft)[12]
• Fosters Mountain (857 m or 2,812 ft)[13]
• Barneys Hill (855 m or 2,805 ft)[14]
• The Castle (831 m or 2,726 ft)[15]
• Shrouded Gods Mountain (809 m or 2,654 ft)[16]
• Donjon Mountain (786 m or 2,579 ft)[17]
• Quiltys Mountain (775 m or 2,543 ft)[18]
• Wirritin Mountain (674 m or 2,211 ft)[19]
• Pigeon House Mountain / Didthul (665 m or 2,182 ft)[20]
• Mount Bushwalker (640 m or 2,100 ft)[21]
• Byangee Mountain (500 m or 1,640 ft)[22]
• Mount Tarn

Other features within the range include the Monolith Valley, The Seven Gods Monoliths, Clyde River Valley, Hidden Valley, and Ettrema Gorge.

View across the Budawangs from Hidden Valley

View from Mount Budawang towards Pigeon House Mountain

Moss at the rainforest at Mount Budawang

The earliest human occupants of The Budawangs were two Aboriginal tribes; the Wandandians who inhabited land to the north of Pigeon House Mountain, and the Walbanjas who lived south of Pigeon House.

There are archaeological records of Aboriginal presence in the area dating back to around 11,000 years ago. Nearby coastal deposits have been dated at around 20,000 years old, so occupation in the Budawangs may well be older than current evidence suggests. Archaeological evidence found in the area includes occupational deposits in rock shelters, open campsites, and axe grinding grooves often found on rocks by the sides of creeks in the area. Art sites and rock arrangements also exist in the Budawangs though they are quite rare - the best of these is on Quilty's Mountain.

There are several grazing farmlands surrounding the national parks region both in the east and the west of the range. Logging began in the Budawang area in the early 1900s, it continues to this day in areas that remain outside of the national parks, such as state forests.

The Australian Army operated an artillery range on the Tianjara plateau between 1943 and 1974, also using the area for practice bombing and exercises often involving offroad vehicles. This area is highly damaged and littered with target debris and unexploded ordnance. If walking in or near this area, walker should take extreme care.

Royal Australian Navy jet aircraft and helicopters use the area as a designated low-fly training area, allowing high speed flight through the area at 50 feet (15 m) above the ground.

If walking in The Budawangs a recommended resource is the Northern Budawang Range and the Upper Clyde River Valley sketch map, published by The Budawang Committee and available in most Sydney/Nowra/Canberra bushwalking stores. The sketch map was hand drawn and details many of the possible walks in the most popular part of the national park. The area is also covered by the 1:25,000 CMA maps CORANG (8927-3-N), ENDRICK (8927-4-S), TIANJARA (8927-1-S) and MILTON (8927-2-N).