Pronunciation: Wa–be–gar
Kamilaroi Meaning: Place of Many Trees
The location of this small village, deep in the Pilliga Forest, is key to its existence. Known as the ‘Heart of the Pilliga’ it is roughly the geographical centre of the timber industries that grew and flourished in the Western Region of the Pilliga.
Previously linked by rail to Baradine and borne from the prosperous timber trade, which has since shut down, Gwabegar once sported no less than twelve sawmills! In the early 1900s Gwabegar was integral in the ‘sleeper cutting’ process that largely enabled the creation of a railway across Australia. Sleeper cutter camps and koala colonies are points of interest in the Gwabegar area.