New South Wales Road Photo Gallery:
National Route 32 (Great Western Highway, Mitchell Highway & Barrier Highway)

Great Western Highway:
The highway is signposted as National Route 32 from Lapstone in Sydney's west, to its terminus at Bathurst. If you wish to see the SR44 section of the highway, click here.

The Great Western Highway runs from Sydney to Bathurst. The Great Western Highway is regarded as one of the oldest roads in Australia. Starting as George Street in downtown Sydney, and becoming Parramatta Road, it heads west across metropolitain Sydney to Penrith, where it crosses the Nepean River. It then crosses the Blue Mountains and the Great Dividing Range to Bathurst.

The road across the Blue Mountains was built by William Cox in 1815 shortly after a viable route across the mountains was discovered. An obelisk at Macquarie Place in Sydney records the construction of the road during the rule of Governor Lachlan Macquarie.

In 1994 the highway was terminated at Emu Plains with the closure of the Knapsack Gully Viaduct. An extension to the M4 motorway at Emu Plains was constructed which rejoined with the highway at Lapstone. The upper portion of the Great Western Highway from Russell Street is now only used by residents and cars coming from Blaxland via Mitchells Pass

Click here for interactive map linking to photos and more in-depth information on the highway.

Mitchell Highway:
The Mitchell Highway links north-western NSW with Dubbo, Bathurst and Sydney. The highway starts at Bathurst as National Route 32 and heads west through the Great Dividing Range to Orange then continues north through Molong, Wellington and Dubbo. From Dubbo, the highway follows the Bourke railway line in a north-westerly direction to Nyngan. The highway's route number changes to 71 (after the Barrier Highway junction at Nyngan), and then it continues north-west to Bourke and terminates at the QLD border, just north of Barringun. The Mitchell Highway is named after Major Thomas Mitchell, who was Surveyor-General of New South Wales in the 1820s and explored much of inland New South Wales and Victoria.

Click here for interactive map linking to photos and more in-depth information on the highway.

Barrier Highway:
The Barrier Highway is a highway in New South Wales (national route 32) and South Australia (A32). The Barrier Highway starts at Nyngan where it joins the Mitchell Highway. It heads west past Hermidale and Boppy Mountain to Cobar. It then continues to Wilcannia, then further west it passes through Broken Hill and enters South Australia, turning southwest towards Adelaide. It joins Main North Road at Giles Corner between Riverton and Tarlee. Route A32 continues on Main North Road to Gawler where it joins Route A20 (the Sturt Highway). The area traversed by the Barrier Highway is remote and very sparsely settled.

Click here for interactive map linking to photos and more in-depth information on the highway.

Length (Total):	1562 km
Length (Great Western Hwy):	203 km
Length (Mitchell Hwy):	637 km
Length (Barrier Hwy):	722 km
Route Numbers:
Forthcoming Alphanumeric:
Information gathered from Sam Laybutt, Michael Greenslade and Wikipedia

Click on a region below to see photos and information on that section of road.