Fossickers Way

Fossickers Way New South Wales
Bridge over the Namoi River in Manilla
General information
Type	Highway
Length	379 km (235 mi)[1]
Route number(s)	None Nundle – Tamworth B95 Tamworth – Warialda B76 Warialda – Glen Innes
Former route number	State Route 95 (?? - 2013)
Major junctions
North end	New England Highway (A15), Glen Innes, New South Wales[2]
	New England Highway (A15) Oxley Highway (B56)
South end	Nundle, New South Wales[2]
Location(s)
Major settlements	Tamworth Bingara, Barraba, Manilla, Inverell
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in New South Wales
Infobox instructions guidelines examples talk

The Fossickers Way is a series of country roads located in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia that, when joined together, come to form a 379-kilometre (235 mi) scenic and tourist drive.^[1] The road's southern terminus is located in Nundle^[2] with its northwest terminus in Warialda; thereafter the road joins the Gwydir Highway and heads east to Inverell before reaching its eastern terminus in Glen Innes.^[2][3] The majority of the Fossickers Way is designated as B95.^[4]

The scenic route draws its name of Fossickers Way due to the many deposits of gold and the variety of gemstones that have been found in the area (mostly by Europeans) since the early 1850s. Prior to this time, local Aboriginal tribes such as the Werawai people of Nundle and its surrounds were known to use local minerals and stones for the purpose of making tools, such as axe heads. Fossickers Way transverses the western slopes of the Northern Tablelands and passes through some of the world’s richest gem areas. In these parts, sapphires, zircon, jasper, prase, rhodonite, crystals and even gold may be found. The highway passes through open wheat and grazing lands and deeply wooded slopes, through country towns rich in gold rush history.

Route

Towns along the Fossickers' Way include Nundle, Tamworth, Manilla, Barraba, and Bingara, Warialda, Delungra, Inverell and Glen Innes. The Fossickers Way, a scenic drive that incorporates seven shires in northern NSW^[5] The Fossickers Way is an alternate route between Sydney and Brisbane.^[6]

In this area, sapphires, zircon, jasper, prase, ridonite, crystals and even gold may be found along various quarries, rivers and creeks, such as Swamp Oak Creek, just out of the town of Nundle where gold was discovered in 1851 by a local squatter, Nathan Burrows It has been reported that he made the discovery, then immediately informed folks in nearby Tamworth and the gold rush began thereafter. The Gwydir Highway passes through open wheat and grazing lands and deeply wooded slopes through country towns, rich in gold rush history.

Major junctions

LGA	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Tamworth	Nundle	0	0.0	Jenkins Street / River Road	4-way intersection; southern terminus; Fossickers Way continues north as Nundle Road[2]
Peel River				Bridge over the river (Bridge name unknown)
Peel River		12	7.5	Bridge over the river (Bridge name unknown)
Tamworth	Bowling Alley Point	12	7.5	River Road	T-intersection; Fossickers Way continues north as Nundle Road
	Dungowan	34	21	Ogunbil Road – Gloucester	T-intersection; Fossickers Way continues north as Nundle Road
Cockburn River		51	32	Bridge over the river (Bridge name unknown)
Tamworth	Nemingha	51	32	New England Highway (A15) / Oxley Highway (B56) – Tamworth, Armidale	T-intersection; southeastern concurrency terminus; Fossickers Way continues northwest as the New England Highway / Oxley Highway
	Tamworth	57	35	New England Highway (A15) – Muswellbrook, Singleton, Newcastle	Roundabout; concurrency with the New England Highway terminates; Fossickers Way continues northwest as the Oxley Highway
		58	36	Oxley Highway (B56) – Gunnedah, Coonabarabran	T-intersection; Northwestern concurrency terminus with the Oxley Highway; Fossickers Way continues northwest as Manilla Road (B95)
				Oxley Highway (B56) – Gunnedah, Coonabarabran	Southern terminus of
Namoi River		104	65	Bridge over the river (Bridge name unknown)
Manilla River		116	72	Bridge over the river (Bridge name unknown)
Manilla River		150	93	Bridge over the river (Bridge name unknown)
Gwydir	Bingara	210	130	Finch Street / Maitland Street	4-way intersection; Fossickers Way continues northeast as Finch Street (B95)
				Link Street / East Street	T-intersection; Fossickers Way continues north as East Street / Allan Cunningham Road (B95)
Gwydir River		211	131	Bridge over the river (Bridge name unknown)
Myall Creek		218	135	Bridge over the river (Bridge name unknown)
Gwydir	Warialda	248	154	Gwydir Highway (B76) (B95) – Moree, Inverell	T-intersection; western concurrency terminus of the ; Fossickers Way continues east as the Gwydir Highway (B76) (B95)
		251	156	Warialda Road (B95) – Boggabilla	T-intersection; eastern concurrency terminus of the ; Fossickers Way continues east as the Gwydir Highway (B76)
Macintyre River		311	193	Bridge over the river (bridge name unknown)
Inverell	Inverell	312	194	Otho Street	Roundabout; Fossickers Way continues southeast as the Gwydir Highway (B76)
		313	194	Tinga Road to Thunderbolts Way (no shield) – Uralla, Walcha, Gloucester	T-intersection; Fossickers Way continues southeast as the Gwydir Highway (B76)
Glen Innes Severn	Glen Innes	379	235	New England Highway (A15) / Church Street – Armidale, Tamworth, Stanthorpe, Warwick (QLD) / Gwydir Highway (B76) Grafton	T-intersection; eastern terminus; Gwydir Highway (B76) continues south[2]
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

Tourism

Many events occur along Fossicker's Way throughout the year, including the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival in January. The Fossicker's Way Treasure Hunt^[7] is also an annual event which takes participants through all eight towns on the trail.

See also

• List of highways in New South Wales

References

Road infrastructure in regional New South Wales
Motorways	Hume Motorway Hunter Expressway Pacific Motorway (Brisbane–Brunswick Heads) Pacific Motorway (Sydney–Newcastle) Princes Motorway
National highways	Barton Highway Federal Highway Hume Highway New England Highway Newell Highway Sturt Highway
Highways	Barrier Highway Bruxner Highway Carnarvon Highway Castlereagh Highway Cobb Highway Great Western Highway Gwydir Highway Illawarra Highway Kamilaroi Highway Kings Highway Mid-Western Highway Mitchell Highway Monaro Highway Murray Valley Highway Olympic Highway Oxley Highway Pacific Highway Princes Highway Riverina Highway Silver City Highway Snowy Mountains Highway
Local highways	Alpine Way Appin Road Barry Way Bathurst-Ilford Road Bells Line of Road Bucketts Way Burley Griffin Way Bylong Valley Way Camden Valley Way Castlereagh Highway Central Coast Highway Escort Way Fossickers Way Golden Highway Goldfields Way Goulburn-Oberon Road Henry Lawson Way Irrigation Way Kidman Way Lachlan Valley Way Memorial Drive Newcastle Inner City Bypass Newcastle Link Road O'Connell Road Old Hume Highway Picton Road Princes Highway Putty Road Remembrance Drive Summerland Way Thunderbolts Way Waterfall Way Wombeyan Caves Road Yass Valley Way
Bridges	Denison Bridge Grafton Bridge Harwood Bridge Hampden Bridge Macleay River Bridge Martin Bridge Mooney Mooney Bridge Nowra Bridge Sea Cliff Bridge Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest Bridge
Tunnels	Cudgen Road Tunnel St Helena Tunnel
Proposals	Sydney Bypass