Bald Rock National Park, Nature reserve in New South Wales, Australia
Bald Rock National Park, gazetted on 12 November 1971 and covering 75 km², is centred on Bald Rock, a granite monolith about 750 m long and 500 m wide that rises 260 m above the surrounding land and almost 1,300 m above sea level. The Queensland border crosses the rock's western side, beyond which the park continues as Girraween National Park.
Bald Rock National Park was established on 12 November 1971 and covers 75 km². Around 220 million years ago, the Stanthorpe Adamellite intruded into surrounding sedimentary and metamorphic rocks; later uplift and erosion of the New England Fold Belt removed the softer rocks, leaving the resistant granite monolith exposed.
Bald Rock served for many millennia as neutral ground where the Jukembal, Bundjalung and Kamilaroi nations met and traded. As a natural boundary, the rock let these three groups gather without crossing each other's lands.
The park offers two marked walking trails to the summit: a steep direct route across the exposed rock face and a gentler path through surrounding bushland. Visitors can choose the route that matches their fitness level and experience.
Bald Rock is the largest granite monolith in Australia, about 750 m long and 500 m wide. The state border with Queensland crosses its western side, and the protected area continues beyond it as Girraween National Park. Near the road from Tenterfield stand Thunderbolt's Hideout, caves and overhanging granite thought to have sheltered the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt, plus World War II tank traps.
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