Victoria
Sovereign Hill, Ballarat
In Victoria, the gold rush spirit lives on at Sovereign Hill, a living museum in Ballarat. This award-winning heritage attraction recreates life in an 1850s mining town, complete with costumed characters, underground mine tours, and gold panning.
Just a short trip from Melbourne, it’s the perfect spot for families and history lovers to discover the boomtown days that transformed Victoria into a thriving colony. Want to step even deeper into history? Nearby Castlemaine and Bendigo also offer rich heritage trails and historic diggings to explore.
New South Wales
Hill End Historic Site
Venture into the Central Tablelands and you’ll find Hill End, one of NSW’s most important gold rush sites. Once a booming town of fortune seekers, it’s now a quiet, preserved reminder of the past.
Guided tours, historic buildings, and even active gold panning make Hill End a top stop on any gold tourism itinerary. Take a walk-through Bald Hill Mine or visit the Hill End Heritage Centre to uncover tales of hardship, discovery, and gold fever.
Queensland
Venus Gold Battery, Charters Towers
Once known as the “World” for its wealth, Charters Towers remains a treasure for gold history. Visit the Venus Gold Battery, Queensland’s oldest surviving battery and a symbol of the town’s mining past.
Guided tours show how ore was crushed and gold extracted, with original machinery still on display. The site also gives insights into the lives of the workers and pioneers who shaped the region during its heyday in the late 1800s.
South Australia
Jupiter Creek Diggings, Adelaide Hills
Not far from Adelaide sits Jupiter Creek, a former goldfield turned walking trail. These diggings were part of South Australia’s own gold rush in the 1850s, and today you can explore shafts, tunnels and mining relics on a self-guided walk-through bushland.
The area is accessible and family-friendly, making it a great outdoor activity for anyone interested in history or geology. Permits are available for fossicking too—so you might even strike some luck.
