Location: Bogan Gate
Country: Wiradjuri
LGA: Parkes Shire
Region: Central Western New South Wales
Website:
As you’ve probably guessed, Bogan Gate Dark Sky Park(ing Lot) is not a registered Dark Sky Place! Rather, it’s a patch of recently landscaped asphalt between the Bogan Gate Community Memorial Hall and the Bogan Gate Pub, two of the few still-functioning establishments in this tiny inland village.
This site offers dark night skies for stargazing, free RV parking, grey and black water disposal facilities, all-weather barbecue and seating areas, access to clean loos, hot showers, and to the pub and its amenities.
But what distinguishes this parking lot from other RV friendly sites is its unique potential for catalysing new astro-opportunities, in the spirit of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) ‘s Office of Astronomy for Development‘s objectives, and the IAT’s own commitment to Planetary Good and Regenerative Futures.
For more from the IAU, see Joyful E. Mdhluli et al, 2025, Astronomy as a strategic driver for sustainable development, in Nature Astronomy, Volume 9 | July 2025, pp 936–939.
OUR FIRST BOGAN GATE ASTRO-GIG!
As a first step towards developing this Dark Sky Park(ing Lot)’s potential, we’re co-hosting a small community stargazing gig on 13 August, 2026, for the students of the tiny Bogan Gate Public School, their families, the general community, and other tiny schools in the region, as an official National Science Week event.
Caption: The base photo, above, used to promote our stargazing gig, was taken in Bogan Gate at dawn, on Anzac Day 2026, looking east from behind the clock tower. The orange glow is not from city light pollution, but from a gorgeous inland sunrise. Cropped out of the image is Planet Venus snuggling up to the sickle Moon in the dawn sky. Does anyone know who the bloke with the hat is?
Amateur astronomers from around Parkes Shire, led by astro-educator Alex Abbey, a recently retired high school teacher and co-founder of the Central West Astronomical Society, will introduce the children to the wonders of astronomy and guide us all around the night sky. If the night is cloudy, we’ll try again on the following Thursday evening. BOOKINGS HERE >>!
So PLEASE JOIN US at the Bogan Gate Dark Sky Park(king lot) at sunset on 13 August for a BYO barbecue, a chat about astronomy, and a FREE guided tour of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, for National Science Week. If you have a telescope, then bring that along too! And don’t forget your winter woollies!
We’re hoping the Bogan Gate Dark Sky Park(ing Lot) Science Week event/s will be the first of many astro-themed community cultural development initiatives along our Inland Astro-Trail. And, who knows, these gigs might inspire kids attending small and isolated schools, like Bogan Gate Primary, to become astronomers, astrophysicists, astrobiologists, astrochemists, geologists, space engineers, even astronauts one day! And/or highly-skilled specialists in myriad other exciting fields, including the Arts and Humanities.
Caption: Bogan Gate Pub, the heart of village life, boasts six motel-style rooms, a recently renovated bar, lounge and dining room, big TV screens, wi-fi, a very pleasant beer garden, new public bathrooms and showers for truckies and visitors, a stage out the back for live music gigs, and good pub food. Photo by Merrill Findlay, 9 August 2025.
WHAT ELSE IS BOGAN GATE FAMOUS FOR?
Captions: 1) A twenty-first century recreation of the Bogan Gate on the boundary between two very large C19th pastoral stations, Gunningbland and Burrawang, which allowed drovers to move stock between the Galari-Lachlan River and the Bogan River. 2) Plaque near the Gate. 3) Parkes Shire sign on the road to the village of Bogan Gate. Photos by Merrill Findlay, 9 August 2025.
Captions: 1) Bogan Gate silos and grain storage facilities on the Sydney to Broken Hill railway line. 2) Entrance to the famous Bogan Gate golf club with its sand greens. 3) Bogan Gate’s beloved Catholic Church, which no longer has a congregation to maintain it. Photos by Merrill Findlay, 9 August 2025.
ANZAC DAWN SERVICE
As Venus rises in the pre-dawn sky on Anzac Day each year, a crowd larger than Bogan Gate’s total permanent population gathers, in silence, around the village War Memorial to remember locals who have served, suffered and died in overseas conflicts and peacekeeping missions. A ghostly clip-clop of hoofs on tar breaks the quiet as the local 6th Light Horse Memorial Troop moves into position and, with the rising sun, the annual ritual begins: the flag ceremony, speeches, wreaths, prayers, a lone bugle, tears, a minute’s silence …. The horses shuffle and grow restless, people too, and then, slowly, we disperse towards the hall for the traditional Anzac Day breakfast.
Gallery caption: The 2025 Anzac Day Dawn Service at Bogan Gate 2025. Photos by Merrill Findlay, 25 April, 2025.
Caption: 6th Light Horse Memorial Troop and their admirers, Bogan Gate Anzac Day 2025. Photo by Merrill Findlay.
And Bogan Gate’s very own Youtube influencer, Mitchell Coombs!
As of 18 March 2026, Mitchell Coombs’ updated video tour of Bogan Gate has been viewed 22,800 times, and still counting!
Personal Disclosure: Bogan Gate is the author’s home village. She spent much of her childhood and youth on her family’s nearby farm, attended the local primary school, and participated in local activities in the village hall. Bogan Gate holds many memories for her. Although the family sold the farm in 2022, Merrill still feels emotionally connected to this village and cares deeply about its future.
Post published 1 September 2025. Last revised 15 July, 2026.
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