Colo River

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The Colo River is a river in New South Wales, Australia. The Colo River begins at the confluence of the Wolgan River and the Capertee River, which respectively drain the Wolgan and Capertee Vallies north of Lithgow. The river flows eastwards and then south through a deep gorge in the northern section of the Blue Mountains. The majority of the river lies in Wollemi National Park. The middle Colo is so inaccessible, rugged and remote that it supposedly was not traversed until the Leyland Brothers expedition in about 1970. The wilderness was saved from development, logging and damming in the late 1970's by the Colo Wilderness Preservation Society and other environmentalists. The Blue Mountains NP area, including the Wollemi NP, has received World Heritage listing, due in part to the discovery of the Wollemi Pine, often described as a 'living fossil' from the age of the dinosaurs.

Emerging from the wilderness region, the lower part of the Colo River flows through a scenic, narrow agricultural valley and reaches the Hawkesbury River at Lower Portland north of Windsor. Tributaries of the Colo include the Wollangambe River and Wollemi Creek.

Even though close to the metropolitan area, the Wollemi National Park is the largest wilderness area in NSW. Local volunteer bush regeneration groups such as the "Friends of the Colo" have been helping rid the National Park and surrounding areas of invasive exotic weeds over recent years.

One of the best ways to see the beautiful and inaccessible gorges of the Colo River is to float down the river on inflatable lilos, from walk-in access tracks such as Bob Turner's Track at Colo Heights.