Narrabri sits on the Newell Highway in north-western New South Wales, where cotton country, dry woodland, and old volcanic ranges meet. The town itself is practical and low-key, but the country around it is unusually good: big basalt cliffs, a serious radio astronomy site, and the dark forests of the Pilliga within reach by car.
The best reason to stop is Mount Kaputar National Park, an eroded volcanic landscape east of town. Sawn Rocks is the easy showpiece, a wall of columnar basalt that looks like a giant organ pipe. West of town, the Australia Telescope Compact Array gives Narrabri a different kind of drama: six movable radio dishes on a rail line, listening to deep space from flat farmland.
Narrabri is not a polished resort town. It works best for travellers already crossing inland NSW who want a spare day with real landscape and science rather than another highway meal.