Burning Mountain

For the Alfred Coppel science fiction novel, see The Burning Mountain.

For the Larry Niven fantasy novel Burning Mountain, see Larry Niven.

Burning Mountain
Mount Wingen
View of the summit
Elevation	520 m (1,706 ft) [1]
Prominence	120 m (394 ft) [1]
Location
Burning Mountain New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	31°51′54″S 150°54′04″E / 31.865°S 150.90111°E / -31.865; 150.90111Coordinates: 31°51′54″S 150°54′04″E / 31.865°S 150.90111°E / -31.865; 150.90111[2]
Topo map	Murrurundi 9034 (1:100000) Murrurundi 90324N (1:25000)
Climbing
Easiest route	walking track

Burning Mountain, the common name for Mount Wingen, is a hill near Wingen, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 224 kilometres (139 mi) north of Sydney just off the New England Highway.^[2] It takes its name from a smouldering coal seam running underground through the sandstone. Burning Mountain is contained within the Burning Mountain Nature Reserve, which is administered by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).^[3][4]

A trail runs from the Park carpark to the site where smoke emanates from the ground and includes information panels.

The scientific estimate is that the fire has burned for approximately 6,000 years and is the oldest known coal fire.^[5] Original explorers and settlers to the area believed that the smoke coming from the ground was volcanic in origin. The fire is moving in a generally southerly direction at a rate of about one metre per year.

See also

• Centralia, Pennsylvania

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Topographic map MURRURUNDI 90324N
2. ^ ^{a b} "Geographical Names Register Extract: Burning Mountain". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/name_search/extract?id=KWjLlMWAIt. Retrieved 30 January 2011. 
3. ^ "Geographical Names Register Extract: Burning Mountain Nature Reserve". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/name_search/extract?id=KWjLlMqbGH. Retrieved 30 January 2011. 
4. ^ "Burning Mountain Nature Reserve". Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parkHome.aspx?id=N0503. Retrieved 30 January 2011. 
5. ^ Krajick, Kevin (May 2005). "Fire in the hole". Smithsonian magazine (Smithsonian Institution): 54ff. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2005/may/firehole.php. Retrieved 24 October 2006.