Stroud is a small town of 988 (2021) along The Bucketts Way in the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales (it's still 35 km from the coast, though). Although somewhat run-down from the outside, the town is primarily visited by travellers as a stopover en route to the Gloucester Tops section of Barrington Tops National Park.

Somewhat strangely, its twin town is the English town of the same name.

Get in

Stroud is along The Bucketts Way (Tourist Drive 2), which forms part of the Old Pacific Highway. As it formed part of the old national highway, the road to the town is fairly wide with frequent overtaking/passing lanes, but is unfortunately littered with potholes after heavy rain (these usually take months to fix). Unlike other regional NSW roads, the speed limit is only 90 km/h (56 mph) – while there may be the temptation to speed due to the lack of police presence, don't speed – you only risk yourself serious injury on a road that is not designed for the conditions.

From Newcastle, make your way onto the Pacific Highway (A1) and continue for 18 km northeast of the southern expressway section terminus at Raymond Tce until Twelve Mile Creek. Once you're at Twelve Mile Creek, turn left at The Bucketts Way and continue north for 30 km until Stroud. (NB: if you're coming southbound on the Pacific Hwy, you will need to cross traffic at 100 km/h – there is no grade-separated interchange as of 2023)

There is no train station at Stroud: the nearest stations are in Dungog and Gloucester, both of which are a reasonable distance away.

See

• 1 Stroud Court House Museum, 67 Cowper St, ☏ +61 2 4994 5400. An old courthouse and the town's local history museum. (updated Sep 2023)

Eat

• 1 Billy T Cafe, 75 Cowper St, ☏ +61 458 945 993, hello@billytcafe.com. Daily 6AM–5PM. (updated Sep 2023)
• 2 Stroud Milkbar & Cafe, 54 Cowper St, ☏ +61 493 261 959, milkbar@dewtech.net.au. Daily 8AM–3PM, plus F 5–8PM. (updated Sep 2023)

Drink and sleep

• 1 Central Hotel Stroud, 52 Cowper St, ☏ +61 2 4994 5197, info@stroudhotel.com.au. Daily 10AM–late. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. A pub and relatively-cheap accommodation (~$90/night). It gets relatively wild on days where major sporting events happen, including the NRL grand final. (updated Sep 2023)

Go next

• Continue on your journey towards Gloucester and Barrington Tops National Park.

Routes via Stroud

Gloucester ← Stratford ←

N  S

→ Booral → A1 to Newcastle and Myall Lakes National Park