Sutton Forest: Gardens, Wine and History

Sutton Forest is a rural village where different travel interests can be explored through specific themes: Red Cow Farm focuses on cool-climate gardens, Golden Vale on Georgian heritage; wine and golf round out the picture. This lets you get to know the area through the experiences that interest you most.

Garden spaces and distinctive plants

Red Cow Farm is a cool-climate garden covering two and a half hectares. Its 20 garden areas include a variety of themed spaces: a cottage garden, a cloister garden and an abbey garden, as well as woodland, a lake, a bog garden, an orchard and a kitchen garden. Rare and unusual perennials, heritage roses and clematis grow alongside a beech walk. This diversity combines designed garden spaces with a range of plants and landscape features, making it a specific draw for garden enthusiasts.

Red Cow Farm is also a venue for intimate wedding celebrations. Small ceremonies are intended for up to 20 people, including the couple. This is a distinct aspect of the garden, alongside its design and variety of plants.

Georgian heritage and remembrance

Golden Vale is a Georgian estate dating from around 1870, set on 200 acres of parkland and meadows in Sutton Forest. Golden Vale Homestead is a large Georgian-style sandstone building surrounded by English-style gardens. The Homestead’s extensive collection includes furniture and art. The outbuildings also contribute to the historic character of the property: they date from the 19th century and include stables and a fully equipped woolshed with four shearing stands. The woolshed is a particularly vivid detail of the estate.

The Sutton Forest Explorers Memorial Monument offers a different point of historical reference. It commemorates the first official party of British explorers to travel through the district in 1798. This means Sutton Forest’s history of remembrance reaches further back than Golden Vale, which dates from around 1870.

Wine, café and tastings

The cellar door and café at Sutton Forest Estate Wines are open Friday to Sunday, from 10 am to 5 pm. The offerings include antipasto platters, cappuccinos, espressos and tea. The business combines an Italian winemaking background with nutrient-rich soil and the region’s cool climate. Together, these produce high-quality wines characteristic of the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

Eling Forest Winery is another place to visit for a wine tasting: its cellar door offers wines to sample in a distinctive cool-climate style. Opening arrangements may change, so check them before making plans. This lets you consider the tasting there and the café and food offering at Sutton Forest Estate Wines as different highlights.

Golf and travel interests

Lush greens, natural watercourses and undulating fairways define the course at Mt Broughton Golf and Country Club. Together with its challenging design, these make for a demanding golfing experience. Golf therefore offers a different focus from the area’s garden and history themes.

These different themes give you a clear guide to the kind of stay you are looking for in Sutton Forest.

Discover more destinations: Toongabbie, Woodstock, Milsons Point, Turondale, Wollongbar, Palm Grove, Cumnock, Kulnura

For the broader travel overview: New South Wales.