If you know Long Flat, you know the pub. The Travellers Rest Hotel — better known simply as the Long Flat Pub — sits on the Oxley Highway, about forty kilometres west of Wauchope, with the bush at its back and the road that has always linked the coast to the tablelands out front.

Country pubs do more than pour a beer. They are noticeboards, meeting places, and the first building travellers look for when the next town is still a long way off. Long Flat’s pub has worn that role for generations: a place to eat, catch up after a day’s work, host a fundraiser, or pull in for a meal on a run between Port Macquarie and the mountains.

The frontage says it plainly — mural, signage, and the green weatherboards of a proper highway hotel. Inside and out, it is the kind of stop that still feels local rather than staged for tourism, even as visitors discover the hinterland for falls, rides, and quiet weekends.

Long Flat Pub mural and frontage with Great Northern Travellers Rest Hotel sign — Long Flat Pub frontage — in the heart of town.

Long Flat Pub welcome sign on the Oxley Highway — Welcome sign — “I tackled the Ox by the horns.”

Travellers Rest Hotel frontage with Great Northern Brewing sign — Travellers Rest Hotel signage, Great Northern advertisement, and the veranda out front.

Beside the public bar, the accommodation wing includes a compact games room — easy to miss unless you are staying over, but worth a look if the door is open. In there you will find a sit-down cocktail cabinet: a multi-game table you can settle into with a beer still in hand.

Public bar at the Travellers Rest Hotel with Great Northern signage — The public bar — noticeboard, locals, visitors, and cold beer on the Oxley.

Gyruss high-score screen on the pub arcade machine — Gyruss on the high-score table — old-school bragging rights.

Sit-down cocktail arcade table in the Travellers Rest games room — Cocktail-table cabinet — multi-game, sit-down style, in the Games Room.

Out the back, the beer garden spreads onto the lawn — covered deck seating under the trees, picnic tables on the grass, and room to stretch after a long drive on the Oxley.

Travellers Rest Hotel beer garden with covered deck and lawn seating — Beer garden — covered deck and tables on the lawn.

Long Flat Pub sign in the beer garden with Travellers Rest Hotel shelter beyond — Travellers Rest Hotel Beer Garden area.

Rooms and camping

The Travellers Rest is a working country hotel, not only a lunch stop on the Oxley. Behind the public bar, the accommodation wing has hotel rooms for travellers breaking a long drive — useful if you are heading west toward the tablelands or turning around from Wauchope after a day in the district.

Camping is available on the pub grounds for vans, campers, and tents — look for the camping signage on the highway frontage. Big event weekends (including the annual motorcycle pub run) can book out quickly, so check with the hotel before you arrive.

Enquiries and bookings: longflatpub.com.au
Ask the pub about powered sites, amenities, and current rates — they change with seasons and events
On busy weekends, camping on the roadside or footpaths is not permitted

Recent years have seen the pub change hands and trade improve under careful stewardship, with community still at the centre of the story. For many families in Long Flat, Ellenborough, and the surrounding hills, it remains the default “see you there” — after sport, after a working bee, or simply because the light is nice and the road has delivered another car-load of travellers ready for a rest.

If you are planning a drive on the Oxley Highway, factor in a stop. Check opening hours and menus on the pub’s site before you set out, especially on public holidays or when big events are on.

Visit: longflatpub.com.au
Where: Oxley Highway, Long Flat NSW