The national parks of NSW are stealing the show. Here's why

From pristine rainforests to lunar landscapes, NSW has some of the world's best - and perhaps most underrated - national parks.

Ask most travellers why they come to NSW and the answer will probably be all about the excitement of Sydney or the lure of the beaches. But did you know that the state is also home to more national parks than anywhere else in the country, including the world's second oldest - the Royal - on Sydney's southern edge. Places like Queensland's Daintree might get all the glory, but there are 28 World Heritage-listed rainforests on the NSW North Coast, including the largest subtropical rainforest in the world where nothing has changed since dinosaurs roamed. Another World Heritage site, the Greater Blue Mountains Area, is a million-hectare expanse of wilderness and is just a short train ride from Sydney's Central Station. And Tassie's Overland Track might be famous, but the new five-day Great Southern Walk along the coast from Sydney to Wollongong - due to open in 2024 - is almost guaranteed to have better weather, and you can swim along the way.

Going wild in NSW national parks doesn't mean you have to rough it either, with plenty of places to stay that don't involve pitching a tent.

Watch the whales go by from your deckchair in a lighthouse keeper's cottage, enjoy your own private island escape at Montague Island on the South Coast, cosy up beside a fire in a historic gold rush pub at Hill End Historic Site near Bathurst, enjoy a classic beach shack holiday at Cape Byron State Conservation Area or glamp it up in a luxury canvas retreat within cooee of the Sydney CBD in the historic Lane Cove National Park.

With almost 900 national parks and reserves to choose from it can be hard to know where to go, so we've made it easy with this short list of places guaranteed to blow you away.

The lunar-like landscape of eroded pillars along a 22 kilometre-long crescent-shaped wall of clay, red sand dunes carpeted with wildflowers and photogenic historic woolsheds are just the icing on the cake in Mungo National Park, part of the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area between Broken Hill and Wentworth in the state's far west.

Mungo has been home to Paakantyi/Barkindji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa people for more than 40,000 years. They thrived on the megafauna, including Tasmanian tigers, that once roamed the plains back when it was a lake, and the real story here is the discovery of some of the world's oldest human remains - known as Mungo Lady and Mungo Man - that rewrote world history by doubling the length of time that people have inhabited Australia. Join a guided cultural tour or DIY on the Mungo Drive Tour, a 70 kilometre, one-way loop around the park.

STAY: Mungo Lodge offers air-conditioned motel-style rooms - and a licensed restaurant - just outside the entrance to the park. mungolodge.com.au

Barrington Tops National Park, a few hours drive north of Sydney, is one of the only places in Australia where you can see rainforest covered by snow. One of the string of World Heritage Gondwana Rainforest parks that stretch from Newcastle to Brisbane, this park sits atop one of the highest points of the Great Dividing Range and has some of the last remaining remnants of cool temperate rainforest in Australia. It's a place of craggy cliffs, misty forests, high-altitude lookouts and beautiful riverside camping spots, where lyrebirds wander through the scrub, kangaroos and wombats graze the grassy flats and everlasting daisies carpet the slopes. There's plenty of hiking trails, but you can also explore it by 4WD in summer.

The Barrington Tops Forest Road between Scone and Gloucester is one of the state's most scenic mountain roads: it's currently being rebuilt after the floods last year, but when it reopens put it on your must-do list because it's an absolute corker with a sweeping view unfurling around every bend.

STAY: Until the access road from Gloucester reopens the best place to stay is Scone on the western side of the park: try Strathearn Park, a luxury B&B surrounded by horse studs and farmland. strathearnparklodge.com.au

Sleeping under the stars takes on a whole new meaning in Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran in central western NSW. It's Australia's first International Dark Sky Park, with exceptionally clear skies making this one of the best places in the world to stargaze. Nearby Siding Springs Observatory has the largest telescope in Australia. But the fun doesn't stop when the sun comes up.

Climbing Australia's highest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko, is easier than you think, especially if you take the chairlift from Thredbo to the top of Crackenback. It's just one of the highlights of the new four-day Snowies Alpine Walk, an adventure that will take your breath away (in more ways than one!) across some of the most spectacular peaks of Kosciuszko National Park. The walk's due to open later this year, but in the meantime you can choose from dozens of good one-day trails - the summit walk from Thredbo takes about five hours return. Join a guided horse ride, hit the 4WD tracks or tackle the mountain bike trails, drive the Alpine Way, catch a trout, play a round of golf, go underground in Yarrangobilly Caves - one of the most richly-decorated limestone cave systems in Australia - or relax in a thermal hot pool. As far as getting back to nature goes, it doesn't get much cooler than this.

STAY: Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa has a huge range of free activities, including for children, as well as guided tours. lakecrackenback.com.au