Nobody publishes departure times for the Wisemans Ferry crossing because there are none. Transport for NSW runs the main ferry across the Hawkesbury River around the clock, adds a second one on weekend and public holiday daytimes, and charges nobody. The four-minute trip lands you at the foot of Devines Hill, where the convict-built Great North Road begins its climb.
Operating hours as published by Transport for NSW on its vehicle ferries page, read 24 September 2026, with no current notifications listed for this crossing NSW Government – Vehicle ferries (Transport for NSW) · 2026-09-24
In 1825 the colonial government of New South Wales began cutting an inland road from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, 264 kilometres long and built by up to 720 convicts. Where it met the Hawkesbury River there was no bridge, and there still is not. Local histories trace a ferry at this spot to 1827, when the former convict whose name the village now carries, Solomon Wiseman, took a lease to carry people and stock across. Destination NSW calls it the oldest ferry crossing still operating in the state.
The road that ferry fed has since become a World Heritage site, and the ferry has become a piece of free public infrastructure. Transport for NSW runs it on demand, day and night, with a smaller second ferry added on busy days. So the honest answer to anyone looking for a Wisemans Ferry timetable is that there is nothing to look up — only whether the crossing is open, and how long the queue is.
New South Wales does not charge for any of its vehicle ferries, and Wisemans is no exception. There is no toll gate, no tag reader and no ticket, whether you are in a car, towing a caravan or on foot.
| Car or 4WD | Free |
| Car towing a caravan or trailer | Free |
| Motorcycle | Free |
| Cyclist or walker | Free |
Free, as stated by Transport for NSW for all vehicle ferries in the state, read 24 September 2026 NSW Government – Vehicle ferries · 2026-09-24
The map shows the two ramps less than 300 metres apart, just east of where the Macdonald River joins the Hawkesbury. That position matters, because a second free crossing works the same stretch of river: the Webbs Creek ferry, which Transport for NSW places just south of the Macdonald junction. It is a separate crossing with its own ramps, hours and maintenance closures. If your destination is Devines Hill, the Old Great North Road or Wisemans Ferry Road on the north bank, the government's own advice is to use this one.
Old Northern Road runs down through the village and straight onto the ramp. Transport for NSW keeps a traffic camera trained on this approach, which is the quickest way to judge a queue before you commit to the drive from Sydney, about 60 kilometres to the south-east.
The far side is where the history is. The Old Great North Road leaves the river here and climbs Devines Hill into Dharug National Park; the oldest surviving bridge on mainland Australia is on Wisemans Ferry Road, close to the start of that ascent. Wisemans Ferry Road itself carries on along the river towards the Central Coast, and a second camera covers this ramp.
Live Traffic NSW carries a camera on each ramp. If there is a queue down Old Northern Road, the cameras will show it before you set off.
Transport for NSW specifically directs bushwalkers heading up Devines Hill and along the Great North Road to this crossing. Mountain bikers heading for the Devines Hill loop in Dharug National Park should know that bikes are walked up the hill itself.
Outside weekend and holiday daytimes only the main ferry runs. It still runs all night, so a midnight crossing is possible; just expect to wait for it to finish a trip from the other bank. The Dotterel at Tailem Bend, on the Lower Murray, keeps the same all-night hours.
Because there is nothing to miss, the only useful check is whether the crossing is open. Transport for NSW sends people to Live Traffic NSW for the up-to-date status of every ferry it runs; when we checked, no incident was listed here.
The main ferry carries 24 cars and the second 15. Capacity is counted in cars, so a caravan or long trailer takes a bigger share of the deck.
The first way up from the river was Finchs Line, begun in March 1828 by a road party and part of an iron gang. Governor Darling inspected it later that year, judged it too steep and winding, and in January 1829 work was abandoned in favour of a new line surveyed by Sir Thomas Mitchell up Devines Hill: a 1.8-kilometre climb built by more than 500 convicts, many of them in irons, with buttressed retaining walls nine metres high. Clares Bridge, a little further on, was finished in 1830 and is the second-oldest bridge on the Australian mainland.
It is a curious monument to a road almost nobody used. By the time it was completed in 1836, coastal steamers had become the preferred way to reach the Hunter, and the Great North Road was close to redundant. Its surviving 43 kilometres, from Wisemans Ferry to Mount Manning, were listed in 2010 as one of the eleven Australian Convict Sites. The ferry outlived its purpose too, and simply found a new one. Far to the south-west, South Australia keeps its Murray crossings, Purnong among them, running on the same free, round-the-clock principle.
Nowhere, because there isn't one. The main ferry runs continuously, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and crosses whenever vehicles are waiting. On weekends and public holidays a second ferry joins it from 9am to 5pm.
Nothing. Transport for NSW describes all of its vehicle ferries as a free service, so cars, caravans, motorcycles, cyclists and walkers all cross without paying.
About four minutes on the water. The wait at the ramp is the variable part, and it depends entirely on how many vehicles are ahead of you.
This one is Wisemans. Webbs Creek is a different free crossing of the Hawkesbury, placed by Transport for NSW just south of the Macdonald River junction; Wisemans crosses just east of that junction, at the village itself.
This one. Transport for NSW advises bushwalkers heading up Devines Hill and along the Great North Road to use the Wisemans crossing, which lands at the foot of the Devines Hill ascent in Dharug National Park.
Check Live Traffic NSW, which Transport for NSW names as the source for the up-to-date status of its ferries. There are also live cameras on both ramps. When we checked on 24 September 2026, no notices were listed for Wisemans.
The main ferry carries 24 cars and the second ferry 15. On weekends and public holidays, between 9am and 5pm, both are in service.