Camden and Picton are the two old towns closest to Menangle Park, each with a main street called Argyle Street lined with 19th-century buildings and covered by its own self-guided heritage walk.
Camden
Camden was laid out in 1840 on land once known as the Cowpastures, named after Lord Camden, patron of colonist John Macarthur. Its post office opened the following year and still stands at 135 Argyle Street — the original 1882 Victorian building by colonial architect James Barnet, with a Federation-era wing added in 1898 and a telephone exchange in 1910. It's Commonwealth Heritage listed.
The town's visitor centre, John Oxley Cottage on Camden Valley Way in Elderslie, sits on land granted to explorer and Surveyor-General John Oxley by Governor Macquarie in 1815–16. The cottage itself is a plain workman's cottage believed built in the 1890s.
Camden Show has run since 1886 and still combines livestock and produce judging with carnival rides — the 2026 show is on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 March at the Camden Showground on Argyle Street. Further out, Camden Park House, the 1830s colonial homestead built for the Macarthur family, sits on the road toward Menangle, effectively adjoining Menangle Park itself.
Picton
Picton started life as "Stonequarry" in 1841 and was renamed in 1845 after Sir Thomas Picton, a British general killed at Waterloo. Its Argyle Street mixes heritage buildings with a modern run of cafés, gift shops and pubs.
The George IV Inn at 180 Argyle Street has been operating since 1835, making it one of Australia's oldest continuously run pubs. Just out of the town centre, the Picton railway viaduct has carried trains over Stonequarry Creek since 1867 — five sandstone arches, still in daily use on the Main Southern Line. Nearby, the Redbank Range "Mushroom Tunnel" opened the same year as the first railway tunnel on the NSW network; it closed to trains in 1919, was used for wartime storage, and was later leased out to grow mushrooms, which is where the name comes from.
Good to know: Camden is roughly 16km (about 16 minutes' drive) from Menangle Park; Picton is roughly 21km (about 19 minutes) — both estimates from a route planner, since neither council publishes an official figure from Menangle Park itself. John Oxley Cottage visitor centre is open Monday to Friday 9:30am–4pm and weekends 10am–2pm. The Mushroom Tunnel is closed on safety grounds — it's viewable from outside only, no interior access.
More: Visit Camden ↗ · Visit Wollondilly (Picton) ↗ · Camden Show ↗ · George IV Inn ↗