 For thousands of years, the Northern Tablelands and these valleys were the tribal lands of the Dangaddi aboriginal people, whose descendants are now concentrated in the lower Macleay River.Some marked trees have been found and a limestone cave shelter has been excavated near Kunderang Brook.In 1818 explorer John Oxley and his party tried to descend the Apsley valley, but steep gorges blocked the way until they proceeded around the head of the Apsley Falls.