For tens of thousands of years before European colonisation, the Burragorang area was inhabited by the Gandangara (or Gundagurra) people, who lived throughout the south-east region of New South Wales.

[citation needed] With the boom in Sydney's population after World War II, the Warragamba Dam was constructed between 1948 and 1960[6] on the Warragamba River, inundating the Burragorang Valley, creating Lake Burragorang.

It is estimated 72 million tonnes of coal was mined in the Burragorang-Nattai region.

[7][8] The ABC programme, A Drowned Valley,[9] by ABC Open producer, Sean O'Brien, documented former residents' memories of living in the valley before its inundation.

[4] However, another reference claims that Burragorang is a Gandangara word which means "home or place of the giant Kangaroo".