[2] Located on the banks of the Lachlan River, Forbes is 245 metres (804 ft) above sea-level and about 380 kilometres (240 mi) west of Sydney.

Nearby towns and villages include Calarie, Parkes, Bedgerebong, Bundabarrah, Corradgery, Daroobalgie, Eugowra, Ooma North and Paytens Bridge.

He was unimpressed with the clay soil, poor timber and swamps and he concluded, it is impossible to imagine a worse country.

The Post Office was opened on 1 December 1861 and given the name Black Ridge in response to the demand for postal services by those involved with the gold rush along the Lachlan River.

It is said that the name was meant for the town now known as "Hill End" between Orange and Mudgee, where gold was discovered around a similar time.

[7] One of Australia's most renowned bushrangers, Ben Hall, was shot dead in an early morning police ambush about 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north-west of Forbes on 5 May 1865.

Notwithstanding its northerly latitude and low elevation of just 240 metres (790 ft), snow has been known to fall on a few occasions[17]—one of which saw a daily snowfall total of 9 inches (23 cm) on 5 July 1900.

[3] Forbes' most recent major flood was in late September 2016 after heavy rain fell on much of inland NSW; as the Bureau of Meteorology declared 2016 as the third-wettest winter on record.

[23] By early August, the Bureau of Meteorology had issued flood warnings for the Orara, Macquarie, Bogan and Lachlan rivers.

Forbes was declared a natural disaster zone after flash flooding occurred, resulting in some residents being without homes.

[29][30][31] As the Lachlan flowed into the Murrumbidgee River, major flooding occurred downriver during late October and early November at Hay, Darlington Point, Carrathool and Hillston.