It is in the local government area of the City of Lithgow, the state seat of Bathurst and the Federal Division of Calare.

Little Hartley is a collection of properties in a rural setting, distributed on both sides of the Great Western Highway.

Other properties in the area include The Grange (the site of an art gallery), Harp of Erin (formerly William's Store), Ambermere (formerly the Rose Inn), Deloraine Park, Tathra, Nioka, Niangala, Glyn Ruthin, Kariba, Bimbadgen and Bimbimbi.

[4] Mead's Farm, about two kilometres north-west of Rosedale, dates back to a land grant of forty hectares given to Hugh Beattie in 1856.

It was operated as the Kerosene Inn between 1867 and 1880, during which time it was used by the miners who worked at the shale mine in Hartley Vale.