Singleton lies in the Hunter Valley on the New England Highway, a coal town in the middle of wine country, with the Hunter River looping through flat green fields on its way to Newcastle. It is not a pretty town in a conventional sense, but it is useful, and for riders finishing the Putty Road, it is the first proper service centre after a long run through the sandstone bush.
The Putty Road itself is one of the best-known motorcycle roads in New South Wales, running about 170 kilometres from Windsor north through Colo and the Wollemi National Park to Singleton. It is a narrow, undulating ribbon through eucalypt forest, with tight bends and long, fast sections, and there are few services along it. That has made it a favourite with Sydney riders, and also with the police, who patrol it heavily and use speed cameras. Treat the limits seriously, because fines and licence points here have ruined a lot of weekends. The road's surface is generally good, but sections can be damp under tree cover, and wildlife, including wallabies, wombats and kangaroos, is common at dawn and dusk.
Singleton's history goes back to the 1820s, when it was founded by Benjamin Singleton on a river flat, and it grew as a service town for the farms and later the coal mines of the upper Hunter. It also hosts a large army base, home to the infantry school, so you see soldiers in town. The big open-cut mines around the district supply much of the export coal that leaves Newcastle, and the haze of dust and the long coal trains are a common sight.
Fuel, food and accommodation are easy in town, which has several petrol stations along the main street and plenty of pubs and bakeries. Pokolbin and the main wine district are less than an hour away, so if you have time the cellar doors, cheese shops and restaurants are an excellent follow-up to a long road.
Fill up in Singleton before heading back down the Putty, because fuel on the road itself is scarce.