Bonnie Doon Cliff Walk

We started this Katoomba walk at the Explorers Tree near the Great Western Highway, at Nellies Glen Road, about 2.5Km from the railway station.

View from Norths Lookout, Katoomba

Nellies Glen Road, which we turned off to follow this cliff top walk, leads to the start of the 'Six Foot Track' and into the valley. Our walk featured Norths Lookout, which overlooks Nellies Glen and the Megalong valley.

Returning to the town centre through Catalina Park (Walford Park) we saw what remains of the Catalina Racing Circuit (below left), which closed in the 1990s. It has a disturbing history, as in 1957 "the traditional owners were forcibly removed from the Gully to make way for a racetrack". This site, known as 'The Gully' was declared an official Aboriginal Place in 2002.

Enlarged photos of the sign the walkers are reading

Location map

WildWalks link


Our thanks, as always, go to our walk leaders.

Walls Ledge - Blackheath

This walk, at Blackheath in the Upper Blue Mountains, although reasonably short, had a variety of scenery, as you can see from the photos.

Centennial Glen Creek, Blackheath

Flannel flowers

View into Kanimbla Valley

Walls Ledge is a popular spot with rock climbers.

Our walk was around 4Kms return to the station.
The only section I didn't enjoy was the return walk along Shipley Road, which we shared with a surprising number of cars considering it was midweek.


            Location Map  


         'Wild Walks' info            

                                                 

Charles Darwin Walk - Wentworth Falls

This Blue Mountains walk which starts at Wilson Park at Wentworth Falls, is named after Charles Darwin who visited the area in 1836. The 2.8Km walk follows Jamison creek almost to the top of Wentworth Falls where there are great views of the falls and the National Park. The walk was reopened after the replacement of some of the timber board walk and three foot bridges due to flood damage last year.

Coreopsis

Weeds are a problem in the upper reaches of the creek. Coreopsis (above) is an attractive perennial yellow daisy from USA. Seeds are washed down watercourses and invade open sunny areas crowding out native plants such as those below. 

 

 Blue Dampiera (Dampiera stricta) shown above, have unusual ‘diamond shape’ leaves. The 'Trigger plant' (Stylidium sp.) left, has a trigger which transfers pollen to insects that lands on the flower.

The walk is also popular with  locals

Jamison Creek, Wentworth Falls

 Location map

Another Wentworth Falls walk.

Transport details
Wentworth Falls is about 1hr 50minutes from Central by CityRail Intercity train. 
It may be possible to catch a Route 685 bus back to the station after the walk, by walking up Falls Rd to a bus stop past Fletcher St. See Upper Mts bus timetable (Use 'Valley of the Waters' stop times as a guide)

More information about this walk at WildWalks

Mt. Victoria - Cox’s Cave

This Blue Mountains bush walk at Mt. Victoria starts at Mt. Piddington Reserve, which is about 2Kms from the railway station. The train journey from Central takes around 2¼ hrs.

Mt.Piddington lookout (near Mt.Victoria)

Mt. Piddington at 1,094 metres, is the highest lookout in the Blue Mountains. 

This photo (right) was taken on the walk, not far from Cox's Cave.

The walk from here to Fairy Bower Picnic area via Cox's Cave took us down uneven mossy steps to a moist gully. 
It is advisable to have at least three people in your group when attempting bush walks such as this one, in case there is an emergency. 

Some of our group took the optional side trip to see Cox’s Cave close up. This involved a potentially perilous climb up the 20 pipe-like rungs of a steel ladder. At the top we then crawled away to the left on a ledge, before being able to stand and walk the short distance to the cave.

I think the cave is named after the pioneer William Cox who was superintended the building of the road over the Blue Mountains which was completed in 1815.  

We continued the walk to the Fairy Bower Picnic area where the road leads back to the highway and the station.

Cox's Cave, Mt. Victoria

  

BMCC map of walks in the 

Mt. Piddington Reserve

My thanks to Judith H. for leading us on this interesting walk 

Katoomba - Furber Steps to 'Witches Leap'

Witches Leap, Katoomba

There are numerous bush walks around the Echo Point and Scenic World area. My ‘Echo Point’ post mentioned one, the Prince Henry Cliff walk.

This current post shows a few photos taken on a walk from the Katoomba Falls Kiosk on Cliff Drive, down the Furber Steps  past 'Witches Leap' into the rainforest at the base of the cliff. A sign along the way informed us that a ‘leap’ is a Scottish term for waterfall

The Three Sisters

The familiar silhouette of the Three Sisters is seen (from a distance) from a lookout below Katoomba Falls Park.

Location map for the walk

Katoomba Falls

'Wild Walks' site gives details of many bush walks in the area including 'Witches Leap Circuit' starting at Scenic World.  

Echo Point, Katoomba, Blue Mountains

For this excursion we caught a Cityrail train to the Blue Mountains which left from Sydney Terminal (also known as Central Intercity platforms). Katoomba is around 100Kms west of Sydney, with the train trip taking about two hours.

At Katoomba station turn right at the bottom of the ramp then right again and up the stairs (or elevator). Cross the road and walk left, around the corner to Katoomba Street.
A short walk up the hill will lead to the bus stop in front of the Carrington Hotel . This restored 1882 hotel is well worth a visit. We caught the ‘Echo Point & Scenic World’ bus which leaves about every half hour daily to Echo Point, but you could walk the 2.2Kms, following Katoomba, Waratah and Lurline Streets.

Echo Point is a busy tourist location, but offers a good vantage point to view the Blue Mountains best known landmark, ‘The Three Sisters’ rock formation. There is also a tourist information centre, toilets and food outlets at Echo Point.

Bush walk

We had a easy day on this visit, but you can you can find sanctuary from the crowd on the pleasant walking trails which lead from Echo Point. Ask at the tourist centre for more information about bushwalks.

One popular walk, with great views along the way, is part of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk around the cliff line to Scenic World. Allow an hour and a half if you do this walk which starts near the path that leads to the lower viewing platform, down a gentle sloping concrete ramp. (see footnote). Towards the end of the walk the track comes out of bushland for a short section of Cliff Drive where you could stop for refreshments at Katoomba Falls Kiosk. There is a bus stop near the Kiosk.
The walk continues to Scenic World where you could catch a bus back to the station or you may choose to go on the Scenic railway (the world's steepest railway) or Skyway.

Katoomba Falls from Skyway

                         

Katoomba Falls Cafe

Footnote: Don’t confuse this walk with the hard grade walk to the same location (via parts of the Dardanelles Pass and Federal Pass tracks) which starts at the Giant Stairway with 900 steps down to the base of the cliff.