The new Grand Cliff Top Walk links the finest walking trails and iconic sights of the Blue Mountains into one easy to follow two day, 19 km walk. The superb scenery compensates for the serious step workout!
In the past, we had rather neglected the Blue Mountains, usually just passing through en route to other things. However, the recently opened Grand Cliff Top Walk caught our eye and we decided it was time to revisit the area.
The suggested route starts at Wentworth Falls, finishing at Gordon Falls Picnic area near Leura after 11 km on the first day. A further 8 km on the second day leads to the end at Scenic World, a cable car attraction at Katoomba.
There are train stations at Wentworth Falls, Leura and Katoomba, as well as buses so we were able to park our car and get back to it quite easily. However, the walk makes the perfect two day excursion from Sydney, what with the train connections and plentiful accommodation options.
Of course we were following our usual cheapskate option and camping in the free and very pretty Old Ford Reserve in the Megalong Valley. Overlooking a creek for a cooling dip and in a very peaceful spot, we loved it.
There is a steep and winding road down from Blackheath into this very scenic valley, especially beautiful in the evening when the setting sun lights up the escarpment faces in brilliant reds and oranges.
DAY 1
Wentworth Falls to Gordon’s Picnic area (Leura)
11 km
If arriving by train at Wentworth Falls, a quick left past the shops and cafes – I can recommend the Fed – and then a right will lead to the Charles Darwin walk which starts at little Wilson Park – this is also where the Grand Cliff Top Walk starts.
There is a ceremonial wall and some information boards. Charles Darwin walked along Jamison Creek in 1836 – now we were to follow in his footsteps, a path of easy boardwalks which continually criss cross the creek.
The creek is pretty, quite narrow, with lush ferny banks. There is a good swimming hole at one memorial bridge but shortly afterwards the track is shut due to flood damage.
The detour climbs up (of course!) to Fletcher Road where signs warn that pedestrians must not stop on driveways and should give way to vehicles.
A left on the friendlier Falls Road leads down to the Wentworth Falls Picnic area. It is actually a perfectly pleasant agapanthus lined walk under big maple trees and I even found a water trough with a tap to one end which was welcome.
Once there, it is an easy matter to find one’s way back to the creek again at the beautiful Weeping Rock, where the water runs in fine rivelets.
As you follow it down, the path just gets better and better. After Queen’s Cascades the path leads on to the National Pass, a precarious cliff edge path which was hacked out by hand (and a little dynamite) in 1908.
It is worth following the Pass for a little way before it drops off the edge, merely to admire the superb views and the efforts required in its construction.
Tempting though the steep steps were, we backtracked and continued on the Undercliff Track, an incredibly beautiful route which hugged the cliff edges, a world of steep overhangs and rich colours.
In places some of the original track still existed: huge wooden slabs laid on the path whereas these days the sandstone stepping stones seem the more popular option.
We passed a little arched well, solidly built in traditional stonework, and an area where tour guides had obviously been demonstrating how aborigines mixed coloured pigments for hand painting: a diverse array of hands were displayed on the sandstone.
On the landward size, there were long ranging views over unspoilt dense woodland and mountains. It was nice to think that this (bar one communications tower) was virtually the same view Darwin would have seen.
We stopped to admire Wentworth Falls before dropping down to the Den Fenella lookout, passing through a hidden, moist gully of little streams and lianas, crossing picturesque wooden bridges to end at a hidden Mount Solitary view.
The path contued on around the cliffs on the Overcliff Track, a riot of lush greens with scattered flowers. A lyre bird ran across the trail and disappeared into a tree.
We reached the junction from where a steep 10 minute hike led up to the Conservation Hut which is rather posher – or smarter, they don’t do posh in Australia – than its name suggests.
Airy verandahs frame a central atrium and feeling deserving of lunch by this stage we tucked into colourful mango smoothies, burgers, and a prawn and lobster roll for me. Yellow tailed black cockatoos flew past – the track is marked by an icon of the bird drawn by an aborigine artist. Smaller birds flitted about the bush below us.
A table with a grand view added to our contentment (despite the 10% weekend surcharge) and we left suitably fortified for the next section.
It was just as well we had enjoyed lunch as the next section just seemed to be endlessly and relentlessly up and down! We descended steeply from the Hut in the company of abseilers who were heading off to canyon to Empress Falls.
Empress Falls is one of the more popular walks in the park. It was a 10 minute detour from our route – but a vertical one and we felt every metre on the way back up. It emerges from a narrow cleft and falls 30 m in pretty tiers amidst damp forested sides.
If you can get close – don’t come at weekends – the top pool is an idyllic spot for a wild swim.
We retraced our steps and branched off on the Nature Walk to continue our walk. The path climbed around the mountain then dropped back into the narrow canyon which we crossed on the wooden Lillian’s Bridge.
From there it was a steady climb up until we passed a golf course, following a wooden boardwalk which decanted us finally at the back of the Fairmont Resort Hotel, which did not look smart enough to warrant it’s $250 a night price tag.
There was then some walking on Sublime Point road for a kilometre which was thankfully quiet – we even managed to find a handy lawn tap to fill our water bottle – then Willoughby Road, from where the track bore off into the bush again.
We wound down to a little creek, climbed up and around and down again to the very pretty Pool of Siloam (named after a ritual bath in the city of David).
It nestles within a shady rainforest and has a good swimming hole. Unfortunately when we went through it had been taken over by a gang playing loud music.
Another stiff set of steps led up to our final viewpoint of the day over the 200 m Gordon’s Falls, only just visible in the increasing shadows.
It was enough! We walked 2 km up a hill into Leura (Sparrows is the go-to cafe here) and caught the train back to Wentworth Falls where we had another 2 km back to the car – it had been quite a long day but the views had been stunning throughout – just don’t expect it to be easy!
DAY 2
Gordon Falls (Leura) to Scenic World (Katoomba)
8 km
It wasn’t as bad as the previous day!
We parked the car on Olympian Parade by the trailhead for Olympian Rock, missing a short section from Gordon Falls due to track works.
The day immediately started with a great view over the valley below as we dropped steeply down into the forest.
The track did its old trick of shadowing the rich red cliffs with endless distant views. The first steep climb led to Tarpeian Rock where the ripples in the sand of a long lost sea showed clearly.
Bridal Veil View was worth the minor detour which led to an amazingly precarious perched lookout over the wide expanse of the falls which, whilst shallow, fell in a sparking diaphanous mass.
The track then turned on a narrow fern lined path along Leura Falls Creek. There were a series of small cascades en route and evidence of flood damage on one section before we reached the top of Bridal Veil Falls, although the view was more of the mountains beyond than the invisible falls.
Another steep climb ensued, the old path cutting under the cliff to the magnificent Bridal Veil Falls lookout where we could fully appreciate their position in a lush hidden enclave below.
Copeland’s Lookout was next and interesting in that it appeared to be unmodernised: a dirt track with uneven steps led down to a narrow walled lookout. Half way down there appeared to be an old stone walled fireplace beside a cliff – perhaps an old camping area.
All morning, a helicopter had been noisily buzzing overhead, delivering bags of sand for track work. About 1.5 km before the Three Sisters, we were diverted off our pleasant trail onto the road in order to avoid the area.
We were able to drop down to the track again at the Silver Mist Reserve from where we quickly reached the Three Sisters Lookout.
These three stone outcrops on a promontory do actually have names: Meehni (the biggest at 922 m), Wimlah and Gunnedoo, representing three aborigine sisters who were turned into stone for disobeying tribal law in wanting to marry into a different tribe.
The first in line actually has a wooden bridge to it, known as the Honeymoon Bridge, but it was closed due to rockfall danger. From there the Giant Stairway drops 998 steps into the valley below – one for another day.
A wide walkway led on around to the Visitor’s Centre where there are various souvenirs as well as a helpful information desk with guides and maps.
Unfortunately this area is inundated with bus tours, most of whose clientele seem to be Asian, and heavily into photographs of themselves. I rapidly got fed up of dodging their poses and we wandered on for the last 2 km towards Scenic World.
There were still a few lookouts to detain us, with good views over the Three Sisters and Mount Solitary – the rocky outcrop below its summit it is known as the Ruined Castle and does indeed resemble one from afar.
The last highlight was Katoomba Falls, a fine waterfall where the Kedumba River falls 150 m in two main stages. An isolated rock known as the Orphan sits in an area crossed by the cable cars from Scenic World, which also has a railway down the rock face and another giving access to the valley floor.
Scenic World was our finishing point, verified by a big board informing us that we had concluded the walk.
A handy bus got us to Katoomba and another on to Leura: although there had been some organisation required at each end, it had all worked out quite smoothly.
In fact it is the perfect walk: easily accessible by public transport, good local connections, handy accommodation and cafes en route and 10/10 for scenery – although Simon added that there were too many steps!
Suffice to say the second day was rather easier than the first with fewer ascents and descents – but neither was quite the walk in the park which we had expected.
