THE KATOOMBA FALLS RESERVE
BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA
The
Katoomba Falls Reserve has been a central part of the “Katoomba
experience” for 130 years. Its proximity to Scenic World guarantees that the
flow of visitors will continue unabated. So far as I can tell, the falls and
surrounding bushland are part of the Blue
Mountains National Park while the reserve itself (ie the adjacent picnic
and park lands etc) is administered by the Blue
Mountains City Council. Both have a continuing battle to keep these areas
attractive to visitors and yet maintain their conservation and scenic value.
It appears from the Sydney Morning Herald of July 7th 1880 that the reserve
was established on June 4th that year. It would have included the
area around the falls themselves, no doubt, as well as the more level ground
which we now think of the as the Katoomba Falls Reserve. From then on, sundry
improvements began to be made and the area developed as a picnic ground. For example, we read in the Nepean Times of Saturday 29th October 1887 that the local
Congregational Church was to hold a Sunday School picnic there the following
Saturday.
Railway
picnics were great events in those days, bringing NSW
Government Railway employees from far and wide for a day’s fun and games. The SMH reports of the picnics of 1912 and 1913
make it clear that crowds of 2000 people attended. The town council was
criticised for not making better provision for such numbers. It is a subject
worth reading about in Trove, and it's apparent that both Blackheath and Mt
Victoria benefited from similar large assemblies.
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| The camping ground in 1958 |
At some point the town’s showground was established on the reserve, before moving to its
present site around 1926. From that time the NRMA came onto the scene wanting to convert the showground site
into a camping area. This was done and the site became a very popular venue in
the 1930’s. I can only remember the place from the early 50’s but I am sure
those early campers would be amazed at the facilities that are provided for visitors
today. It is now known as the Blue
Mountains Tourist Park and the website may be found here .
Cricket
has been played at the reserve for a long time too. We read in the “Blue
Mountain Echo” of Friday 2nd December 1910 of plans to set up a proper cricket
ground there. Today there are two and the second one also serves as an
off-leash dog area every morning.
I have copied the comment below from the Orphan Rock blog, as it is also relevant here.
"If you consult the map on page 251 of The
Burning Mists of Time, you will see that by 8th June 1880, North had already
given the land for Katoomba Park, basically all that land on the ledge from
Katoomba Falls around to and including the Orphan Rock.
Access to the Rock was stopped in 1974 when a mudslide obliterated the access
track, and BMCC never repaired it. I think they took it as an excuse to remove
some more track maintenance from their books.
In 1998 I took the Mayor and the Head of NPWS up to the top of the Rock to see
if it could be re-instated. At the time there was an issue as to whether
Council or NPWS "owned" the Rock. Nothing ever came of it. Philip Hammon June 2014"
There are three main picnic areas at Katoomba Falls
Reserve and on any day, sunny or not, there are always people there making use
of this excellent park.
https://johnsbluemountainsblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/links-to-all-blog-entries-and-relevant.html All Blue Mountains blogs and videos
All New England and other Geology blogs and videos
Limestone Caves of NSW
Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs
Shoalhaven District Geology.
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| The writer at Katoomba Falls camping area June 1958 |
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