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Tuesday 1 October 2013

PERRY’S LOOKDOWN, BLACKHEATH BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

PERRY’S LOOKDOWN, BLACKHEATH 

BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

Hat Hill Road at Blackheath leads out to several places where there are superb views over the valley of the Grose River and its tributaries. Among these is Perry’s Lookdown, a popular place with visitors since the 1880’s. There are three identified lookouts – Perry’s Lookdown itself, Docker’s Lookout and what has become known as Monument Lookout. Beyond the third lookout the track descends steeply into the valley, providing access to the Blue Gum Forest and the walking tracks which radiate from it.

You’ll enjoy reading an article from the Illustrated Sydney News (NSW: 1853 - 1872), Saturday 16 February 1884, page 14, 15 titled “Our Trip to Binda Caves” (now called Jenolan Caves) during which the party visited Perry’s Lookdown. Search the newspaper files at http://trove.nla.gov.au .                                                                 
Immediately opposite the main lookout is the dramatic Mt Banks, so named by George Caley in November 1804 in honour of his patron, Sir Joseph Banks, when his attempt to cross the Blue Mountains came to an end on the brink of those cliffs. See this reference here for more information about Caley’s expedition. The mountain is capped by a small area of basalt which has somewhat fortuitously preserved a remnant of the Hawkesbury Sandstone and a complete section of the underlying Narrabeen Group sediments of the Sydney Basin.
 
The National Parks and Wildlife Service has provided a rather scarce facility in the form of a small overnight camping area which is particularly useful for those doing the longer walks.
Monument Lookout is the site of memorial to a group of 4 teenagers who died in the vicinity in a bushfire in 1957. See the story in The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Monday 2 December 1957, page 1.

View my Blue Mountains videos on my YouTube site here . This includes a video on the lookouts at Perry’s Lookdown here



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