WALKING TRACKS AT GORDON FALLS RESERVE LEURA BLUE MOUNTAINS NSW AUSTRALIA

WALKING TRACKS AT GORDON FALLS RESERVE LEURA BLUE MOUNTAINS NSW AUSTRALIA

The picnic area at Gordon Falls, Leura, is a great base for exploring some of the best tracks the Blue Mountains has to offer. It’s a stopping place for the buses which do the Katoomba-Leura circuit many times every day so you can easily get there from Katoomba or Leura railway stations, do a walk and then move on to other places like Echo Point and Scenic World. Note 2024. You now must pay to park here.

I suggest you view my earlier video about Gordon Falls Reserve here and the blog here. There many other videos and blogs dealing with the area. These are listed below.

My recent video on walking tracks at Gordon Falls Reserve is here.

Videos

Katoomba Holiday 2007 Part 4

Gordon Falls to Tarpeian Rock

Sublime Point Road to Golf Links Lookout

Spencer St Leura to Lyrebird Dell

Leura Cascades to Olympian Rock

Gordon Falls to Golf Links Lookout

Leura Cascades to Tarpeian Rock

Gordon Falls Lookout and Elysian Rock

The Pool of Siloam and Lyrebird Dell

Blogs

Download a copy of the “Mountaineer Tourist Guide” (1908)

Leura Cascades to Tarpeian Rock

Gordon Falls Lookout and Elysian Rock

https://johnsbluemountainsblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/links-to-all-blog-entries-and-relevant.html All Blue Mountains blogs and videos

https://johnsnewenglandminerals.blogspot.com/2013/12/list-of-all-blog-entries-to-date.html

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1325599670344725659?pli=1

Limestone Caves of NSW

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1147003616874115974/2430103125095714141

Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1515863000684737715

Shoalhaven District Geology

CARRINGTON PARK TO THE LEURA CASCADES, KATOOMBA NSW AUSTRALIA

CARRINGTON PARK TO THE LEURA CASCADES, KATOOMBA NSW AUSTRALIA

The first stage of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk was opened at Echo Point in October 1934 by the Hon ES Spooner, Minister for Local Government in the NSW parliament. This covered the section from Katoomba Falls to Echo Point.

It took some time for the second stage to be completed. It was necessary for the Katoomba Council to acquire land in various places without which the track would have been rather too close to houses. It still is in the last sections approaching Gordon Falls. It was here, at Elysian Rock lookout, that Hon EA Buttenshaw, Minister for Lands, officially opened the section from Echo Point to Gordon Falls. Buttenshaw Bridge at this spot is named after

Direction indicator at Kiah Lookout

him.

Between Carrington Park and Leura Cascades there are 7 named lookouts, each with its own special features. All but one of these is relatively close to the walk. The exception is Copeland’s Lookout, which is approached by a 5-10 minute walk out to a point of land far enough away from the comparatively busy Cliff Walk to make it a very peaceful spot. The lookout is surrounded by a rock wall, similar to some at Wentworth Falls.

William Copeland opened one of the first stores in Katoomba and went on to serve on the local council and in many other civic capacities. He died in 1928. Just when the lookout was named after him is uncertain, but like many of the view points along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, it was probably before 1900.

Possibly Copeland's Lookout

Along the track to Copeland’s Lookout are numerous graffiti dating back 100  years or more. I certainly don’t advocate defacing the environment in this way, but it is true that they can be very interesting and occasionally historically important. Two in particular stand out and neither is all that conspicuous, though when they were fresh they probably were.

The first is a painted inscription on a flat section of rock largely protected from the weather. It says, with simple assurance, “GOD LOVES ME”. The second is more complex. Keith Painter refers to it in his excellent booklet on the Prince Henry Cliff  Walk on page 33.

 (You can purchase a copy of this and Keith’s other books from Mountain Mist Books here.) 

The inscription reads: “TRIX CHEERS 20.9.14 C.E.ABBOTT”. Keith then comments “I wonder if Trix and C.E. survived the war?”

We can now say beyond a doubt that they did! We know from the Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 18^th December 1915, page 12, that Clarence Edwin Abbott married Beatrice Cheers at St John’s Church Darlinghurst. Furthermore, the Herald announced their Silver Wedding anniversary on Wednesday 13^th, 1940, page 10. Clarence died in 1956 aged 69 and Trix in 1972.

My video of this walk is here while that of the Carrington Park to Echo Point walk is here. 

https://johnsbluemountainsblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/links-to-all-blog-entries-and-relevant.html All Blue Mountains blogs and videos

https://johnsnewenglandminerals.blogspot.com/2013/12/list-of-all-blog-entries-to-date.html

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1325599670344725659?pli=1

Limestone Caves of NSW

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1147003616874115974/2430103125095714141

Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1515863000684737715

Shoalhaven District Geology

Christmas bush is plentiful along this track

GORDON FALLS LOOKOUT AND ELYSIAN ROCK, LEURA BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

GORDON FALLS LOOKOUT AND ELYSIAN ROCK, LEURA BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

See the blog entry on Gordon Falls Reserve, which gives details of the origin of the reserve and also my You Tube videos on the area.For a good read, go to Trove (trove.nla.gov.au) and look up the story printed in “The Blue Mountain Echo” (NSW: 1909 - 1928) for Friday 18 April 1919. The author must have walked down to or close to the site of the present lookout to have been able to see the waterfall. The Lookout is easily reached from the parking area. Before getting even that far, you will pass an old painted sign on the left, on which the faint words “Fairy Dell” can just be discerned. The sign has gone now (June 2021).

This could refer to “Fairy Glen”, accessed by a track now out of use leading from the Lookout track. See the sample page from “Mountain Mist Books” here on how to locate this old track. On the other hand, the map shows Fairy Dell below the cliff line. Another good read from “The Blue Mountain Echo” from September 1913 shows how Alderman Lindeman was thinking about the pass in the valley below which now bears his name. See here .

Gordon Falls Lookout is a good place to view the Three Sisters from the “other side”, which looks decidedly unusual for those who only know the Echo Point aspect. You can view both the upper and lower falls by craning your neck a bit. 

The lower fall

The upper fall

The Prince Henry Cliff Walk commences at Gordon Falls, and the first lookout encountered is at Elysian Rock. The track (August 2013) was closed beyond this point because of bushfire damage, but reopened several years ago. You can return to the parking area via the steps up to Olympian Parade. 

Until the construction of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk in the 1930’s, the three rock lookouts (Elysian, Olympian and Tarpeian) each had separate access tracks, which remain to this day. It is to be hoped that the Cliff Walk track which links them will be reopened soon. (It was, about 18 months later, after reconstruction of the Buttenshaw Bridge).

The Elysian Fields or Elysium is, in Greek mythology, a place of perfect happiness prepared by the gods for the worthy dead. No doubt this is where the Rock derives its name, which is a cut above all the Fairy Dells and Fairy Glens in the Blue Mountains.

My video of this walk will be found here. 

https://johnsbluemountainsblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/links-to-all-blog-entries-and-relevant.html All Blue Mountains blogs and videos

https://johnsnewenglandminerals.blogspot.com/2013/12/list-of-all-blog-entries-to-date.html

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1325599670344725659?pli=1

Limestone Caves of NSW

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1147003616874115974/2430103125095714141

Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1515863000684737715

Shoalhaven District Geology