LEURA CASCADES PICNIC AREAS BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

LEURA CASCADES PICNIC AREAS BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

This has been a favourite place for picnics since the Katoomba Baths were opened here in 1913. Before then, many people came down the tracks from both Katoomba and Leura stations to visit the Leura Cascades and Leura Falls, especially after the opening of the Federal Pass track earlier in the century. The completion of the baths, with associated change rooms, toilets and picnic areas brought many more visitors. The area remains popular today, with easy access from the Cliff Drive and regular stops by the coaches which visit the principal tourist spots.

2022 note: The area was closed for several years after heavy rain and landslides.It is now open for pedestrians and cyclists. Park at the Solitary Restaurant.

Just when the baths finally closed I have not been able to discover. The present Katoomba Aquatic Centre dates from 1972, but for at least 20 years before that the pool at nearby Catalina Park was drawing people away from this cold mountain swimming pool. The basic structure of the baths is still visible, having been filled in while the concrete walls were retained, which adds considerably to the interest of the place. 

The Baths around 1920

Mountaineer Tourist Guide 1927

 There isn’t a great deal of parking and the lower area tends to fill up early in the day as people head off on the various bush walks which radiate from here. The upper area isn’t far away, but it’s all up hill from the main facilities which is a bit off-putting if you’ve parked there and carried all your picnic gear down the hill.

The Prince Henry Cliff Walk, The Leura Cascades, The Bridal Veil Falls, the Amphitheatre walk and the Federal Pass are all easily accessed from here.

My video on the Leura Cascades Picnic Area 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.

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 . 

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

THE ROUND WALK, KATOOMBA FALLS BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

THE ROUND WALK, KATOOMBA FALLS 

BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

This walk may be commenced from either Scenic World or Katoomba Falls Reserve and it matters little in which direction you go. Parking and public transport is good at both places and refreshments are available close by. Coupled with fantastic scenery and a wide variety of plants to be seen along the way, this is an excellent walk, taking about an hour. 

The Witches Leap gap (often called the Witches Glen in older publications) provides an easy descent from road level. It is quite likely that this gap in the upper cliffs is a former course of Kedumba Creek, which now flows over the Katoomba Falls. The upper course of the creek, coming down from the vicinity of the Katoomba Aquatic Centre, lines up quite well with the gap and it’s possible that there is a former course of the creek concealed beneath the playing fields and the caravan park.

The 1894 historic map show a track descending into the valley in much the same place as today’s steps (near Vaniman’s Lookout). This would have been the beginning of the miner’s track down to the coal mines below what is now Scenic World. This track passed between the Orphan Rock and the upper cliff line before making a steep (and dangerous) descent to the level of today’s lower Scenic Railway station.

There are three principal lookouts along the track: Vaniman’s, Juliet’s Balcony and Rainforest Lookout, though the third is a little below the track it is well worth including in the walk.

Chester Melvin Vaniman was a celebrated American photographer and artist who visited the Blue Mountains in 1903. The lookout provides a great view of the Falls and the Three Sisters. It is on that section of the Round Walk which is actually part of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, close to where the track descends into the valley.

Juliet’s Balcony is a well located lookout somewhat further down and gives a full length view of both Upper and Lower Katoomba Falls.

Rainforest Lookout is lower down again; unlike the upper lookouts this one is surrounded by lush vegetation and also has a great view of the falls.

View from Vaniman's Lookout 2011

View from Juliet's Balcony 2007

My Round Walk video is here .

Rainforest Lookout around 1905

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

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

THE ORPHAN ROCK, KATOOMBA BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

THE ORPHAN ROCK KATOOMBA 

BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

 From the earliest days of tourism in the Blue Mountains, the Orphan Rock  has been one of the features people have most admired. Just when the name was first used is unclear; the title on a photo from 1879 calls it the “Orphan Tower” and in a letter to the Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald dated April 27^th 1880, the writer refers to it as the “orphan” rock.

This same letter also raises the question of the ownership of the Orphan Rock. Clearly it was then part of the coal mine lands owned by John Britty North. When (if ever) did it pass back into public ownership or does it still belong to the Hammon family, owners of Scenic World today? I believe the person who possessed "the only point where this gorgeous scenery can be looked upon with advantage" was James Henry Neale MLA. The point referred to is presumably Reid's Plateau, which would have been included in the Reserve when it was proclaimed soon after. Not all landowners in the Blue Mountains have been so public-minded.

The walking track to the summit was built as part of the tourism attraction expansion of the 1930’s (which also saw the Prince Henry Cliff Walk and the Giant Stairway completed, among others). 

The Orphan Rock in June 1958

This track had a short life, however, due to concerns about the stability of the rock itself and it was closed in the 1950’s. I have been up there long ago, but whether this was a legal ascent or not I don’t remember. The 1958 photograph with the Skyway seems to show two figures standing at the lookout on the left hand side. 

"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"

This quote from “The Land”, Friday 22^nd 1937, tells the story well. It’s a shame we can’t enjoy the experience today.

“Time was when the rock was regarded as quite inaccessible, but by means of rope and hook and stout heart, one of the Council's rangers reached the top; as a result of that perilous climb, safely guarded steps 

The Orphan Rock steps from an old photograph

have been hewn from the rock, and built of hardwood in places, whereby the top may be reached in safety. Once at the apex the climb will be found more than worth while; lookouts have been constructed, giving a clear view of the Falls on one side, while on the south the undulating valleys run away for illimitable miles in shades now blue, now mauve, now pink.”

Paragon Cafe tin from the 1930's showing the Orphan Rock

It has often been pointed out that the Katoomba Falls area (which includes the Orphan Rock) was the centre of Katoomba tourism in the early days and that the Three Sisters and Echo Point only took over that position in the early twentieth century. One institution which still maintains the Rock as its logo is the Paragon Café in Katoomba St. As one writer put it, “Like this famous rock, the café stands alone”.

Here is a link to a description of a recent climb of the rock. I DO NOT recommend readers to do the same! 

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.

The Orphan Rock summit in July 2013

DEN FENELLA, WENTWORTH FALLS BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

DEN FENELLA, WENTWORTH FALLS 

BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

The Den Fenella track leaves the Wentworth Falls picnic area at the car park end, right next to several “heritage” shelter sheds. It’s downhill all the way on a good track. Once the creek is crossed at the Undercliff track junction, the final part of 

The National Pass track

the descent follows a steeply dropping gorge until the cliff is reached, where the creek plunges into the Jamison Valley. Immediately below is the National Pass and from the lookout you can see the pathway following a claystone layer in the sandstone cliff.

From an old book of views

I can recall visits to Den Fenella as far back as the early fifties and I always wondered how this lovely spot got its name. It has certainly been in use since the 1880’s. I came across this item on the Web here which reads: “Den Fenella, romantic ravine, SE. Kincardineshire; extends from 1½ mile SE. of Laurencekirk to 1½ mile SW. of Johnshaven; is traditionally named from Fenella, a daughter of the Maormar of Angus, slain here in 995; near the sea the Fenella Burn makes a beautiful waterfall, 65 ft. in leap.” I guess the place at Wentworth Falls was named by some homesick Scotsman.

Den Fenella Lookout

You can view my video of the Princes Rock – Den Fenella walk here .

An excellent video called “Den Fenella Track, Blue Mountains”, by  palevo7, can 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.

My grandchildren Kristen and Bonnie Eastlake at Den Fenella October 2004