A dissected sandstone plateau ninety minutes west, full of canyons, waterfalls and eucalypt haze, with a train to the middle of it.
The Blue Mountains are not really mountains — they are a dissected sandstone plateau, cut by rivers into canyons up to 760 metres deep. The plateau top is around 1,100 metres and the effect from the lookouts is of standing on a rim looking down into forest.
The blue haze is real and is caused by light scattering off fine droplets of eucalyptus oil released by the forest, combined with dust and water vapour.
The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed for its eucalypt diversity — around 90 species — and for the Wollemi pine, found in a canyon here in 1994 after being known only from 90-million-year-old fossils.
It is Gundungurra and Darug country.
Katoomba and the Three Sisters
Echo Point gives the standard view of the Three Sisters — three weathered sandstone pillars, 922, 918 and 906 metres. There is a Gundungurra story attached to them which is widely retold in a version that appears to have been written for tourists in the twentieth century; the authentic Aboriginal associations with the site are real and are different.
Scenic World operates the Scenic Railway — at 52 degrees the steepest passenger railway in the world, built to haul coal — plus a cable car and a skyway across the valley. Ticketed and not cheap, and the railway is genuinely thrilling.
The walks
This is what to come for.
The Giant Stairway — around 900 steps from Echo Point down into the Jamison Valley, connecting to the Federal Pass and back up via the Scenic Railway. Three hours, steep, spectacular.
Wentworth Falls — the National Pass, cut into the cliff face by hand between 1907 and 1908, running behind waterfalls along a ledge. About four hours and one of the best walks in Australia.
Grand Canyon Track at Blackheath — a five-kilometre loop through a fern-filled slot canyon.
Govetts Leap and Pulpit Rock at Blackheath for the Grose Valley views.
Check conditions before you go. Tracks close for landslips and after fire, and the 2019–20 bushfires burned a very large part of the area.
The towns
Leura is prettier than Katoomba, with a garden village high street. Blackheath is quieter and closer to the best walks. Mount Victoria is the far end.
Jenolan Caves, limestone caverns south-west of Katoomba, are among the oldest open caves in the world. Road access has been repeatedly affected by landslides — check before planning a trip.
Practicalities
Trains from Central to Katoomba take about two hours and run roughly hourly, on an Opal card with fare caps.
It is much colder than Sydney — often ten degrees cooler, with snow occasionally in winter. Take layers whatever the coastal forecast says.
Take water and a map. Phone signal is unreliable in the valleys.
