Blue Mountains walking tracks | |
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Location | Blue Mountains National Park, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia |
Coordinates | 33°38′11″S150°16′18″E / 33.6365°S 150.2716°E Coordinates: 33°38′11″S150°16′18″E / 33.6365°S 150.2716°E |
Built | 1880– |
Owner | NSW Office of Environment and Heritage |
Official name | Blue Mountains Walking tracks |
Type | State heritage (complex / group) |
Designated | 2 April 1999 |
Reference no. | 980 |
Type | Trail/Track |
Category | Transport - Land |
The Blue Mountains walking tracks are heritage-listed picnic areas, walking tracks and rest areas located in the Blue Mountains National Park, in the City of Blue Mountains local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1880. The property is owned by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. [1]
The Blue Mountains National Park regained the top spot as the most popular New South Wales national park for domestic visitors in a 2014 survey. It received 4.2 million visitors in 2014, relegating Royal National Park to second place. [2] [1]
The following walking tracks form part of the heritage-listed items. The State Heritage Inventory (SHI) number below is the reference to the item number in the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) s.170 Register. [1]
Tab No. | SHI No. | Item name | Location | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3900010 | Causeway to Red Hands Cave | Glenbrook | |
2 | 3900033 | Grotto Tracks | Springwood | |
3 | 3900043 | Florabella Pass | Warrimoo and Blaxland | |
4 | 3900048 | Kings Cave Track | Linden | |
5 | 3900088 | Princes Rock Track | Wentworth Falls | |
6 | 3900099 | Den Fenella Track | Wentworth Falls | |
7 | 3900112 | Jamison Creek Corridor/Darwins Walk | Wentworth Falls | |
8 | 3900115 | Valley of the Waters Track | Wentworth Falls | |
9 | 3900120 | National Pass | Wentworth Falls | |
10 | 3900138 | Federal Pass | Katoomba/Leura | |
11 | 3900140 | Giant Stairway | Katoomba | |
12 | 3900152 | Orphan Rock Track [3] [closed] | Katoomba | |
13 | 3900153 | Prince Henry Cliff Walk | Katoomba/Leura | |
14 | 3900157 | Track from Lilianfels Park to Lady Darleys Lookout | Katoomba | |
15 | 3900197 | O'Sullivan's Road | Katoomba | |
16 | 3900215 | Grand Canyon Track | Blackheath | |
17 | 3900217 | Point Pilcher Track | Blackheath/Medlow Bath | |
18 | 3900223 | Perrys Lookdown to Blue Gum Forest | Blackheath | |
19 | 3900232 | Engineers Track | Grose Valley (Darling Causeway to Nepean River) | |
20 | 3900241 | Bruce's Walk | Lawson to Mount Victoria | |
21 | 3900247 | Six Foot Track | Katoomba to Jenolan Caves | |
22 | 3900272 | Lawsons Long Alley | Mount Victoria | |
23 | 3900273 | Lockyers Road | Mount Victoria | |
24 | 3900276 | Berghofers Pass | Mount Victoria | |
25 | 3900277 | Section of Bells Line of Road | Mount Tomah | |
26 | 3900282 | Kanangra Walls Cattle Track | Oberon | |
27 | 3900320 | Megalong Valley Aboriginal Routes | Katoomba | |
28 | 3900321 | Mount Victoria Escarpment Complex | Mount Victoria | |
29 | 3900328 | Mount York Roads Complex | Mount Victoria | |
30 | 3900329 | Wentworth Falls Complex | Wentworth Falls | |
31 | 3900330 | Cox's Road Complex | Faulconbridge to Mount York | |
32 | 3900331 | Parkes Garden Tracks Complex | Faulconbridge | |
33 | 3900332 | Wolgan Railway Complex | Newnes railway which is now a rail trail | |
34 | 3900333 | Upper Grose Valley Aboriginal Passes - Complex | Blackheath | |
35 | 3900334 | Track to Base of Govetts Leap - Complex | Blackheath | |
36 | 3900335 | Tracks to Ruined Castle - Complex | Katoomba | |
37 | 3900336 | Grose Valley Cliff Edge - Complex | Blackheath |
As at 16 January 2017, the overall complex of Blue Mountains regional walking tracks was of National significance. It is distributed among dozens of individually designed cultural landscapes. These landscapes were planned for recreational purposes, at first by wealthy gentlemen on their private estates and later by community based trusts who administered grants from the NSW Government. There exists a full range of original construction types and track fabric and associated features such as shelter sheds, wells, railings and signage from the 1870s private tracks to the efforts of the Blue Mountains National Park Trust in the 1960s. [1]
The blending of man-made and natural features in track construction was done in ways that reflect the aesthetics, technology and environmental values of the time. Many of the constructed features transcend their purely utilitarian functions and have considerable aesthetic appeal. The solutions of the early trustees and track makers to complex problems of design, particularly drainage issues and the use of stone have significant research value today. Due to the proximity of the reserves to Sydney and the early provision of mass transport links between Sydney and the Blue Mountains, the region's walking tracks have been the most significant facilitators of contact between urban Australians and the natural environment. [1]
The Blue Mountains tourist industry grew largely to service people who desired an engagement with nature on the walking tracks. The tracks have been an important factor in the growth of conservation values in the community. Walkers have left a resource of written records, photographs and memories recording their impressions and emotional and spiritual experiences on the tracks that has historic significance as a record of Australians' changing relationships with nature. These relationships continue to evolve after over 100 years of continuous use of many tracks. People walking the tracks today can enjoy feelings of continuity and empathy with the walkers of the past as they use the same historic structures. [4] [1]
Blue Mountains walking tracks was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. [1]
Katoomba is the chief town of the City of Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia, and the administrative headquarters of Blue Mountains City Council. Katoomba is situated on the Great Western Highway 102 km (63 mi) west of Sydney and 39 km (24 mi) south-east of Lithgow. Katoomba railway station is on the Main Western line.
The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 267,954-hectare (662,130-acre) national park is situated approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Sydney, and the park boundary is quite irregular as it is broken up by roads, urban areas and inholdings. Despite the name mountains, the area is an uplifted plateau, dissected by a number of larger rivers. The highest point in the park is Mount Werong at 1,215 metres (3,986 ft) above sea level; while the low point is on the Nepean River at 20 metres (66 ft) above sea level as it leaves the park.
The Gardens of Stone National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales in eastern Australia. The 15,080-hectare (37,300-acre) national park is situated 125 kilometres (78 mi) northwest of Sydney, and 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Lithgow. The national park draws its name from the natural stone pagodas within its boundaries.
The Kanangra-Boyd National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Central Tablelands region, west of the Southern Highlands and Macarthur regions, in New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 68,660-hectare (169,700-acre) national park is situated approximately 180 kilometres (110 mi) south-west of Sydney and is contiguous with the Blue Mountains National Park and the Nattai National Park. The park was established in 1969.
Oberon is a town located within the Oberon Council local government area, in the central tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The main industries are farming, forestry and wood products. The town usually receives snowfall during the winter months, owing to its high elevation. At the 2016 census, Oberon had a population of 3,256 people.
The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, formerly known as the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves, are the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world. Collectively, the rainforests are a World Heritage Site with fifty separate reserves totalling 366,500 hectares from Newcastle to Brisbane.
Glenbrook is a township of the Lower Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 63 kilometres west of Sydney in the local government area of the City of Blue Mountains. At the 2016 Australian census Glenbrook had a population of 5,051 people.
Lawson is a town in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Great Western Highway between Hazelbrook in the east and Bullaburra in the west. Lawson has a station on the Main Western line. The town is also served by a public swimming pool and over the years has developed into the commercial hub of the mid-mountains area, which spans from Linden to Bullaburra, boasting a significant industrialised area as well as a shopping centre located on the south-eastern side of the highway.
Blaxland is a town in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Blaxland is located 65 kilometres west of Sydney in the local government area of the City of Blue Mountains. It is at an altitude of 234 metres and borders the townships of Glenbrook, Mount Riverview and Warrimoo.
Linden is a village in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the City of Blue Mountains, 82 km west of Sydney and 23 km east of Katoomba. The village is on the Great Western Highway and has a railway station on the Main Western railway line served by NSW TrainLink's Blue Mountains Line. It shares a post office, and therefore the 2778 postcode, with adjoining Woodford. In the 2011 census, its population was 594, including 19 indigenous people (3.2%).
The Jenolan Caves are limestone caves located within the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve in the Central Tablelands region, west of the Blue Mountains, in Jenolan, Oberon Council, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The caves and 3,083-hectare (7,620-acre) reserve are situated approximately 175 kilometres (109 mi) west of Sydney, 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Oberon and 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Katoomba.
Mount Victoria is a small township in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is the westernmost village in the City of Blue Mountains, located about 120 kilometres (75 mi) by road from the Sydney central business district and at an altitude of about 1,052 metres (3,451 ft) AHD . The settlement had a population of 823 people at the 2011 Census.
Wentworth Falls is a town in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, situated approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, and about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) east of Katoomba, Australia on the Great Western Highway, with a Wentworth Falls railway station on the Main Western line. The town is at an elevation of 867 metres (2,844 ft) AHD . At the 2016 census, Wentworth Falls had a population of 6,076.
Hartley is a historical village in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, within the City of Lithgow local government area, located approximately 127 kilometres (79 mi) west of the Sydney central business district. Hartley is located below the western escarpment of the Blue Mountains.
The New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), a former division of the Government of New South Wales between April 2011 and July 2019, was responsible for the care and protection of the environment and heritage, which includes the natural environment, Aboriginal country, culture and heritage, and built heritage in New South Wales, Australia. Until its abolition in 2019, the OEH supported the community, business and government in protecting, strengthening and making the most of a healthy environment and economy within the state. The OEH was part of the Department of Planning and Environment cluster and managed national parks and reserves.
Mount Tomah is a locality and a mountain that is located in the Blue Mountains region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The locality is known for the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden on the Bells Line of Road.
The Coxs River track is a heritage-listed former walking track and road and now walking track at Cox's River Arms, Lake Burragorang/Warragamba Dam, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. The track is also known as the Warragamba Dam - Burragorang Valley - Wentworth Falls Track. The property is owned by the Sydney Catchment Authority, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 1999.
The Beauchamp Falls is a cascade waterfall on the Greaves Creek where it spills into the Grose Valley, located east of the Evans Lookout, approximately 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) east of Blackheath in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.
The Bridal Veil Falls is a cascade waterfall on the Leura Falls Creek where it spills into the Jamison Valley, located south-east of Leura in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.
Limeburners Creek National Park is a protected national park on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The 91.2 km national park is located 5 km (3.1 mi) to the north of Port Macquarie and exists across both the Kempsey Shire and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council local government areas, but is chiefly managed by National Parks and Wildlife Service. The area was originally erected as a nature reserve but this reservation was revoked when it became formally recognised as a national park in 2010 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act (1974). Many threatened ecological habitats and species of fauna and flora are found within this park, alongside several heritage sites of cultural significance, particularly to the local Birpai and Dunghutti people upon whose land the park exists. The protected status of this national park is largely owing to the ecological and cultural value of the area, in addition to the value of the ecosystems to further scientific research.
This Wikipedia article was originally based on Blue Mountains Walking tracks , entry number 00980 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence , accessed on 2 June 2018.
Media related to Blue Mountains walking tracks at Wikimedia Commons