The Blue Mountains are a mountainous region and a mountain range located in New South Wales, Australia. The region is considered to be part of the western outskirts of the Greater Sydney area. The region borders on Sydney's main metropolitan area, its foothills starting about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of centre of the state capital, close to Penrith. The public's understanding of the extent of the Blue Mountains is varied, as it forms only part of an extensive mountainous area associated with the Great Dividing Range. As defined in 1970, the Blue Mountains region is bounded by the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers in the east, the Coxs River and Lake Burragorang to the west and south, and the Wolgan and Colo rivers to the north. Geologically, it is situated in the central parts of the Sydney Basin.
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 the Sydney CBD, and the park boundary is quite irregular as it is broken up by roads, urban areas and areas of private property. 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.
Blackheath is a town located near the highest point of the Blue Mountains, between Katoomba and Mount Victoria in New South Wales, Australia. The town's altitude is about 1,065 m (3,494 ft) AHD and it is located about 120 km (75 mi) west north-west of Sydney, 11 km (6.8 mi) north-west of Katoomba, and about 30 km (19 mi) south-east of Lithgow.
The Jamison Valley forms part of the Coxs River canyon system in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated approximately 100 kilometres west of Sydney, capital of New South Wales, and a few kilometres south of Katoomba, the main town in the Blue Mountains.
The Grose Valley is a rugged valley in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It has been formed by the Grose River, the headwaters of which are in the Mount Victoria area. The valley is located between the Great Western Highway and Bells Line of Road, the two major routes across the Blue Mountains. The majority of the valley falls within the Blue Mountains National Park.
Perry's Lookdown is situated on the edge of the Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains, Australia. It is believed to have been named by Frederick Eccleston Du Faur after either Samuel Augustus Perry or a local innkeeper. Free campsites are adjacent to the car park. The Blue Gum Forest is often accessed by foot from here, 656 vertical metres below the lookdown. The road to Blackheath is unsealed.
The Narrow Neck Plateau, an eroded remnant of a sandstone layer situated at an elevation of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level that is part of the Blue Mountains Range which is a spur line off the Great Dividing Range, is situated immediately south-west of Katoomba in New South Wales, Australia, located within the Blue Mountains National Park. The neck separates the Jamison Valley from the Megalong Valley.
Wolgan Valley is a small valley located along the Wolgan River in the Lithgow Region of New South Wales, Australia. The valley is located approximately 32 kilometres (20 mi) north of Lithgow and 150 kilometres north-west of Sydney. Accessible by the Wolgan Valley Discovery Trail from the Castlereagh Highway, the road travels through the valley leading onto the historical village of Newnes and its extensive industrial ruins.
The Lapstone Zig Zag was a zig zag railway built between Emu Plains and Blaxland stations on the Main Western Line of New South Wales in Australia. Constructed between 1863 and 1865 to overcome an otherwise insurmountable climb up the eastern side of the Blue Mountains, the zig zag and associated Knapsack Viaduct, a sandstone arch viaduct, were designed by John Whitton, Engineer-in-Charge of New South Wales Government Railways, and were built by William Watkins. The zig zag was listed on the Blue Mountains local government heritage register on 27 December 1991; while the adjacent Knapsack Viaduct was listed on the New South Wales Heritage Database on 2 April 1999. The Lapstone Zig Zag was the world-first Zig Zag constructed on any main-line railway.
The Coxs River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands, Blue Mountains, and Macarthur regions of New South Wales, Australia.
Bullaburra is a small town in the state of New South Wales, Australia, in the City of Blue Mountains. It is one of the towns that stretch along the route of the Main Western railway line and Great Western Highway which pass over the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Bullaburra used to have a service station but it was demolished in 2008. Bullaburra is an Aboriginal word meaning clear day.
Bell is a small rural and residential village in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the north-westernmost village in the City of Blue Mountains, located approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) west of Sydney central business district by road or 137 kilometres (85 mi) by rail, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Lithgow and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Mount Victoria. It is a locality on the junction of the Bells Line of Road, Chifley Road and the Darling Causeway, with an elevation of approximately 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) AHD .
Shipley is a small hamlet village in the state of New South Wales, Australia, in the City of Blue Mountains. It is an unbounded locality within the locality of Blackheath, south-west of the township of Blackheath. The Shipley Plateau, on which the village is built, divides the Megalong Valley and Kanimbla Valley.
The Grose River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.
Wentworth Falls is a three-tiered waterfall fed by the Jamison Creek, near the town of Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The falls are accessible via the National Pass Walking Trail and the Overcliff/Undercliff Walk. The total height of the waterfall is 187 metres (614 ft).
The Wollangambe River, an Australian perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury–Nepean catchment within the Sydney Basin, is located in the Greater Blue Mountains Area of New South Wales.
The 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains was the expedition led by Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth, which became the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales by European settlers. The crossing enabled the settlers to access and use the land west of the mountains for farming, and made possible the establishment of Australia's first inland colonial settlement at Bathurst.
The Govetts Leap Falls, or simply Govetts Leap, is a bridal veil waterfall on the Govetts Leap Brook where it falls 180 metres over Taylor Wall, located at Govetts Leap Lookout approximately 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) east of Blackheath in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the 17th tallest waterfall in Australia.
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.
