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 Protected areas of New South Wales include both terrestrial and marine protected areas. As of June 2020 there are 225 national parks in New South Wales. A number established since the late 1970s followed campaigns by local residents and environmentalists.
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.
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.
The Nattai National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Macarthur and Southern Highlands regions of New South Wales, in Australia. 48,984-hectare (121,040-acre) It is situated approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) southwest of the Sydney central business district and primarily encompasses the valley of the Nattai River, which is surrounded by large sandstone cliffs. Part of the Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland, the park is covered in dry sclerophyll (hard-leafed) forest – mostly eucalypt and has fairly frequent forest fires. It is a largely untouched wilderness area, as it has no facilities and despite its closeness to Sydney, receives few visitors.
The Thirlmere Lakes National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Macarthur region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 629-hectare (1,550-acre) national park is situated approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of the Sydney central business district, and just to the west of Thirlmere. It was gazetted in 1972 as Thirlmere Lakes State Park, before being subsequently reclassified as a national park.
The Wollemi National Park is a protected national park and wilderness area that is located in the Central West and Hunter region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 501,703-hectare (1,239,740-acre) park, the second largest national park in New South Wales, contains the 361,113-hectare (892,330-acre) Wollemi Wilderness – the largest such wilderness area in Australia – and is situated approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) northwest of Sydney.
The Yengo National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Lower Hunter region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 154,328-hectare (381,350-acre) park is situated 213 kilometres (132 mi) northwest of Sydney, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Cessnock, 121 kilometres (75 mi) northwest of Gosford, and 91 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Newcastle. The average elevation of the terrain is 309 metres.
The Springbrook National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Gold Coast hinterland of Queensland, Australia. The 6,197-hectare (15,310-acre) park is situated on the McPherson Range, near Springbrook, approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Brisbane. The park is part of the Shield Volcano Group of the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.
The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is a 416-hectare (1,030-acre) botanical garden located in a hilly area of the southwestern Sydney suburb of Mount Annan, between Campbelltown and Camden, New South Wales. It is the largest botanical garden in Australia, specializing in native plants, with a collection of over 4000 species. Officially opened in 1988, it was known as Mount Annan Botanic Garden, until 2011.
The Pilliga Forest, sometimes known as the Pilliga Scrub, constitute over 5,000 km2 of semi-arid woodland in temperate north-central New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest such continuous remnant in the state. The forest is located near the towns of Baradine and Narrabri and the villages of Pilliga and Gwabegar.
The Tonalli River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.
The Eastern Australian temperate forests is a broad ecoregion of open forest on uplands starting from the east coast of New South Wales in the South Coast to southern Queensland, Australia. Although dry sclerophyll and wet sclerophyll eucalyptus forests predominate within this ecoregion, a number of distinguishable rainforest communities are present as well.
Eucalyptus expressa, commonly known as the Wollemi stringybark, is a recently discovered Australian tree species. It has rough, fibrous stringybark on the trunk and larger branches, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and twenty four and hemispherical to shortened spherical fruit with the valves extending well beyond the rim of the fruit.
The Kanangra Creek, a perennial stream of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.
The Tasmanian temperate forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in Australia. The ecoregion occupies the eastern portion of the island of Tasmania, which lies south of the Australian mainland.
The Blue Mountains Conservation Society is an incorporated non-governmental organisation working to protect, conserve, and advocate for the natural environment of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage area in New South Wales, Australia. Its work includes the listing and protection of threatened species, populations and ecological communities of the Greater Blue Mountains and campaigns regarding climate change.
The Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests are a sclerophyll temperate forest community that stretch from the northern fringes of the Blue Mountains to the Southern Highlands. Featuring both wet and dry sclerophyll forests, as well as small rainforest pockets, the community features tall (30m+) and open eucalypt forests and woodlands that lie on igneous rock.
