Blue Mountains National Park - New South Wales
The Blue Mountains-located to the west of Sydney, in New South Wales and just over an hour’s drive from the centre of Sydney, is another of Australia’s Travel Icon’s. The Blue Mountains are the eroded remains of an ancient giant plateau. Prior to settlement, the Blue Mountains were home to Aboriginals for over – 20,000 years.
Today the Blue Mountains is very orientated toward tourist markets who travel in the thousands each year to the Blue Mountains.
A famous landmark of the Blue Mountains is the scenic lookout of Echo Point-the best vantage to view the magnificent “Three Sisters”. Visitors can also have an interesting view, with a ride on the steepest railway in the world-Scenic Railway or from the Scenic Skyway.
There are many great activities and attractions in the Blue Mountains, including an expansive network of walking trails through the Blue Mountains National Park. One particular walk of interest would be to Wentworth Falls- a picturesque area for walking and viewing the Wentworth Falls Lake, a popular picnic spot - in the Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains is also a great travel destination for the adventurous, with long challenging hikes, canyoning, rock climbs , paragliding, hang-gliding and abseiling- just to name a few of the fantastic adventures in the Blue Mountains.
Another great destination and tourist attraction in the Blue Mountains region that is close by is the – Jenolan Caves. The Jenolan Caves were formed over 400 million years ago. The Jenolan Caves have over 300 limestone rooms-but only 9 are available for viewing by the public. This rare network of limestone caves is one of the most unique and extensive in the world. We recommend you book your Jenolan Caves Tours in advance of travel, to save disappointment, as this is a popular tour for tourists travelling to the Jenolan Caves.
We would also recommend you book your accommodation and / or tours of the Blue Mountains well in advance of your arrival, as the Blue Mountains is also one of Australia’s top stop’s for tourists travelling Australia.
The Blue Mountains is home to numerous parrots including the Australian King Parrot, gang-gang and sulphur crested cockatoo, crimson rosella and galah.
This park, which is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, protects an unusually diverse range of vegetation communities. There are rare and ancient plants and isolated animal populations tucked away in its deep gorges.
It is an area of dramatic mountain scenery, a wonderland of sandstone outcrops, deep ravines and hazy blue eucalypt forests boasts luxury retreats and the world’s steepest railway, home to the Three Sisters rock formations and a great place to do some bushwalking, rock climbing, abseiling and canyoning, as there are thousands of square kilometres of rainforest, canyons, plateaus and sandstone cliff-line, or simply enjoy the cool mountain air.
There are dozens of walking tracks in the Blue Mountains National Park ranging from challenging seven hour walks down gullies and along ridge spines to the 90 minute easy stroll along Prince Henry Cliff Walk.
(all photo's courtesy of Tourism NSW)
