DESTINATION | BLUE MOUNTAINS, NSW
26 | AG Outdoor
NATIONAL PASS
Where:Wentworth Falls in the Blue
Mountains National Park
Distance:5.4km
Estimated walking time:3h 30m
Grade:Hard
Price:Free
What to bring:Drinking water, hat,
sunscreen, map, GPS, compass, rain jacket
and camera.
Before you go:Check the weather before
you set out as some sections of the track can
become impassable after rain. There is
limited mobile reception in areas of the park.
Maps:1:25 000 Map Series:89301S
KATOOMBA
1:100 000 Map Series:8930 KATOOMBA
Contacts:Blue Mountains Heritage Centre
(Blackheath), (02) 4787 8877, 9am-4.30pm
daily (closed Christmas Day), or visitwww.
nationalpass.com.au.HOW TO GET THERE
•WentworthFallsis95kmfromSydney,atan
elevation of 867m.- Driving takes about 90 minutes from
central Sydney. There is free parking at the
Wentworth Falls Carpark and the
Conservation Hut, but these spaces can fill
up on weekends. - There is a regular direct train from Central
Station to Wentworth Falls Station that
takes around two hours. For times, see
http://www.sydneytrains.info/. - You can then take the 2.4km Charles
Darwin Track to the Wentworth Falls
Carpark and Picnic Area, or walk the 2.4km
along the streets to get to the Conservation
Hut. Either takes about 30 minutes.HIGHLIGHTS
Most beautiful part of the walk:aseries
ofwaterfallsalongtheValleyoftheWaters.
Most thrilling part of the walk:the
dramatic section along the middle of the
cliff face.
Most challenging part of the walk:
ascending the 173 stone-cut steps of the
Grand Stairway that zigzag up the face of a
90m cliff.
Most surprising part of the walk:passing
behind Den Fenella Falls, a curtain of water
tumbling off the cliff above, at around the
halfway point.
Best view:so many jaw dropping vistas all
along the track but the view from the Grand
Staircase across Jamison Valley is up there
with the best.OTHER WALKS IN THE AREA
Empress Falls Walk:If you are short of
time, you can tackle some of the many
shorterwalksinWentworthFalls.Fromthe
Conservation Hut you can walk down to
Empress Falls and back. This is a 1.1km hard
graded walk that passes through 145m of
climbing and takes about an hour.
Conservation Hut, National Pass and
Wentworth Pass:Follows the same route
as the National Pass from the hut, but then
continues down deeper into the valley. The
circuit is 4.8km and climbs through more
than 913m, taking about four hours to
complete.THE ESSENTIALS
TtittVllfi tness as you labour up each of the 173 stone steps, but
don’t get so wrapped up in the effort that you forget to turn
around from time to time and enjoy the truly glorious view.
The track passes in front of Upper Wentworth Falls where
you come face to face with coachloads of Blue Mountains
day-trippers. At this point we could have chosen to join
the crowds heading back up to the Wentworth Falls pic-
nic area, and from there taken the Shortcut Track back to
the Conservation Hut, but we spied an escape route. The
Undercliff-Overcliff Track doubles back along the cliff top
following a near-parallel route to the National Pass. It takes
us about 50 minutes to get back this way and allows us to
experience the vistas we had seen on the outward journey
from an entirely new perspective. Along this medium grade
2.5km track we encounter a variety of vegetation communi-
ties from dry eucalypt and temperate rainforest to heath and
swamp environments. The track is relatively even and we
make light work of it after our morning’s exertions up and
down the hard graded National Pass.
The National Pass is a must-do for anyone who lives in
Sydney. You will need to be moderately fi t and comfortable
walking up and down lots of stone and metal stairways. By
starting the Pass at Wentworth Falls Picnic Area and carpark
you’ll avoid having to climb up the Grand Staircase towards
end of your walk, but having done the anti-clockwise route
starting out from the Conservation Hut, I can’t wait to go
back and do it all again, in the opposite direction.
Cool, moist temperate
rainforest characterises
the Valley of the Waters
section of the track.The descent into the Valley
of the Waters is steep in
places and makes use of a
series of steel ladders.