Blackheath to Blue Gum loop
Download & Print Map and Notes2 Days
1335 m
Hard track
Free Beacon Hire
(0km) Blackheath Station → Int. Braeside Service Trail and Braeside Picnic Area
2.9 km
52 mins
24m
-125m
Moderate track
Turn right: From the pedestrian crossing, this walk heads towards Gardners Inn, keeping the road to the right. The walk continues along the footpath, turning left opposite the Ivanhoe Hotel, onto Govetts Leap Rd. The walk continues down Govetts Leap Rd to the intersection with Prince Edward St.
Continue straight: From the intersection, this walk heads west along Govetts Leap Rd for a block, to the intersection with Boreas St. This walk turns right, down Boreas St to the intersection with Braeside St.
Turn left: From the intersection, this walk follows the green signpost to ‘Braeside Walk’ along the houses on the right-hand of Braeside Street. This walk turns right at the ‘Braeside Walk’ sign. The walk continues for approximately 70m to the intersection with another service trail.
Continue straight: From the intersection, this walk heads down the management track, to the signposted intersection after a parking area on the left.
(2.86km) Int. Braeside Service Trail and Braeside Picnic Area → Neates Glen car park
1.9 km
36 mins
58m
-14m
Moderate track
Continue straight: From the intersection, this walk heads towards the road, passing a house on the left. The walk continues along James Rd to then turn left onto Evans Lookout Rd. The road tends right, to then pass Victoria Rd on the right. Shortly after Victoria Rd, this walk comes to the Bush Rock Cafe (now closed) on the left.
Continue straight: From the Bush Rock Cafe(now closed), this walk heads along the road leaving the cafe behind on the left. The track continues down the road for a short time, passing Somerset Ave on the left, to then come to Neates Glen car park on the right.
(4.77km) Neates Glen car park → Evans Lookout
1.5 km
29 mins
11m
-67m
Moderate track
Continue straight: From the Kinie-Ger Bush Cabins driveway, this walk follows the gravel path, keeping the road to the left. After approximately 100m, the path leads to an intersection with a management trail.
Continue straight: From the intersection, the walk continues to follow the track running parallel to the road, keeping the road on the left. Soon the track opens up to a large clearing with high tension power lines passing over the top.
Continue straight: From the clearing, the walk passes under the power lines and follows the bush track, keeping Evans Lookout Rd to the left. Soon this track comes to the exit of the Grand Canyon car park.
Veer right: From the intersection, this walk follows the road into the car park, to an ‘Evans Lookout’ sign.
Veer right: From the eastern corner of the Grand Canyon car park, this walk follows the the ‘Evans Lookout’ sign past the wooden bollards and along the clear bush track. Soon the track emerges and turns right onto Evans Lookout Rd. About 100m along the road the walk comes to the toilet at the start of the car park.
Continue straight: From the car park, the walk heads to the other end of the car park (towards the lookouts), to the intersection on the left of the information sign.
Continue straight: From the information sign at Evans Lookout car park, this walk follows the ‘Evans Lookout’ sign down the steps. The track passes a stone shelter on the right as it reaches the railed lookout.
Evans Lookout
(6.3km) Evans Lookout → Beauchamp Falls
1.5 km
54 mins
32m
-298m
Hard track
Veer right: From the intersection, the walk heads down the stairs into the gully following the Neates Glen and Grose Valley signs. The walk winds down the hill for approximately 100m to a railing. From here, the walk continues down the other side of the gully, winding down the hill for a short while. The walk then continues down the right-hand side of the gully to drop onto the creek with a signposted rock in the middle.
Veer left: From the intersection, the walk follows the signs to ‘Rodriguez Pass’ around the canyon side, with the creek on the left. After about 200m, the track crosses the creek. The walk follows the white arrows painted on the rocks winding down between, around and under large boulders for approximately 100m. The track then heads out of the pass, keeping close to the cliff line before winding down the hill to Beauchamp Falls.
Beauchamp Falls
(7.78km) Beauchamp Falls → Govetts and Greaves Flats
1.8 km
58 mins
10m
-309m
Hard track
Continue straight: From the creek bank, this walk crosses to the other side of the creek. The track then turns left, heading downstream, following blue signposts and white arrows down the valley. The track soon passes a boulder with a large plank underneath it, set up as a seat, before passing a large mossy boulder. Approximately 300m on, the track passes another large mossy boulder with a white arrow at the bottom of the stairs. The track then continues down the hill, crossing the creek to a small clearing next to the creek, in which the track turns right and undulates across the hillside. The track drops into a few creek beds before climbing down a few stairs to an intersection at a campsite on the right.
(9.56km) Govetts and Greaves Flats → Junction Rock
1.5 km
30 mins
31m
-60m
Hard track
Continue straight: From the intersection, this walk heads downstream following the sign to ‘Junction Rock’. The track soon passes a small clearing before climbing higher on the creek bank. After some time undulating, the track comes back onto the creek flats and continues to a section of cliffs on the left. The cliffs are passed by the track across the rockshelf next to a pool in the creek. The track soon turns left to Junction Rock, in the middle of the creek after the rock shelf.
Junction Rock
(11.08km) Junction Rock → Acacia Flats Camping Ground
3 km
1 hr 2 mins
80m
-130m
Moderate track
Acacia Flats Camping Ground
(14.06km) Acacia Flats Camping Ground → Blue Gum Forest intersection
610 m
10 mins
4m
-4m
Moderate track
Blue Gum Forest
End of day 1
(14.06km) Acacia Flats Camping Ground → Junction Rock
3 km
1 hr 2 mins
130m
-80m
Moderate track
(17.04km) Junction Rock → Bottom of Govetts Leap falls
2.4 km
1 hr 15 mins
390m
-22m
Moderate track
(19.39km) Bottom of Govetts Leap falls → Govetts Leap Lookout
610 m
42 mins
305m
-61m
Hard track
Continue straight: From the intersection, this walk follows the sign to ‘Govetts Leap carpark’ up the stairs. The walk zigzags up the hill before tending left to the signposted intersection.
Turn left: From the intersection, this walk heads across the grassed area towards a platform structure. The walk climbs some stairs onto Govetts Leap Lookout, with its great views and sandstone monuments.
Govetts Leap Lookout
(20km) Govetts Leap Lookout → Horseshoe Falls Lookout
340 m
11 mins
23m
-62m
Hard track
Turn left: From the intersection, this walk heads down some stairs, keeping the valley to the right. The walk turns right over a bridge, continuing around the hillside to drop down onto a viewing area and intersection.
Veer left: From the intersection, this walk heads down steep stairs, keeping the valley to the right. The track then winds along the cliff top until coming to an intersection, near Horseshoe Falls Lookout.
Horseshoe Falls Lookout
Horseshoe Falls
(20.34km) Horseshoe Falls Lookout → Int. Popes Glen Trk and Boyd Bch Trk
440 m
11 mins
31m
-41m
Moderate track
Continue straight: From the intersection, this walk follows the sign to ‘Popes Glen’ keeping the creek below on the right. The track continues for approximately 100m, rising to the left of a prominent rock feature. The walk passes another track on the right (with access to the creek), then continues to rise past the rock feature (on the right – The rock feature has a trail to its top.) This walk continues from the rock feature, heading down the hill to a signposted intersection.
(20.78km) Int. Popes Glen Trk and Boyd Bch Trk → Boyd Beach
40 m
1 mins
0m
-3m
Moderate track
Boyd Beach
(20.78km) Int. Popes Glen Trk and Boyd Bch Trk → Int. Popes Glen Trk and Dell St
2.1 km
49 mins
145m
-48m
Moderate track
Continue straight: From the intersection, this walk heads up the hill, keeping the creek below on the right. The walk soon crosses the creek at a bridge, continuing along the other side to a small waterfall (on the left). The track then continues up the hill for for a short time, passing an intersection (with access tracks to Clarence Rd). The track continues to head up the hill for approximately 300m to the intersection with Dell St.
(22.89km) Int. Pope’s Glen Trk and Dell St → Blackheath Station
1.2 km
26 mins
65m
-27m
Moderate track
Turn right: From the intersection, this walk heads along Gipps Lane, passing a large wooden house to the right of the road. The road tends left onto Robertson Lane which then becomes Wills St. The walk follows Wills Street for sometime to turn left onto Inconstant St and then right onto Gardiner Cres. Gardiner Cres is followed to the Great Western Highway, where there is a petrol station on the left. From here, this walk turns left to follow the Great Western Highway, keeping the petrol station on the left, as the walk heads towards the Gardners Inn pub. This walk continues to the pedestrian crossing, opposite Blackheath Station steps.
Turn right: From the pedestrian crossing, this walk crosses the Great Western Highway to turn right up the covered station steps. The walk follows the railway bridge to the top of the station staircase.
Maps for the Blackheath to Blue Gum loop walk
You can download the PDF for this walk to print a map.These maps below cover the walk and the wider area around the walk, they are worth carrying for safety reasons.
Katoomba | 1:25 000 Map Series | 89301S KATOOMBA | NSW-89301S |
Mount Wilson | 1:25 000 Map Series | 89301N MOUNT WILSON | NSW-89301N |
Katoomba | 1:100 000 Map Series | 8930 KATOOMBA | 8930 |
Cross sectional view of the Blackheath to Blue Gum loop bushwalking track
Analysis and summary of the altitude variation on the Blackheath to Blue Gum loop
Daily actual walking time estimates
Day | Walking Time | Length |
---|---|---|
1 | 5 hrs 31 mins | 14.7 km |
2 | 4 hrs 37 mins | 10 km |
Overview of this walks grade – based on the AS 2156.1 – 2001
Under this standard, a walk is graded based on the most difficult section of the walk.
Length | 24.1 km | ||
Time | 2 Days | ||
. | |||
Grade 4/6 Hard track |
AS 2156.1 | Gradient | Very steep (4/6) |
Quality of track | Rough track, where fallen trees and other obstacles are likely (4/6) | ||
Signs | Minimal directional signs (4/6) | ||
Experience Required | Some bushwalking experience recommended (3/6) | ||
Weather | Weather generally has little impact on safety (1/6) | ||
Infrastructure | Limited facilities (such as cliffs not fenced, significant creeks not bridged) (4/6) |
Some more details of this walks Grading
Here is a bit more details explaining grading looking at sections of the walk
Gradient
13km of this walk has short steep hills and another 4.5km is very steep. Whilst another 3.8km is flat with no steps and the remaining 2.5km has gentle hills with occasional steps.
Quality of track
13km of this walk follows a formed track, with some branches and other obstacles and another 4.9km follows a rough track, where fallen trees and other obstacles are likely. Whilst another 4km follows a smooth and hardened path and the remaining 1.8km follows a clear and well formed track or trail.
Signs
14km of this walk has directional signs at most intersection and another 6km is clearly signposted. The remaining (4.8km) has minimal directional signs.
Experience Required
Around 17km of this walk requires no previous bushwalking experience, whilst the remaining 7km requires some bushwalking experience.
weather
This whole walk, 24km is not usually affected by severe weather events (that would unexpectedly impact safety and navigation).
Infrastructure
13km of this walk has limited facilities (such as not all cliffs fenced) and another 6km is close to useful facilities (such as fenced cliffs and seats). The remaining (4.3km) has limited facilities (such as cliffs not fenced, significant creeks not bridged).
Similar walks
Other Nearby walks
Plan your trip to and from the walk here
The Blackheath to Blue Gum loop walk starts and ends at the Blackheath Station (gps: -33.633876, 150.2844)Your transport options to Blackheath Station are by;
Train. (get details)
Bus. (get details)
Car. There is free parking available.
(get details)
Fire Danger
Each park may have its own fire ban, this rating is only valid for today and is based on information from the RFS Please check the RFS Website for more information.Weather Forest
This walk starts in the Central Tablelands weather district always check the formal BOM forecast or pdf before starting your walk.Forecast snapshot
Park Information & Alerts
Short URL = http://wild.tl/stelbgfgl
Gallery images
There are other downloads I am still working on.
You will probably need to login to access these — still all free.
* KML (google earth file)
* GPX (GPS file)
Special Maps/ brochures
* A3 topo maps
* PDF with Lands Topo map base
* PDF with arial image (and map overlay)
I wanted to get the main site live first, this extra stuff will come in time.
Happy walking
Matt 🙂
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