Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ Our Critique – SEGMENT 5:  Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve to Echo Point Lookout

On Friday morning 4th July 2025, we chose our recce of this particular segment of the Grand Cliff Top Walk from Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve to Echo Point Lookout.  The above vista is conveniently accessible on a short side track off Grand Cliff Top Walk trail.

However, in frustration we discovered that Leura Cascades is still completely closed off to the public.   It was not just the picnic reserve, being upgraded by Council, but the entire interconnecting track section of old ‘Round Walk‘ track.

This is despite the Grand Cliff Top Walk being officially declared open by government on 25th March 2024, over a year prior.  We recall the press release in the local newspaper.

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As an aside:

 

That $13 million odd funding grant (including the Gordon Falls Picnic Reserve $2.4 million bit) received from the NSW Government for this newly conceived ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk, was undertaken without public consultation, jointly by Council and Parks Service.

Given the recent landslips impacting the sandy Blue Mountains plateau landscape since 2020  (and much history prior) why was this Round Track section railing Leura Creek from the Picnic Area down to the Falls not protected from further landslips.  It has thus forced yet another closure to this so-called Grand Cliff Top Walk. May be this trail naming is all wrong – how about ‘Dodgy Cliff Top Trail‘, or just return the separate namings to the way these multiple tracks have been historically since the late 19th Century!

All those taxpayer funds have yes, gone into best practice sandstone stair work and new culverts (necessitating many expensive helicopter crane lifts of construction materials in situ), but sensibly was any hydrologist gainfully overseeing the track infrastructure upgrade project so as to avert further landslip risks?

However, on our recce day we noted along the upgraded track between Amphitheatre Track and Round Track two recent landslips undermining the new sandstone blocks and adjacent native trees.

 

The Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve and interconnecting track network have been closed by Blue Mountains Council since a major landslip on 12 February 2020 following torrential rain.  It was Council’s lack of adequate stormwater drainage above (~100m right) up in Grose Street that had caused the steep embankment to slip down covering a 30 metre section of Cliff Drive below.

Now we were aware that

 

 

There had also been

At the time when Nature Trail began is tour research, and scouting and reconnoitring tracks for suitable hiking options, an ideal track head location that we found ideal was Leura Cacades.

 

Read more in our blog article ‘Leura Cascades landslip closure not a priority for council‘ by going to the References section at the bottom of this article and clicking the hyperlink.

Well, we choose to recce this track segment entering backward/eastward from The Rooster access back to Leura Cascades.  We say this because our track photos do same, as follows:

 

 

 

 

Track Access Status: 

• 2025-07-05 – closed

Track Segment Overview:

The track segment of the Grand Cliff Top Walk (direction east to west) between Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve to Echo Point Lookout is fairly level initially, but then encounters many stone stairways up and down.

However, when we tried this segment, it was closed to the public between Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve and the Round Walk just west of Leura Falls.  This meant we could only explore the track from ‘The Rooster’ backwards and eastward to the track closure at the Round Track above Leura Falls.

Thus, the track was closed between Leura falls and Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve, and rehabilitation works were note in progress as we drove along Cliff Drive.

 

Hiking Distance:

Grade:

Characteristics:

Conditions: (2025-07-05)

Landscape:

Best Vistas:

Cautions:

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Facilities:

Side Tracks/Diversions

Track Junctions:

Exit/Entry Tracks:

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Track Route Images with Comments:  Direction (West to East)

We take you on a photographic trip:

 

 

Track Route Images with Comments:  Direction (East to West)

 

Track History:

 

Other Comments:

 

Updates:

 

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References:

[1]  ‘Leura Cascades landslip closure not a priority for council‘, 2020-12-31, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, on Mountains Drums blog, >https://naturetrail.com.au/blog-post/leura-cascades-landslip-closure-not-a-priority-for-council/

 

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