Medlow Bath’s wee isolated 1867 heritage stone cottage stay

The two of us have just returned home from checking-out of this heritage private stay before 10am. 👍

Reporting in upon return, our latest private getaway had been much needed for us at this time.  It’s been us just getting away, geographically though not far from our home; not complicated, not sophisticated.  It’s been a wonderful break to just simply get away, a world away indeed.  My wife arranged everything, bless her.

Nature Trail, being family owned and run and based at our home in Katoomba, we’ve just spent 3-days/2-nights staying away both in time and space here.  This chosen and new stay destination this time is situated just 8km away in a heritage 1867 tiny stone cottage isolated on the outskirts of the Blue Mountains village of Medlow Bath and emblematic of colonial 19th Century New South Wales.  It’s magic!

And for us, it was so close as to be able to drive home momentarily to feed the cat and return within half an hour.

Why venture afar?  All the while the adventure sought is all around where we selected to live.

And here’s our indicative transport return route map just up the Great Western Highway:

I guess it’s just since where we live in the Blue Mountains, that’s like why travel to somewhere far away?  This, when many from elsewhere seek to holiday where we live here in the Blue Mountains.

Our destination stay t’was down this old narrow gravel lane…

And this 1867 wee stone cottage would be our home for the next two nights…

Our YouTube video upon entry courtesy of our sister website The Habitat Advocate:

The Gatehouse Medlow Bath – exterior

{please click on the first photo and proceed with our slide show from there}

Upon our arrival at our ‘Medlow’ (bath) sandstone stay, no-one was around; it would be just the two of us.  Plus perhaps the resident ghost.

After us having bought supplies at nearby Blackheath just 5km up the road, and with the local butcher’s meats duly in the fridge; we checked ourselves in and basically took temporary possession of our stay with our gear respectively set up in the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom – as one does when in a self-contained stay.

The Gatehouse Medlow Bath –  interior

{again, please click on the first photo and proceed with our slide show from there}

 

Then our side excursion, though not for the faint-hearted !

Next; us to then explore our immediate environs.  We decided to walk further along the gravel vehicular track from out the front of our stay for some distance (maybe 1km).  It was up the gravel vehicular track northward from where we were staying. 

Now admittedly and frankly, hiking is not fascinating when conducted along a gravel vehicular track.  After us walking nearly a kilometre, my wife said this is boring so let’s go back.  I agreed, suggesting we return to our stay and do the track in our Range Rover and see what the track presented – risking a locked gate perhaps?

This we did, but thankfully no locked gate. Yet the track proved tricky, getting rockier, less maintained, much narrower (down to car width) yet we managing to venture northward all the way from Medlow to Blackheath along this neglected and rain-flooded old railway service track.  It was replete with multiple large puddles (at places the road width wide and two car lengths long) such that only a high clearance 4×4 could reasonably safely  handle.

No wonder Council had placed a warning sign back along Station Street by Belgravia Street: “No Through Road, Authorised Access Only“.  Fair call, especially for unsuspecting visitors exploring backroads.  Yeah but we took a risk because we were staying beyond the sign, so technically we were ‘authorised’, or we authorised ourselves.

Now, I reckon that this ‘Station Street’ might be associated with the railway station at Medlow Bath and with the same at Blackheath.

Sure enough, this ‘street’ then from urban Medlow Bath northward continues towards Blackheath over some 4km becoming a service gravel vehicular track (however, I wouldn’t deem it being of ‘street’ status). It ain’t a street, but a rough gravel vehicular track which ‘rails’ along the western side of the railway corridor.  The map extract below shows vertically from south to north the dominant Great Western Highway and the Main Western Railway as aligned transit corridors.  Towards the northern end the track narrows to one lane (the width of our car), so this means we faced the risk of coming upon some locked gate, thus forced to reverse some distance.  Fortunately there was no gate.

The gravel vehicular track we drove as a northern extension of Station Street (Medlow Bath) runs similarly aligned close to the railway corridor to Blackheath.  This is the track we drove in our Range Rover.

The big water-filled muddy puddles reminded us of the dodgy access vehicular track from the highway to little-known ‘Hyde Park Reserve Swimming Hole‘ over Hartley Vale way.  It’s via Mid-Hartley Road requiring local knowledge along minor backroads.

Yet, be warned. There’s one puddle that even a 4×4 with an air intake snorkle and in low range would not risk attempting the swim.  We reckon a few immediate locals had got together and applied an excavator to dig out the track wide puddle to perhaps a 2 metres depth to ‘disuade’ visitor access.  It’s worked but – no tyre tracks to be seen on the other sid of this plunge pool puddle.

One would not recommend a 2-wheel drive vehicle attempt this vehicular track any time soon.   But for us this rugged track was a challenging hoot!  Yet, actually our car managed it in high-range Drive all the way – woops!

The track then exits in ‘civilization’ at Blackheath behind a row of houses south along Staveley Parade.  Now to locals, that’s the road down to Megalong passed the RSL.   The following photso from Google Maps shows the exist looking southwhich warns again as ‘No Through Road’.

Day 2: It had just rained heavily overnight.  So for our planned two hiking trips for Day 2 we jointly and sensibly cancelled that idea. 

Weather just happens, so best wise to adjust such plans accordingly to suit conditions.  We were pretty much confined inside else by car to the Hydro Magestic for pre-booked lunch, which we did.

Anyway, our two nights were spent wonderfully warm back around our open wood fire one lit and maintained throughout the night.

Our second YouTube video upon entry courtesy of our sister website The Habitat Advocate:

The modern added bathroom (replete with and copious hot water pressure, shower and separate claw-foor bath and heated tiled floor). It is adjoined to the original stone cottage via a short classy glass enclosed corridor across the garden over a flagstone stone path.

More stay away magic!

 

Our Brief Review:

 

In October 2026 (spring) we had chosen to stay at this heritage cottage and we subsequently offer our own personal opinions (warts and all) for the benefit of readers who may consider staying here as a temporary holiday let.

We do so in point form and from only our own opinion, but not in any analysis sense.

 

• Guest check-in (after 2pm) and checkout (by 10am) timings – pretty standard
• The cottage is private and any site of others being rare, so you get the place to yourself and it is relatively isolated
• The cottage is genuine, built in sandstone from 1867 for its orignal purpose – it’s not fake nor a replica
• The main section of the cottage has 12 foot ceilings – living room and main bedroom, plus the roof pitch is a steep traditional 60-degree Victorian Rustic Gothic gable style

Here t’is:

• This cottage is an 1867-built gatekeeper’s cottage right along side the railway line (like really close (like 10 metres) to the Blue Mountains railway line due to its purpose of its construction – hey that’s what it was for.) so as a warning, the stay does cop a rather a copy scene out of The Blues Brothers 1980 film of frequent passing trains; this since the rail corridor is situated within 10 metres of this cottage.  [READ MORE].  Those trains (being passenger, container freight, coal types) pass by 24/7.  Yet frankly during our stay, the trains were not so noisy as to be disturbed nor overnight sleep awakened.

• However, the constant overnight big 18-wheeler semi-trailer trucks rudely and  selfishly, routinely apply their very noisy engine exhaust brakes, so loud as to wake us up and keep us awake – mostly between 4am and 7am. So we ended up departing very sleepless for a needed catch up sleep.
• So we recommend it to be vital to take and apply noise-cancelling head sets  and earbuds to ensure your quiet restful sleep as a must to stay here and get a proper sleep.  Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) create opposite sound waves to silence the trucks and combined with passive isolation and sleep-masking sounds to block out intrustive truck exhaust brake noise impost. [READ MORE]
• The Great Western Highway through Medlow Bath is almost completely level (flat), with only the slight rise over the railway line northward just prior to the Gatekeepers Cottage, so there is no need for trucks to use compression braking through Medlow Bath.  An 18-wheeler (semi) has 18 brakes, one for each wheel, and guess what, the braking system uses air compression – far quieter but.  [NOTE: This author has long held a HC (heavy combination/semi-trailer) licence.]
• A wakeup call to Transport for NSW which Blue Mountains residents and property owners within earshot along the Great Western Highway should weigh in and politically campaign on, plus demand 24/7 noise monitoring and $1000 fines for each noise breach.

• The subsequently added bathroom via a short and convenient internal glassed in tunnel pathway has provided appreciated luxury for guests these days.  A great addition – toilet, very hot and cold running water, shower, vanity, separate claw foot bathroom toiletry amenities, exhaust fan and heated tiled floor.
• The kitchen his well kitted and the living room similarly with its open wood fore place, including ample firewood, paper and kindling – well done!
• The main bedroom double bed with its doona and twin electric blankets was very welcoming and comfy for the cold night outside
• Then next day, our exploratory visit to the nearby Hydro Majestic resort was just a 10 minute footpath walk into the Medlow Bath village.  However, our warning – we do not recommend the Hydro Majestic Boiler Room cuisine – maccas is far superior by food quality comparison and cost.

 

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References and Further Reading:

[1]  ‘The Gatehouse, Medlow Bath | Cottage in Medlow Bath‘, ^https://www.rentbyowner.com/property/the-gatehouse-medlow-bath/HA-1309216315

[2]  ‘The Railway Gatehouse, Medlow Bath‘, in printed book ‘A Portrait of the city of Blue Mountains’, 1988, by Paul Watkins, NLA ISBN 0 949267 40 6, published by Robert Brown & Associates (Aust) Pty Ltd.

Extract:

[3]  ‘Gate Keeper’s House, Medlow Bath, NSW‘, ^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7x7k3wRjSc, by Rick Hawthorn, YouTube video, see below:

[4]  ‘Life Beside the Tracks: Blue Mountains Gatekeepers Cottages‘,  ^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruKkaDOIYPk, The Bygones, YouTube video,

[5]  Our video, ^youtube.com/watch?v=CjEcmW3fqW0&feature=youtu.be

[6]  Our video, ^youtube.com/watch?v=kHaHSqPQAFQ&feature=youtu.be

[7]  ‘The Chalet Guesthouse and Studio‘, 46 Portland Road, Medlow Bath NSW 2780, ^https://www.thechalet.com.au/

 

​”Built in 1892, The Chalet Guesthouse and Studio is a luxury accommodation venue in the quiet village of Medlow Bath, centrally located in the Upper Blue Mountains. The heritage guesthouse features a private collection of contemporary Australian art throughout, an original period dining room with open fireplace, quiet lounge areas and personalised service. With only six guest rooms you can be assured of personalised service that can’t be found in the large venues.”

[8]  ‘KATOOMBA 8930-1S‘, topographic & orthophoto map (1:25,000 scale), third edition, (NSW) Department of Lands, sourcing Geometric Datum of Australia (GDA), 1999, (out of print, yet may be available from Mapworld Australia, ^https://www.mapworld.com.au/ )

[9]  ‘Medlow Bath, New South Wales‘, Wikipedia,  ^https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medlow_Bath,_New_South_Wales

[10]  Advanced Noise Cancelling, ^https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/headband-headphones/wh-1000xm5/specifications#features