MT-GCT Grand Cliff Top Walk Trek
Trail Specifications:
| Nature Trail Tour Title: | Grand Cliff Top Walk Trek |
| NT Tour Code: | MT-GCT |
| NT Tour Code Description: | Multi-Day Trek |
| Tour Category | Tailored |
| Trail Official Opening Date: | Monday 25th March 2024 |
| Tour Current Status: | Scouted> Recce > |
| Trail Title: | Grand Cliff Top Walk |
| Trail Hike Length: | 24 km |
| Starting Location: | Katoomba Railway Station |
| Finishing Location | Wentworth Falls Railway Station |
| Tour Offering (Duration): | Six separate 1/2 day hikes |
| Transport Transfers: | Blue Mountains Region only transfers included. (ie: Not Sydney) |
| Tour Fees: | Nil. Nature Trail currently runs as a non-commercial hobby. |
Trail Introduction:
With this particularly newly upgraded trail officially re-launched by the NSW Government in 2024, Nature Trail has adopted its own unique approach to consider offering it as a potential hiking tour.
We initially consider it to be a new hiking concept of variable forest ambience trek experience from Katoomba to Wentworth Falls. It’s overall length is over at least 20 km to officially do in 2-days, which is ‘not for the faint-hearted’, so Nature Trail adopts a more relaxed and multi-day approach to this trail. On this trek we only travel in daylight hours in half day segments. This is our starting position.
The prime hiking track component of the trail Prince Henry Cliff Walk along the Jamison Escarpment plateau top (Katoomba to Leura) which was partially upgraded (mostly during 2023 and 2024) by track builders and lift helicopters contracted to the local Blue Mountains Council and the Parks Service of New South Wales (NSW) from $13 million grant funding from the NSW Government.
This overall trail was in 2024 re-branded by the above government agencies as the Grand Cliff Top Walk and many sections of the hiking track sections are historic (back to the late 1800s) and remain in an old state of repair (eg: steps in either treated-pine timbered boardwalks/staircases, old sandstone or bare earth/mud), so the track conditions currently vary in standard.
We estimate the overall hiking distance of this trail to be around 24 km. However due to the trail’s distance, juxtaposition to upper central Blue Mountains villages and disconnectivity, Nature Trail offers this tour to our guests as Multi-Day Trek, this by segmenting it into 7 x Half-Day Hike segments including all road transport that we offer by dedicated chauffeured private transfers.
However, not all 7 segments need be undertaken. Nature Trail offers this particular tour simply as as a pool of choice to our guests, as we do with all our tours. Currently we are reconnoitring this particular trek and designing variations quite different to its official brochure.
Our initial tour design proposal is to offer this as a bespoke guided tour on a private guest basis in the following choice of tour delivery options:
Our Tour Options:
(A) Cliff Top Full Mounty – as one tour trek of the entire hiking tour end-to-end (Katoomba to Wentworth Falls) over 7 half days (back-to-back, or spread further with breaks) with all flexible transport transfers on demand;
(B) Cliff Top Choice Tour: A choice of any half-day segment or any half day segments in any order or indeed section sample;
(C) Cliff Top Blended Tour: includes (B) plus other of our tour options, as our guests prefer – hiking or non-hiking, whatever.
Tour pricing will fairly vary according to our guests’ choices.
Nature Trail’s tour design for what we entitled our ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk Trek‘ is currently an unfinished work-in-progress. We will continue with our on-ground reconnoitres, practice trips, fine tuning, and government red tape before we offer this tour commercially.
Meanwhile, Nature Trail provides interested visitors to the following relevant background reading about this particular proposed tour route.
Trail Wayfinding Signage:
Official trail wayfinding signpost specific to this ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ which has plagiarised Nature Trail’s business logo. (Close up below)
This is Blue Mountains Council’s plagiarised/unauthorised theft of Nature Trail pre-existig business logo. (See our logo since 2018 below). Council and their Parks Service brethren have used since 2024 as the wayfinding sign throughout the trail for this new marathon concept trail. It features the exact same copy of our black cockatoo silhouette with the only difference being Council shot her mate – hence the ghostly white entrails. We’re content to thus modify it for our use.
Nature Trail’s Tour Director, Steven Ridd, created this integrated logo/motto/tagline design back in 2018.
It is a version of our original one (below) that Steven designed in 2013, who had commissioned Katoomba Blue Mountains local artist Lyn Naismith to paint specially for Nature Trail. In the original version it was a pair of endangered Glossy Black Cockatoos native to the Blue Mountains – male and female, each having slightly different in feather colourings.
Soon after Steven in June 2025 discovered the government’s plagiarism of his business logo design, he rightly complained to both Blue Mountains Council and the Parks Service to communicate our displeasure of have our logo nicked by government.
Since 2019, Nature Trail has copped continual intimidation and business lockdown by the NSW Government:
- Bushfire emergencies lockdowns
- Ongoing landslip closures due to government stormwater neglect
- Pandemic lockdowns – (Feb 2020 through to Nov 2022)
- NSW Government grant repayment extortion (Service NSW)
- Our tour vehicle licensing extortion threats of $110,000 by the NSW Government’s ‘Transport for NSW’ department’s P2P transport Commissioner
- Nature Trail logo theft by NSW Governments (NPWS) ‘Parks Service’.
Here are two complaints by Nature Trail of the governmental plagiarism:
NPWS (Parks Service) plagiarises Nature Trail’s copyright logo
Our research efforts into what is a concept track route of amalgamated shorter and in some cases historic tracks, has revealed that the title of this track Grand Cliff Top Walk, has itself been also plagiarised by government.
‘Grand Cliff Top Walk – Original Project, 1980s’. [SOURCE: ‘How To See The Blue Mountains’, 1989, 2nd Ed., by Jim Smith Ph.D, printed paperback book, pp 138-139.
Our critique about this 2024 trail promotions:
Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ – Misleading Flyer & Press Release
Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ – a misleading promotional article
Our segmented guided delivery of this trail:
>SEGMENT 1: Wentworth Falls Railway Station to Conservation Hut
>SEGMENT 2: Conservation Hut to Fairmont Resort
>SEGMENT 3: Fairmont Resort to Gordon Falls Picnic Reserve
>SEGMENT 4: Gordon Falls Picnic Reserve to Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve
>SEGMENT 5: Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve to Echo Point Lookout
>SEGMENT 6: Echo Point Lookout to Reid’s Plateau
>SEGMENT 7: Reid’s Plateau to Explorers Marked Tree
References and Further Reading:
[DISCLAIMER: Nature Trail researches its source information as part of this article, which we privately record for our own personal referencing. If any of the references below ever become ‘dead links’, that is, deleted from public access online; we always have retained a full documented copy of that original reference document and every other listed in this section below. This ensures our article stands up truthfully to having relied upon the factual record made public online which we have sourced at the time. So, if ever challenged later in law, we can reproduce that and any document in toto as evidence.]
[1] ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk unveiled in Blue Mountains‘, 2024-03-25, Blue Mountains Gazette (newspaper), ^https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/8566633/grand-cliff-top-walk-opens-connecting-wentworth-falls-to-katoomba/
[2] ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk – Blue Mountains‘ brochure, National Parks and Wildlife Service of NSW, (undated), DCCEEW, 2 pages
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Open in new tab [3] ‘NPWS (Parks Service) plagiarises Nature Trail’s copyright logo‘, 2025-05-30, Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, Mountains Drums blog, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blog-post/npws-parks-service-plagiarises-nature-trails-copyright-logo/
[4] ‘Blue Mountains Council (BMCC) plagiarises our business logo and then falsely claims it to be Gundungurra?‘, 2025-07-14, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, Mountains Drums blog,^https://naturetrail.com.au/blog-post/blue-mountains-council-bmcc-plagiarises-our-business-logo-and-then-falsely-claims-it-to-be-gundungurra/
[5] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ – Misleading Flyer & Press Release‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-misleading-flyer-press-release/
[6] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ – a misleading promotional article‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-a-misleading-promotional-article/
[7] ‘MT-GCT Grand Cliff Top Walk Trek‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/mt-gct-grand-cliff-top-walk-trek/
[6] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ Our Critique – SEGMENT 1: Wentworth Falls Railway Station to Conservation Hut‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-our-critique-segment-1-wentworth-falls-railway-station-to-conservation-hut/
[7] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ Our Critique – SEGMENT 2: Conservation Hut to Fairmont Resort‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-our-critique-segment-2-conservation-hut-to-fairmont-resort/
[8] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ Our Critique – SEGMENT 3: Fairmont Resort to Gordon Falls Picnic Reserve‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-our-critique-segment-3-fairmont-resort-to-gordon-falls-picnic-reserve/
[9] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ Our Critique – SEGMENT 4: Gordon Falls Picnic Reserve to Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-our-critique-segment-4-gordon-falls-picnic-reserve-to-leura-cascades-picnic-reserve/
[10] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ Our Critique – SEGMENT 5: Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve to Echo Point Lookout‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-our-critique-segment-5-leura-cascades-picnic-reserve-to-echo-point-lookout/
[11] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ Our Critique – SEGMENT 6: Echo Point Lookout to Reid’s Plateau‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-our-critique-segment-6-echo-point-lookout-to-reids-plateau/
[12] ‘Blue Mountains ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ Our Critique – SEGMENT 7: Reid’s Plateau to Explorers Marked Tree‘, 2025-07-05, by Steven Ridd, Tour Director, Nature Trail, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blue-mountains-grand-cliff-top-walk-our-critique-segment-7-reids-plateau-to-explorers-marked-tree/
[13] ‘Blue Mountains Best Bushwalks‘, 2016, 3rd Ed., by Veechi Stuart, printed paperback book, published by Woodslane Press Pty Ltd, Warriewood, Australia, ISBN 978 192540 32 9 9, Dewey No. 919.440504
[14] ‘How To See The Blue Mountains‘, 1989, 2nd Ed., by Jim Smith Ph.D, printed paperback book, published by Second Back Row Press Pty Ltd, Katoomba, Australia, ISBN 09093255 2 9
[15] ‘Upper Blue Mountains Geographical Encyclopaedia‘, 2001, 2nd. Ed., by Brian Fox, published by Brian Fox, Bathurst, Australia. ISBN 0 9578737 1 9
This webpage updated: 2025-07-24.