(A) Brief Background: On Monday 25th March 2024, the historic 1930s ‘Prince Henry Cliff Walk‘ track, after being mostly repaired, upgraded, extended in a joint tourism infrastructure project by NPWS (Parks Service) and BMCC Blue Mountains {city} Council over about four years, was officially and publicly launched. But the red ribbon was publicly ceremoniously cut before this trail was finished. […]
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This 19+km trek is officially promoted equivalent to a proverbial ‘walk in the park’ as being do-able in just 2-days… like ‘easy peasy’? Yet, from our on-ground hiking experience of this trail, it seriously is anything but! The Parks Service’s (NPWS) March 2024 public opening launch of its new concept ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk‘ in the Australian Blue Mountains, was […]
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In the Australian Blue Mountains, during the cooler months of June and July 2025, Nature Trail’s Tour Director, Steve Ridd, has decided to undertake a series of segmented practice reconnoitre trips (‘recces’) of the recently and mostly upgraded and renamed amalgamated hiking tracks branded the ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk‘. This track is situated in the central upper Blue Mountains Region, […]
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This Trail Segment 1: Specifications: This Nature Trail Tour Title: Grand Cliff Top Walk Trek NT Tour Code: MT-GCT/1 NT Tour Code Description: Multi-Day Trek Tour Category Tailored Trail Official Opening Date: Monday 25th March 2024 Tour Current Status: Scouted> Recce > Practised > Commercial Trail partial closure, with roadway detour Nature Trail Version: Grand Cliff Top Walk – Original […]
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(Content TBA) This lead feature image is our snippet photo of an Australian native Broadleafed Geebung (botanical name is Persoonia Levis). This particular trail segment of the 2024 ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ is situated in an sunny exposed escarpment heath open woodland natural environment. This flaky paperbark type rich red coloured bark is of the inner peel layers within […]
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Nature Trail has specially selected this trail segment of the 2024 Grand Cliff Top Walk trail because it is has a relatively medium grade hike (yet with still many staircases up and down) which may be undertaken in a manageable half-day duration, yet by only hiking-fit adults and teenagers, but not sensibly for infants/toddlers nor anyone disabled. This trail segment […]
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On Friday morning 4th July 2025, Friends of Nature Trail chose our recce of this particular segment of the Grand Cliff Top Walk from west of Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve to Echo Point Lookout. This is because currently Leura Cascades Picnic Reserve is closed for council upgrade, plus a recent landslip on Round Track has close the track route as […]
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(A) Brief Background: On Thursday 31 July 2025, Nature Trail managed to reconnoitre the 2024 ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk’ trail version which we have decided to label as ‘SEGMENT 6: Echo Point Lookout to Katoomba Falls. We have hiked this track many times over the years, being so close to home. However, this recent trail infrastructure upgrade project deserved our […]
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(A) Brief Background Let the truth be known, the ORIGINAL ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk‘ as proposed in the 1980s was to construct a hiking track to extend from the original Weatherboard Hut (from 1814) site all the way to the Explorers’ Marked Tree (from 1813) – to create an epic 30+ km amalgamation mega trail concept to link up old […]
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Blue Mountains {city} Council seems focused on pedestrian safety of late, finally. This is a positive development for the benefit of improving the safety of locals and visitors alike. So, we note new speed humps in Katoomba town centre area. However, none of which are actual speed humps that require vehicles to slow down without experiencing the most minor of […]
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Blue Mountain’s Council Mayor Mark Greenhill has presided over perpetual hiking track closures since February 2020, and it’s nearly two years on. Leura Cascades was closed in February 2020 during a known and predictable La Niña period heavy rainfall weather pattern which deluged the east coast of New South Wales including the Blue Mountains region. Substandard stormwater drainage brought on a […]
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Katoomba now Australia’s Booze Capital
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Here we go again… Bushfires lockdown the entire Blue Mountains The widespread bushfire ‘mega-blaze‘ disaster of Christmas 2019 that was mishandled and allowed to rage and spread over two months, ended up destroying 80 percent of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area as well as many other natural regions of New South Wales. Dubbed by our sister conservation entity […]
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Fifty buses a day – huge tourist coaches and mini-buses – concentrate on retail Leura Mall. It’s crazy and unfair. Bus congestion dominates Leura daily due to corporate tourism promotion of the Blue Mountains and specifically Leura to encourage the inbound tourist trade. But has Leura’s retail, attractions and accommodation benefitted? No. A local council traffic survey of just 200 […]
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Tragically, just before midday smoko on Wednesday 29th November 2017, three contractors with the NSW NPWS (Parks Service) were suddenly struck by a boulder fall from some 10 metres above them. They were repairing a cliff section along the historic National Pass in the Blue Mountains National Park at Wentworth Falls. These were the boulders. At the time of the […]
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