Grand Cliff Top Walk – Original Trail (MT-GCT)

On 25th March 2024, a shortened and incomplete version of the ‘Grand Cliff Top Walk‘ concept trail was officially opened by the NSW Government.

NSW Government during the Chinavirus pandemic lockdowns it imposed on Blue Mountains tourism funded repairs and infrastructure upgrades to interconnected sections of popular tracks in the upper central Blue Mountains Region, many being historic.

The overall 2024 version of this trail extends more than 20km from Wentworth Falls to Katoomba.  The trail traverses an eclectic ‘amalgamation’ and ‘de-naming’ of long-established and historic hiking tracks, it relies on dangerous road walking, residential footpaths, there is rolling closure track sections (two currently) so requiring ongoing diversions, and is a varying mix of hiking grades and has missed targeting the popular hiking demographic.

The repairs and upgrades cost an estimated $13 million including the overhaul of Gordon Falls Picnic Reserve, situated two-thirds along the trail.  The track infrastructure project work was designed and manage jointly by the Parks Service (NPWS) with local Blue Mountains Council, and performed by outsourced contractors.

A copy of the Parks Service flyer for this 2024 Grand Cliff Top Walk is provided for download/printing as follows:

 

Just over a year later through June and July 2025, Nature Trail’s Tour Director, Steven Ridd, has decided to undertake a reconnoitre of this trail version for a number of reasons, thus:

(1)  Any tracks we have not reconnoitred, including upgraded ones, we must wisely reconnoitre before considering offering them as part of a tour delivery trip.  Else, such delivery sight unseen is otherwise unprofessional, prone to unexpected issues, and unfairly unsafe to all participants;

(2)  This 2024 version of this Grand Cliff Top Walk (over an estimated/but unconfirmed  20+km) is being promoted by the joint government authority, the Parks Service (NPWS) as a 2-day hike indeed even suitable for accompanied toddlers, per its flyer above.  Seriously this is grossly misleading!  We consider such a trail to be clearly a multi-day trek requiring dedicated transport transfers to/from local stays nightly.

(3)  Nature Trail wishes to ground-truth this entire trail, in manageable segments to critique the promoted marketed spin and instead to plan how best to consider offering it as segmented set of options for shorter guided half-day tours for hikers;

(4)  Nature Trail has become aware of its tour business logo being plagiarised and its copyright infringed by the joint custodial owners of this 2024 Grand Cliff Top Walk trail – (A) Blue Mountains Council and (B) Parks Service (NPWS).  We are gathering our photographic evidence in this regard…

 

As we reconnoitre and document this trail, our critique and tour yarn will be published on this website.  This article is a lead start:

 

MT-GCT Grand Cliff Top Walk Trek

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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

[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