I took on the Blue Mountains’ new cliff walk, unfit and underprepared

Three hundred metres in, I’m already bleeding. My tentative return to multi-day hiking hasn’t started well. I’d missed the train, my hiking pants didn’t fit, the elastic on my socks had given way, my boots were disintegrating underfoot, and with my favourite hiking backpack missing, I’d appropriated my eight-year-old’s Minecraft bag. All this just for the chance to tackle the Blue Mountains’ newest attraction: the Grand Cliff Top Walk.

Walk this way: the Grand Cliff Top Walk.

Located on Gundungurra country, west of Sydney, the Grand Cliff Top Walk was opened in March 2024 and is one of 13 Great Walks planned for NSW. A joint operation by the Blue Mountains Council and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, the walk links a series of existing trails between three of the Blue Mountains’ most popular destinations: Wentworth Falls, Leura and Katoomba.

It’s a clever strategy: directing tourists to one key trail keeps them out of the valley (where inexperienced bushwalkers frequently get into trouble) while transforming a popular day trip experience into a more lucrative two-day stay for local businesses in the region.

While 19 kilometres split over two days might sound easy, the track is rated grade 3 – recommended for bushwalkers with some experience. As a relatively unfit woman walking solo, I was apprehensive; it’s been a long time between hikes, and going it alone made me nervous.

Despite this, I pass through the sandstone gates that mark the beginning of the route, determined to be in the moment. So, of course, distracted by a text message from home about where the loo rolls are stashed, I trip, slam into the ground and gash my right knee.

Wentworth Falls from Fletchers Lookout.

There isn’t too much blood, but I discover I’ve broken one of the golden rules of hiking: I’m not carrying a first aid kit. A little embarrassed, I put my phone away and set off again. I am instantly rewarded with the colourful blush of a crimson rosella landing by the path in front of me.

The route from Wentworth Falls offers an idyllic downward introduction to the trek, weaving through gentle cascades and tiny bridges while butterflies dance across the path. Just as I find my rhythm, however, the trail abruptly ends at wire fencing – the kind used at construction sites.

It turns out flooding has washed away part of the track, so instead of an easy meander down to the falls, it now requires a vertical climb via stairs back up to suburbia and a detour through the streets to a car park.

I’m irritated and puffing when I arrive, but the sweeping view across the valley from Jamison Lookout – unbroken, magnificent and hazy – quickly humbles me. Living in Sydney, it’s far too easy to take the UNESCO World Heritage Listed wilderness on your back doorstep for granted, but standing on the edge of the escarpment feels grounding: the vista across to Mount Solitary is untamed by man, the bush is thriving as it has for thousands of years.

Falling for waterfalls along the way.

It resets something with me, and feeling a renewed sense of energy, I quickly figure out where to rejoin the walk, buoyed by the promise of good coffee at the next trailhead. I have the grade 3 Overcliff-Undercliff Track to myself as it dips under the lip of the sheer sandstone cliffs.

Wildflowers bloom along the track, and moss, lichen and ferns flourish in the shady indents and overhangs. At midday, the temperature has soared. The mountains’ characteristic blue haze, caused by dust mixing with microscopic drops of oil released by the region’s 70 species of eucalyptus trees, settles across the horizon.

The path here mainly consists of metal bridges, rough track, and stepping stones that are hand-carved and slashed with chisel marks so they’re not slippery, and it’s hard not to feel some childish glee as you hop across them.

I stop for lunch at Conservation Hut, a cafe featuring murals by Blue Mountains artist Reinis Zusters. A local favourite since new management took over in 2023, the lunch crowd is a mix of walk-ins and hikers passing through.

“Have you done the walk?” I ask a waitress. She shakes her head.

“I hear there are a lot of steps, though,” she replies, her eyes widening. She’s not kidding. Each descent into the valley fills me with smug satisfaction – until the horror sets in a moment later as I realise I’ll have to trek back up.

The Overcliff-Undercliff Track.

I can handle the stairs, but if I have one criticism of the new Grand Clifftop Walk, it’s that the first section of the track feels poorly signposted. There just aren’t enough markers featuring a black cockatoo on a blue background, and often, they’re placed in peculiar spots. If you’re an experienced hiker or familiar with the region it’s no issue, but given there is a huge cohort of inexperienced people cutting their bushwalking teeth on this trail, better signage is needed.

Climbing another set of steps towards the edge of Leura, the laughter and splash of canyoners in the gully below blends into the sound of golfers playing through on the cliff above. It’s a slightly incongruous sound but also a testament to the breadth of experiences you can have in the Blue Mountains.

I exit the trail between an adventure ropes course and a giant rainbow slide. The Grand Clifftop walk cuts directly through the 224-room Fairmont Resort, and while day one officially ends at Gordon Falls, the chance to flop and drop at a hotel on the trailhead is too much temptation. I call it quits for the day.

It’s the right move: a swim in the pool, a long soak in the bath and eating dinner on my balcony while the sun sets on the Megalong Valley is the perfect way to end the day.

After smashing the buffet the following morning, I leave the hotel feeling surprisingly energetic – and immediately head in the wrong direction. A lack of clear signposting means I mistakenly head down a dead-end bush trail that leads to an abandoned hut. Backtracking, I find the right path: straight up the hotel driveway and winding through a few streets in Leura to rejoin the trail.

It’s early on Saturday, and there’s a thin spread of hikers, trail runners and bus tour groups puffing along this section of the track at intermittent points. I spy a lyrebird on the trail ahead, scratching out a nest, and later, a pair of black cockatoos with a hangry fledgling demanding food.

Day two of the walk crosses some of the Blue Mountains’ most popular attractions, including Leura Cascades, The Three Sisters, Echo Point and Scenic World. Having visited the Blue Mountains before, I expect these well-known spots will be the highlight. Instead, it’s the walk to Golf Links Lookout and down to the Pool of Siloam that leaves me utterly in awe.

Thick eucalypt scrub gives way to a shaded rainforest filled with ferns, and the temperature drops with each step into the gully. There are no other hikers here, and I descend to a seven-metre waterfall that gently cascades down the rocks into a small pool.

With no one else around, I kick off my boots, strip down, and dive in. The cold water cuts like steel through my insides, causing me to suck in a laboured breath. Floating on the surface, I watch streaks of sunlight filter through the canopy, and with my ears thankfully submerged, I enjoy a small respite from the cacophony of cicadas that has accompanied my every step along the walk. I am amazed that I have this all to myself: the rainforest, the trail, the pool, the waterfall. I want to linger, but I know that if I don’t leave now, I risk this moment being spoiled by the appearance of others.

I’m so content that I’m not even discouraged by the near-vertical climb out. Despite finishing the track a few hours later with some cuts and scratches, the Grand Clifftop Walk ends up stirring something within me: a new love of wild swimming, a reminder of the joy of bushwalking, and a deeper respect for the intense beauty of this rugged wilderness, right on Sydney’s doorstep.

The writer stayed as a guest of the Fairmont Hotel.

THE DETAILS

WALK
The Grand Clifftop Walk runs from Wentworth Falls to Scenic World and is free. Some sections of the track are occasionally shut for maintenance. The walk can be covered in a day, but it does require a good level of fitness. Carry water, food, all-weather gear, a small first-aid kit – and wear good shoes.

It is recommended all bushwalkers fill out a Trip Intention Form, accessible from the NPWS website before they walk. For safety, NPWS issues Personal Locator Beacons free of charge from the Blue Mountains Heritage Centre in Blackheath, however this is a significant distance from the Grand Clifftop Walk, and not easily accessible from Blackheath train station.

RAIL
The Blue Mountains is a 90-120 minute drive from Sydney. The train is the most scenic and convenient way for hikers to travel here, with a public bus connection from Scenic World to Katoomba Station.

STAY
The Fairmont Resort Blue Mountains is located on the walk in Leura. Classic rooms with king-size beds from $242. See fairmontresort.com.au

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nationalparks.nsw.gov.au