Echo Point, the Giant Stairway & Federal Pass

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Route: Scenic World, Reid's Plateau, Katoomba Cascades, Lady Darley Lookout, Echo Point, Three Sisters, Giant Stairway, Dardenelles Pass, Federal Pass, Scenic Walkway, Golden Stairs, Glenraphael Drive, Cliff Drive

Date: 16/11/2019
From: Scenic World

Parking: Scenic World
Start Point: Scenic World
Finish Point: Scenic World
Region: Blue Mountains National Park

Route length: 10.2 miles (16.4km)
Time taken: 04:54
Average speed: 2.1 mph
Ascent: 684m
Descent: 636m

Points of Interest: Scenic World, Echo Point, Honeymoon Bridge

The Blue Mountains national park lies only 90km west of Sydney and it's quickly becoming a regular stomping ground. While the land and peaks are generally high (over 1,000m in some cases), it's actually more of a canyonlands than a mountain range with many of the walks starting on the clifftops around the towns of Katoomba, Leura and Wentworth Falls.

Katoomba, in particular, is home to many of the area's iconic walks but also its busiest tourist spots. Katoomba sits atop a plateau above the Kedumba and Jamison valleys meaning many of the walks from the town are either along the cliff tops or involve a steep descent into the valley via elaborately constructed stairways - something I was going to give a go today.

There are several sets of stairs linking the cliffs to various walking tracks and passes, from the Golden Stairs in the west to the Grand Staircase in the east at Wentworth Falls. The Giant Stairway lies somewhere in the middle, near Echo Point. More on that later.

I drove to Katoomba and parked (for free) at Scenic World, a curious outdoors theme park which is home to a cable car (the Scenic Skyway) and the world's steepest passenger railway - the 52-degree Scenic Railway. My plan was to walk the first half of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk to Echo Point and then descend below the cliffs into the rainforest beneath the Three Sisters.

The Scenic World visitor centre

Starting from the car park, the path follows a concrete track around the back of the Scenic World visitor building before continuing through the wooded hillside towards the first series of lookouts at Reid's Plateau. The three vantage points give the first real view of the spectacular Kedumba valley far below, including Katoomba Falls.

The cliffs of the Blue Mountains below Katoomba

Looking along the Kedumba Valley

Mount Solitary stands in the Kenumba Valley

From the Reids Plateau area, the path follows the small Kedumba River north through the forest, until it reaches the Katoomba Cascades, a picturesque set of waterfalls on the Kedumba River which sit just below a road and park. The river can be crossed by a set of stepping stones or a small footbridge (presumably for times when the flow is high).

The lush Kedumba River

Katoomba Cascades

The Cliff Walk does a loop under the Cascades to the Eastern Skyway station where the Scenic World cable car terminates. The track heads eastwards along the top of the valley, passing several lookouts, all of which have much the same view of the Kedumba River and Mount Solitary. My next major port of call would be Echo Point but the exposed Lady Darley Lookout is a highlight along this section.

Mount Solitary

Approaching Cliff View lookout

The view from Lady Darley lookout

Lady Darley lookout

Echo Point is a very busy place, most (if not all) the tours from Sydney coincide at this location and disgorge hundreds of daily passengers. Some 2 million people visit this location every year but most simply wander to the lookout, take a selfie and then return to their allocated bus. Therefore, once you get away from Echo Point, the crowds diminish rapidly. The view of the Three Sisters from the lookout is the defining image of the Blue Mountains - one you'll no doubt find with a quick Google search.

Honeymoon Bridge and Meehni - the closest of the Three Sisters

Looking back to Reids Plateau

Mount Solitary

Echo Point

Echo Points iconic view

The Three Sisters

The Clifftop Walk leaves Echo Point along the Three Sisters Track which leads to the top of the Giant Stairway, one of several carved or constructed stairways that link the cliff rim to the rainforest below. For the adventurous, a short but hair-raisingly steep climb takes you down to Honeymoon Bridge, across a chasm and into a hollow under the first tower. Further climbing on the towers is prohibited due to their cultural significance with the Aboriginal traditional owners, the Gundungurra.

The top of the Giant Stairway

Reference plaque to B.S.B Stevens

Meehni and Mount Solitary

The top of the Giant Stairway

Honeymoon Bridge

The commonly told legend of the Three Sisters is that three sisters, Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three men from the neighbouring Nepean tribe, but the marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back.

The 800 steps of the Giant Stairway are narrow and steep, protected from an imposing drop by a sturdy guardrail. They are pretty tough on your knees, though it has been a while since I did any serious walking. The stairway was conceived in 1914 and construction began in 1916 but was deemed too expensive after only a quarter had been built. It was not until 1932 that work was re-commenced after lobbying by a local photographer. The Giant Stairway was opened by the Premier, the Hon. B.S.B. Stevens at the same time as the platform at Echo Point.

Looking up to Echo Point lookout

The Giant Stairway

One of the carved sections of the stairs

The Giant Stairway

The steps descent towards the rainforest

The Giant Stairway

The stairs descend towards the valley

The bottom of the stairway

The steps eventually reach a path in the midst of the trees of Leura Forest - the Dardenelles Pass. The Dardanelles Pass was opened around the same time as the Giant Stairway, built to link the stairway to the other walking tracks in the forest. By turning right and heading downhill, I shortly reached the junction with Federal Pass.

Heading out along Dardenelles Pass

Federal Pass

Federal Pass

Leura Forest

Federal Pass

Federal Pass is one of the longer tracks in the Blue Mountains, joining the town of Leura in the east to Ruined Castle in the west via the base of the cliffs. It was originally built by the Katoomba community, from Leura Forest to Katoomba Falls, before being extended along an old horse-drawn coal tramway line.

Federal Pass is a very pleasant route, generally flat and out of the heat of the sun. It extends around the base of the Three Sisters and then to the Kedumba River, now below the cliffs and the cascades passed previously in the day. The river is crossed by Cooks Bridge then climbs a short distance to the bottom of the Scenic Railway. The station here has a good view back to the Three Sisters.

Cooks Crossing over the Kedumba River

A closeup of one of the large Turpentine trees in the rainforest

The Three Sisters

The Three Sisters - Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo

The Scenic Railway

The original railway was built in the late 19th century to serve the Katoomba coal mine, now serving Scenic World carrying passengers down into the rainforests. It holds a Guinness World Record for the steepest railway gradient (but - a fact for train fans - it is not a true funicular as it uses a winch and no counterbalancing carriage).

Scenic Railway station

The grand setting of the Scenic Railway station

Close to the station is another of Scenic Worlds attractions - the Scenic Walkway. This is a short, suspended boardwalk through the ancient rainforest with several information boards dotted along the route - a worthwhile diversion, even if you have to dodge around the odd crowd of tourists.

One of the old coal mines that litter the area

Scenic Walkway

Scenic Walkway

After my sojourn around the Scenic Walkway, I continued on along Federal Pass, passing the terminus of the Scenic Cableway. Almost immediately it becomes rougher and less-well looked after, a clear sign that I had finally broken free from the tourist traps of the Kedumba Valley.

The Scenic Cableway

The path reaches an area called the landslide, so named after a huge section (some 500m) of the cliff slipped into the valley below in the 1930s. The slip took the trees with it so vague path winds through the debris in the open sun. There would be a better view of the landslide later, as the path makes a wide arc around the head of the valley.

Federal Pass

Below the cliffs

Approaching the landslide

The landslide at Causeway Creek

Causeway Creek

Causeway Creek and Narrowneck Plataeu

Looking down the landslide

The landslide

A fallen boulder

Once beyond the landslide, the path delves into the forest once again, closing in on the Golden Stairs - the most westerly of the clifftop stairways. I took a break at the foot of the steps, preparing for the steep climb ahead.

Federal Pass

Federal Pass

Bottom of the Golden Stairs 

In truth, climbing the stairs wasn't as tough as I had expected. While there are certainly some short, steep sections, they gain height quickly and are interspersed my some flat ledges which help to break up the climb. Botting's Lookout, located part-way up the stairs, has an excellent view of the 1930s landslide and is a perfect location to take a quick break.

The Golden Stairs

A glimpse of the cliffs through the trees

The Golden Stairs

Mount Solitary

Mount Solitary and Ruined Castle

The landslide from Bottings Lookout

The path across the landslide

The Three Sisters

Causeway Creek valley

In total, the Golden Stairs climb around 300m to a parking area on Glenraphael Road, an unsealed road that extends out along the Narrowneck Plateau. Walking along the dusty track allows a few glimpses of the neighbouring Megalong Valley before reaching Cliff Drive in Katoomba.

Glenraphael Road

The Megalong Valley

Mount Solitary

 There was still time for a final lookout, Eagle Hawk, located a short distance from the road.  The view from here is pretty spectacular, extending right along the cliffs to the Three Sisters. And it was deserted too.

The Three Sisters

Echo Point

The Three Sisters

The view from Eagle Hawk Lookout

A short while later and I was back at Scenic World in time to liberate the car from the car park and begin my journey back to Sydney. I have several more of these longer Blue Mountains walks in mind but, as I write this, large swathes of the national park are ablaze as an early bushfire season takes hold. In fact, many of the popular walking tracks are closed (as I write this in mid-December) due to the risk of the surrounding bushfires. There may be a lull in walking from me while these are either brought under control by the volunteer firefighters or burn themselves out. Either way, it's expected to be a long, difficult summer for the Rural Fire Service.