Erith Falls & Echo Point - Morton national Park

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Route: Gambell's Rest, Erith Coal Mine Track, Erith Falls, Erith Coal Mine Track, Echo Point Road, Echo Point, Lovers Walk, Bonnie View, Bundanoon Loop Road, Gambell's Lookout, Gambell's Rest

Date: 22/08/2020
From: Gambell's Rest

Parking: Gambell's Rest
Start Point: Gambell's Rest
Finish Point: Gambell's Rest
Region: Morton National Park

Route length: 6.0 miles (9.6km)
Time taken: 03:00
Average speed: 2.0 mph
Ascent: 150m
Descent: 167m

Points of Interest: Erith Falls, Echo Point, Bonnie View

We recently spent a winter weekend camping in the Morton National Park, not far south of Sydney. The park itself is massive but largely untouched, attracting fewer crowds than the nearby Blue Mountains. Six months on from the 19/20 bushfires, much of the park remains but the area around the village of Bundanoon was largely spared from the fires. This includes the Gambell's Rest campsite.

An ungainly circuit can be devised from the campsite, taking in waterfalls, areas of bush and numerous lookouts which take in views across the southern highlands. The bonus is that we could start walking straight from our tents. While the weather for the day was set to be mainly sunny, what the photos don't show was just how cold it was. You may be led to believe it is always hot in Australia but we'd be experiencing temperatures around freezing today, thanks to a strong southerly wind blowing in from the Antarctic.

We left the campsite late in the morning, heading south along the road entrance road to Morton National Park. After only a short distance, we detoured off the road to link up with the Coal Mine Walking Track, which descends into the valley of Coal Creek.

Follow the track towards Coal Creek

An iconic Australian Grass Tree

The track to Coal Creek

The valley and the creek are both named after the coal mine which resides at the end of the path, below the tumbling waters of Erith Falls. The creek at the top of the falls can be crossed by some stone steps which lead to a metal stairwell constructed alongside the waterfall, heading down to the entrance to the long-retired Erith Coal mine.

The top of Erith Falls

A metal walkway leads down the falls

Erith Coal Mine

Inside the entrance to the coal mine

The mine was worked in the late 1880s, first being called Rock-roof Mine then gaining the name of Erith Colliery in 1881. The seam is relatively small (about one metre) and a low grade as the mine only produced a limited amount of coal for the railways. Now, the shaft entrances are fenced off for safety reasons but they go back some 1.4km into the hillside.

A rough path descends further, away from the mine to Coal Creek and then back to the base of the beautiful Erith Falls - it's a very picturesque spot.

Erith Falls

Erith Falls

Erith Falls

Returning back up the stairway

After loitering around the falls for a while we climbed back up the metal stairway to the top of the falls. Returning to the walking track, it climbs a wide fire trail until we reached the Echo Point Access Road once again. The lookout at Echo Point is around 1.5km further along the road.

Climbing the Erith Coal Mine Track

Echo Point Access Road

The Echo Point lookout (different to its Blue Mountains namesake) overlooks a vast swath of the Southern Highlands. It is similar to the popular areas of the Blue Mountains, though wilder and less-frequented. The whole area stands some 900m above sea level and is home to a series of deep canyons and impressive waterfalls, chiefly, Fitzroy Falls, Carrington Falls and Belmore Falls. The Echo Point lookout oversees the valley of Coal Creek and Bundanoon Creek.

The view from Echo Point

Coal Creek and Bundanoon Creek form the two canyons

A rainbow emerges from the valley

After a passing shower curtailed our time at the lookout, we pressed on to the Lovers Walk Track which does a sweeping arc around the head of a rainforest gully. It emerges at the Bonnie View lookout which has another view of the Coal Creek valley. We were lucky to have some clear night skies during our trip, so I've included a couple of photos of the Milky Way I took from the Bonnie View lookout. If you are interested, the photos were shot on a Sony A7iii.

Lovers Walk Track

Lovers Walk Track

A view of Mount Carnarvon from the Lovers Walk Track

Bonnie View Lookout

The Southern Highlands

Bundanoon Creek

Bonnie View Lookout

The majestic Milky Way

The Milky Way from the Bonnie View lookout

Around the corner from Bonnie View is another lookout which has a view of the opposite wall of the canyon. From here, we followed the access road back towards the campsite, passing the Wishing Well which is little more than a water-filled hole in the rock. There is a fence which suggests that the hole is pretty deep.

Beauchamps Cliffs

Bundanoon Loop Road

The interesting rocks at the Wishing Well

After following the access road north, we turned off again onto the Bundanoon Loop road, making our way back to the canyon rim and a final lookout. It was plain to see the damage caused by the summer bushfires but encouraging to see so much re-growing. Eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions of the world, and its predominant eucalyptus forests have evolved to thrive on the phenomenon.

Fire damaged bush

Bush fire damage

Gambell's Lookout

Gambell's Lookout

After Gambell's Lookout we had intended to visit Fairy Bower Falls as a final stop but the falls loop track was closed due to the fire damage. I have read recently that some of the paths have reopened since we visited, but only to the top of the waterfall. In the absence of any more waterfalls or lookouts, we headed back to the campsite. Under normal circumstances, you could continue this walk along Nicholas Pass to further lookouts along the canyon but we'll have to wait until it has recovered from the fires.