The Leura Cascades Round - Blue Mountains National Park

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Route: Solitary Restaurant, Fossil Rock, Copelands Lookout, Prince Henry Cliff Walk, Bridal Veil Lookout, Leura Cascades Round, Leura Cascades, Upper Leura Cascades, Leura Cascades Picnic Area, Cliff Drive, Solitary Restaurant

Date: 22/12/2022
From: Solitary Restaurant

Parking: Solitary Restaurant
Start Point: Kiah Lookout
Finish Point: Leura Cascades Picnic Area
Region: Blue Mountains

Route length: 2.2km
Time taken: 00:50
Average speed: 3.8km/h
Ascent: 134m
Descent: 126m

Points of Interest: Bridal Veil Falls, Leura Cascades

The Leura Cascades Round is a Blue Mountains classic. It is one of the most beautiful short walks in the Blue Mountains, is well-maintained and has some stunning views along the way. It's also a good one for families as the climbs are short and not too steep. There are a couple of circuits you can complete in this area and this is one of the longer ones, visiting Copelands Lookout and Bridal Veil Lookout in addition to the cascades. All of that in under 3km.

I began this hike from the old Solitary Restaurant, located along Cliff Drive in Leura. I say old as the restaurant is currently closed awaiting renovations and looks a little worse for wear but that does mean there is a large, free car park you can use as well as ample parking along the roads nearby.

Opposite Solitary Restaurant is the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, the famed track that begins at Scenic World a few kilometres to the west. The Prince Henry Track is one of the best hikes in the Blue Mountains as it passes some of the most famous sights such as Katoomba Falls and the Three Sisters. You can access the track from the road opposite the restaurant where a set of steps lead down to Fossil Rock.

The fenced lookout at Fossil Rock has great views along the Jamison Valley, over Mount Solitary, and along the far end of Kings Tableland. It is only a short diversion from the main Prince Henry Track and worth the visit.

The fenced lookout at Fossil Rock

The cliffs of Sublime Point

Another longer, but worthwhile diversion is to Copelands Lookout. It's a 500m round trip but the lookout is often quiet and is a great viewing point surrounded by a low, sandstone wall. The lookout provides fantastic views over the Jamison Valley.

Heading for Copelands Lookout

Copelands Lookout Track

Copelands Lookout

Mount Solitary and the cliffs of Sublime Point

Mount Solitary

After visiting these two lookouts I made my way to Bridal Veil Lookout which is a personal favourite of mine. The lookout has a perilous view down to Bridal Veil Falls and across the expanse of Leura Forest. If you arrive at the right time of the day, you'll see rainbows form in the spray of the falls which is a magical sight. The lookout benefits from a brand new metal fence, part of a series of ugrades the National Park Service is undertaking across the Blue Mountains.

Bridal Veil Lookout - complete with brand new fence

The view of the waterfall from the lookout

Bridal Veil Falls

With the excitement of the lookouts out of the way it was time to get stuck into the Leura Cascades round proper by first descending into the lush rainforest that surrounds the creeks. The formed trail uses steps and a series of stone blocks to snake its way downhill, through some shallow caves towards the top of Bridal Veil Falls.

Steps on the Prince Henry Cliff Walk

Stone blocks cross some of the wetter sections of the Leura Cascades Round

Leura Falls Creek has created this enormous gap in the cliffs

Above Bridal Veil Falls

The top of the waterfall is actually the bottom of the Leura Cascades. From the top of the falls, the path heads into a dark dell where the water swirls beneath a large overhang of sandstone before climbing alongside the tumbling waters of Leura Falls Creek - the famed Leura Cascades.

Bridal Veil Falls

Leura Falls Creek

Entering the bottom of Leura Cascades

The footbridge is currently closed due to flood damage

The climb alongside the creek is fairly gentle, making use of some nicely graded steps. At the top of the steps, the path crosses the creek and heads to a lookout below Chelmsford Bridge, an elegant un-reinforced concrete road bridge, the last of its type ever constructed in NSW.

Leura Cascades

Leura Cascades

Leura Cascades seen from the path

The climb alongside the creek is very gentle

The upper cascades beneath Chelmsford Bridge

The bridge is next to the Leura Cascades picnic area, which occupies the former site of the Katoomba Baths. The Katoomba Municipal Baths were a popular swimming spot back in the 1920s up until the 1970s before the land was filled to create the picnic area.

A photo of the old baths - Chelmsford Bridge can clearly be seen in the background

The picnic area as it exists today

A new accessible path has been built to link the picnic area with Cliff Drive, the scenic link between Leura and Katoomba. At the time of writing Cliff Drive is closed to vehicles due to damage caused by the 2020 floods and is not expected to reopen until late 2023. That said, it is open to pedestrians and provides the means of completing this loop at the Solitary Restaurant.