The Lost City 25-10-2025
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Route: South Lost City Lookout, Lost City Walking Track, Miners Link Track, Marrangaroo Creek, North Lost City Lookout, Lost City Walking Track
Date: 25/10/2025
From: State Mine Gully Road
Parking: Lost City Parking
Start Point: South Lost City Lookout
Finish Point: South Lost City Lookout
Region: Gardens of Stone National Park / State Conservation Area
Route length: 6.0 km
Time taken: 01:54
Average speed: 3.9 km/h
Ascent: 330m
Descent: 324m
Points of Interest: Miners Link Track, Marrangaroo Creek dams, The Lost City
Brand new for 2025, the Lost City Walking Track in Gardens of Stone National Park near Lithgow is exactly what it sounds like—a purpose-built trail that opens up a previously hidden corner of the Newnes Plateau. Unlike the Grand Cliff Top Walk, which repurposes older paths around Katoomba and Wentworth Falls, this track connects two previously hard-to-reach lookouts, winding through the sandstone pagodas that give the area its name.
The trail is part of a multi-million-dollar initiative to promote ecotourism and adventure in the region, coinciding with the formal gazetting of Gardens of Stone National Park (formerly a State Conservation Area). The area has a rich mining history, with sandstone quarries, coal mining, and early settlement relics scattered across the landscape. Some tracks were originally fire trails used by forest rangers and miners in the early 20th century.
Finding the Lost City is easier than you might think. Just 400 metres along, a fire trail leads to an upgraded lookout, offering sweeping views of the pagoda-like formations that resemble a crumbling city in the bush. These natural towers formed over millions of years through the erosion of sandstone layers, where harder layers resisted weathering while softer layers gradually wore away. Their unusual shapes and “stacked city” appearance have long fascinated early explorers, bushwalkers, and local Aboriginal communities, who have called this region home for thousands of years. |
| Lost City fire trail |
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| Approaching the Lost City Lookout |
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| Lost City Lookout |
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| The Lost City |
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| The Lost City |
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| The Lost City |
The hike truly begins at the lookout, descending into the Marrangaroo Creek valley via a series of steps and sloping rock slabs. Essentially, the route is an out-and-back between the southern and northern lookouts on either side of the valley. There are two ways to reach the creek: the Miners Link Track and the Lost City Walking Track. Both converge at the same point, so hikers can choose to explore one or both for a more complete adventure.
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Beginning the Lost City Walking Track
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| The track takes you past several of the rock pagodas |
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| Marrangaroo Creek valley |
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| There is ample signage along the way |
Having previously used the Link Track as a downhill route, I decided to save it for later, ignoring the sign and heading east along the cliffs. The views into the canyon are tremendous, before a series of steep steps drop you down into it, eventually reaching Marrangaroo Creek.
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| Looking down to Marrangaroo Creek |
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| The Lost City |
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| Marrangaroo Creek valley |
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| Following the steps down into the valley |
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| Following the track through the valley |
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| Marrangaroo Creek |
Following the creek leads to a dam built in the early 1900s. This dam once supplied water to the settlements of Marrangaroo and Lithgow, as well as nearby coal mines. It fell out of use in the 1980s but remains a striking historical feature. The wider Lost City area is dotted with relics from its mining past: winching gears, wire cables, an air shaft, and even a narrow-gauge railway trolley used to transport materials through the rugged terrain.
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| The first dam |
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| Crossing Marrangaroo Creek |
Passing the dam via a set of metal steps, the walk continues along the creek to the base of the Miners Link Track and on to a second dam, overlooked by a prominent rock pagoda. The rock pagodas of the Gardens of Stone rise from the sandstone in stacked layers, shaped over time by wind and water. They form through differential erosion, where harder sandstone resists weathering while softer layers gradually wear away.
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| At the bottom of the Miners Link Track |
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| Down in the valley |
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| The pond and pagoda above the second dam |
From the second dam, the path starts climbing, giving you great views of the pagodas looming over the creek. New steps from the national park make the steep sections easier, while a gentle zigzag leads to a 4WD track. Just a short walk from there is the Lost City North Lookout, tucked behind one of the sandstone towers, offering a fantastic vantage point over the Lost City and Marrangaroo Creek.
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| Steps climb away from the dam |
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| Still climbing |
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| The slopes of Snow Gum Flora Reserve |
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| Looking back down the track |
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| The Lost City |
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| Heading to the northern lookout |
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| Lost City North Lookout |
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| Looking north along the valley |
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| Above the second dam |
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| Looking south along the valley |
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| The Lost City |
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| Lost City North Lookout |
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| The southern panorama |
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| Looking north |
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| The dam and track can be clearly seen from above |
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| The track winds is way through the pagodas |
From this northern lookout, the hike returns all the way to the foot of the Miner's Link Track, retracing the route down the steps, past the dam and along Marrangaroo Creek.
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| The Lost City |
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| The tall rock tower behind the second dam |
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| The second dam |
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| The pond behind the second dam |
The Miners Link Track is a short, steep but direct route back towards the main lookout and car park. Along the way, you’ll encounter remnants of early 20th-century homesteads, including the remains of a chimney breast that hints at the valley’s former industrial activity. The highlight is a short, steep scramble between rocks, aided by a metal bar—a small adventure echoing the challenges faced by early miners and explorers in the region.
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| Lost City Walking Track |
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| A small waterfall on the Miners Link Track |
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| Miners Link Track |
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| Miners Link Track |
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| The top of the Miners Link Track meets the main Lost City Walking Track |
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| The Lost City |
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| The Lost City |
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| The Lost City |
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