Tucked away on the western edge of Katoomba, Ngula Bulgarabang Regional Park offers a quiet, dog-friendly escape perched high above the Megalong Valley. Formerly known as Radiata Plateau, this easy 5.5-kilometre circuit follows a gentle management trail through open eucalypt forest before dropping onto rougher tracks out to the grandstand lookout at Megalong Head. Delivering sweeping panoramas over Narrow Neck and the Wild Dog Mountains with a fraction of Katoomba's usual crowds, it’s a brilliant, low-stress mountain outing.
Ngula Bulgarabang
📍 BLUE MOUNTAINS
Distance5.5 km
Duration01:55 hrs
Elev Gain+201 m
Elev Lost-200 m
Date
25 July 2026
Starting Point
Pulpit Hill Road
Difficulty
Easy
Pace / Gear
4.4 km/h — Water
Highlights
Megalong Head
🗺️ Interactive Route MapPinch or use wheel to zoom
What better way to spend the beginning of the weekend than heading out camping with your four-legged friend? Truth be told, I was using the night to see how our young dog took to spending the night in the confines of a 2-person backpacking tent; hence my choosing of Mount York Reserve – it's in the Blue Mountains, it's free, it's generally quite quiet, and it's relatively close to home. After a trouble-free night and an early rise, it wasn't long before we were ready to hike our main objective for the day, Ngula Bulgarabang Reserve.
Ready for a night under the stars
Dawn over the western Blue Mountains
Ngula Bulgarabang
Formerly known as Radiata Plateau (being home to a Radiata Pine plantation), this stretch of bushland sits high above the Megalong Valley, fringing the edge of the World Heritage Area. Gazetted as Ngula Bulgarabang Regional Park in 2020, highlights of the reserve include several rock-climbing areas, the heritage-listed aboriginal pathway 'Blacks Ladder' and the dramatic lookout at Megalong Head. Its present aboriginal name translates to 'large wood forest' in the Gundungurra language.
Pulpit Hill Road
We kicked the hike off from the locked gate at the very end of Pulpit Hill Road in Katoomba. There is parking available in the residential turnaround; however, take care not to block anyone's driveway. Squeezing past the locked vehicle gate, we set off along a broad, gently undulating fire trail heading westward across the plateau.
Ngula Bulgarabang Fire Trail
The fire trail makes for incredibly easy walking through the open woodland. After around 1 km, you'll find a small path heading off to the left, leading to a lookout across Megalong Creek towards Narrowneck Plateau. I've seen some reference to this being called Narrowneck Lookout, which would make sense. The main trail continues another 50 m around Mount Elphinstone before turning sharply right. On this tight bend is another side trail that will take you to Megalong Head, the highlight of this hike.
Narrowneck Lookout
Narrowneck Lookout
Fire trail
Megalong Head
The track to the lookout at Megalong Head is much narrower and rougher than the main management trail, descending around 65m through the bush. It gets a little steeper as you approach the cliffs, but eventually you'll emerge among some large rock platforms that form Megalong Head, each of which can be clambered upon for a grandstand view of Megalong Valley.
Megalong Valley
Megalong Valley
Admiring the views
Perched on the western edge of Megalong Head is an ageing metal trig station with perhaps the best overall panorama. The view includes the massive, sheer walls of Narrow Neck heading south toward the Wild Dog Mountains and the distant Kanangra-Boyd ranges. With its western outlook, it's an outstanding spot to sit and watch the late-afternoon light hit the valley.
Megalong Head
Megalong Head
The cliffs of Narrowneck
Megalong Valley
Back to Ngula Bulgarabang
After admiring the view, we returned to the management trail to continue our hike around the plateau. The trail continues in a large loop around Mount Elphinstone; however, we detoured away down a steepish hill to a fairly large pond (or very small lake). It's the perfect spot for a doggy dip, particularly as the temperatures begin to rise. It's likely the pond is artificial, being located in an area where some tree-felling has been taking place.
Back on the fire trail
Heading down to the pond
Radiata Pond
Plantation clearing
Time for a quick dip
Ngula Bulgarabang
From the pond, we climbed back up to the main management trail as it completes its loop around Mount Elphinstone. The return walk to the Pulpit Hill Road trailhead follows the gentle fire trail back through open woodland, making for a quick and easy finish to the circuit. Back at the locked gate, it concluded a fantastic morning on the plateau—a satisfying, quiet walk that packs sweeping Megalong Valley views into a accessible, dog-friendly outing.
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