Thursday 16/10/2025 Evans Lookout Road – Valley View Lookout – Cliff Top Track – Hayward Gully – Griffith Taylor Wall – Barrow Lookout – Govetts Leap Brook – Govetts Leap – Govetts Leap Lookout
Blue Mountains National Park, NSW
Gundungurra Country (Gundungurra people)
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos), Sue Davies (Report)
This walk links Evans Head Lookout with Govetts Leap. We started after lunch on a warm afternoon with, thankfully, a gentle breeze to cool us down.
Max elevation: 993 m
Total climbing: 322 m
Total descent: -308 m
Average speed: 3.14 km/h
Total time: 02:59:34
This walk provides panoramic views over the iconic Grose Valley, and spring is the ideal time to do it with wildflowers in abundance, including the stunning flowers of the Waratah.
The trail crosses two creeks, which spill over the cliffs, so there is some climbing and descending before you reach Govells Leap. The views across the valley to the cliffs on the other side are really stunning, especially when framed by wildflowers. Native Irises were in abundance.
Govetts Leap Brook
After a quick refuelling at the lookout at Govetts Leap, we retraced our steps back to the van. The Clifftop walk is an enjoyable and scenic short walk.
Amongst other photographically recorded observations during this walk, we were able to confirm sightings of each of the following species: Acanthus-leaved Grevillea (Grevillea acanthifolia), Pink Matchheads (Comesperma ericinum), Finger Hakea (Hakea dactyloides), Broad-leaved Drumsticks (Isopogon anemonifolius), Spotted Sun-Orchid (Thelymitra ixioides), Mountain Dragon (Rankinia diemensis), Blotched Bluetongue (Tiliqua nigrolutea)
Clickable icons on this world map will open the related trip report
A detailed, searchable trip list with links to reports, photo galleries
Information on Parks signage along the way
Hayward Gully
William Hayward is reputed to be the first white man to reach the floor of Govetts Gorge in 1847.
Deep Green Govetts Gorge
The story of Govett Gorge and the Grose Valley spans millions of years.
The slow development of the great valleys, adaptation of plants to climate change and the evolution of animal species has occurred without the interference of humans.
Human occupation of the mountains began perhaps 22,000 years ago. Australian Aborigines developed a sustainable culture in an often harsh environment.
The coming of European culture 200 years ago placed enormous pressure on the environment. Can you imagine the Grose Valley as a modern transport corridor or a huge lake? Consider these proposals
1857-60, a railway to the west along the Grose River with a tunnel through to Hartley.
1867-69 Damming the Grose River for Sydney’s water supply.
1875 The valley was reserved as a water catchment.
1921 Coal mines in the valley.
1925 Re-surveyed for the building of a dam.
1930’s Blue Gum Forest held as a private lease.
As a result of community action in 1832, the Blue Gum Forest was dedicated as a Public Reserve.
In 1959 Blue Mountains National Park was declared, including mar of the cliff top reserves and the Blue Gum Forest.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service manages the park to minimise the impacts of threats to species survival. Natural fire regimes in the mountains were altered by Aboriginal, occupation, but the effect of fire has increased dramatically over the last century. The Service has worked closely with other authorities and the community to develop fire management plans to alleviate the threat of fire to life, property and the park.
Voices in the wilderness
A history of community concern:
Local trusts, volunteers and local government organisations are all part of the history of the park. Individuals and groups of concerned citizens have saved this unique landscape for us all. Without the protests and action of these groups, people such as Myles Dunphy, Alan Rigby, and organisations such as the Sydney Bush Walkers and the Mountain Trails Club, public concern for our heritage may have gone unnoticed.
It is just as important today to be active in voicing our concerns about the natural environment. The wild quality of this part of NSW is threatened by the impacts of urban development, pollution, water quality, weeds, feral animals and too frequent wildfire. If you are concerned about the quality of the last remaining areas of wild country in this state, your opinion and commitment can make a difference.
“Between the ranges lie yawning chasms, deep and winding gorges and frightful precipices. Narrow gloomy and profound; these stupendous rents in the bosom of the Earth are enclosed between gigantic walls of sandstone rock, sometimes frightfully overhanging the dark bed of ravines and its black silent eddies or its flowing torrents of water.”
* Sir. Paul Edmund Strzelecki, Physical description of NSW and Van Diemans Land, 1938
Cliff Top Track – Deep Green Govetts Gorge
Grose Wilderness
In 2001 The Grose Valley was declared a Wilderness Area. This is the highest protection we can givę to a natural area.
The aim is to protect these large natural areas, the functioning of their ecosystems, and their processes of evolution with a minimum of human interference.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service manages wilderness so that native plant and animal communities are disturbed as little as possible. Pest animal control, weed control, and bushfire management are all important parts of this management. Where possible, the Service uses management strategies that do not change the natural environment.
World Heritage
The Blue Mountains have been described as a natural laboratory for the evolution of eucalypts. In the mountains diverse plant communities, you can trace the changing nature of the Australian environment – from geological shifts and climate variations, through to the impact of Aboriginal settlement and European colonisation.
7 National Parks and Jenolan Caves make up the 1 million-hectare Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area:
Blue Mountains National Park Wollemi National Park Kanangra-Boyd National Park Yengo National Park Gardens of Stone National Park Nattai National Park Thirlmere Lakes National Park Jenolan Caves Conservation Reserve
More than one hundred different eucalypt species are found in the Greater Blue Mountains – some per percent of all eucalypt species in the world. They grow in a great variety of communities, from tall closed forests, through open forests and woodlands, to the stunted mallee shrub-lands on the plateaus.
Cliff Top Track – Barrow Lookout
Govetts hanging gardens
Named for Isaac Le Pipre Barrow, a Government surveyor in the late 1870s, who produced detailed tourist maps of the mountains.
The cliffs below are constantly wet from water seeping through the rock. The mat of vegetation sometimes becomes so heavy that it falls off the cliff. Almost immediately, it begins to grow again.
The damp cliffs near Horseshoe Falls surround The Jungle, an area of warm temperate rainforest with huge trees, vines and forests of ferns.
Insect eating plants
Bladderworts have subterranean leaves like bladders that draw in and eat microorganisms living in the water.
Sundews (Drosera sp.) trap insects on sticky glandular hair-covered tendrils and then slowly digest them. Sundew flowers are not sticky, so insects can pollinate them.
When the wind is strong, water from the falls is blown back up, adding a fine mist to the already soaking cliff.
The local landscape features, geology, scenic highlights, flora, fauna, Indigenous history, white history and other nearby walks in the area (Perplexity AI Model)
Landscape Features and Geology
This region is defined by a dramatic escarpment of Triassic sandstone forming part of the elevated Blue Mountains plateau, with cliffs rising to approximately 1,050 metres above sea level. The Grose Valley has been carved out over millions of years by the erosive power of the Grose River and its tributaries, such as Govetts Leap Brook and Hayward Gully. The Cliff Top Track winds along the upper margin of the escarpment, negotiating the Griffith Taylor Wall (a named sandstone buttress) and descending into small gullies before reaching prominent viewpoints such as Barrow Lookout and Govetts Leap Lookout. Valley slopes and the floors below are heavily dissected, containing hanging swamps on perched water tables and deeply incised waterways.
Scenic Highlights
Visitors enjoy some of the most breathtaking views in the entire Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area from Evans Lookout, Valley View Lookout, and Govetts Leap Lookout, with sweeping panoramas over the Grose Valley’s expansive eucalyptus canopy and sheer sandstone cliffs glowing in the late afternoon light. The 180-metre drop of Govetts Leap waterfall, often seen cascading into the mist far below, is a centrepiece of the area. The Cliff Top Track, linking Evans and Govetts Leap lookouts, offers almost continuous vistas of these natural spectacles and is renowned for the quality of its wildflower displays in spring and the abundance of native birds.
Local Flora
The local flora exhibits clear ecological stratification. Exposed ridges and upper escarpments support dry sclerophyll woodland dominated by eucalyptus species such as scribbly gum (Eucalyptus sclerophylla) and yellow bloodwood (Corymbia eximia), with understoreys of banksia (Banksia serrata), she-oak (Allocasuarina distyla), and stunted heath. Sheltered slopes and gullies, such as Hayward Gully and riparian margins along Govetts Leap Brook, feature cooler and wetter habitats supporting coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum), sassafras (Doryphora sassafras), tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica), and a diversity of mosses, orchids, and ground ferns. Spring wildflowers contribute to seasonal bursts of colour along the track, attracting nectar-feeding fauna.
Local Fauna
The area provides habitat for numerous native birds, including the yellow-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus), crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans), king parrot (Alisterus scapularis), and white-naped honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus). Superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) and rock warbler (Origma solitaria) are sometimes encountered in the damper gullies. Eastern water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii) and blue-tongue lizards (Tiliqua scincoides) bask on rock shelves. At night, sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps) and various possum species forage in the forest canopy, while rare mammals such as the greater glider (Petauroides volans) inhabit older forest remnants.
Indigenous History
The area lies on country of the Gundungurra and Darug peoples, whose deep cultural and spiritual connections to this landscape are reflected in oral histories, archaeological sites, and traditional names. These First Nations people led sustainable lives in the valleys and plateaus, utilising water sources, plant foods, and shelter provided by the cliffs and gorges. The escarpment, watercourses, and high platforms featured in Dreaming stories and were traversed on knowledge-rich walking routes. The Gully, a significant Aboriginal place in nearby Katoomba, also reflects historical resilience and continued presence of Indigenous communities throughout shifting patterns of settlement and land use.
White History
European exploration and mapping of the Grose Valley began in the early nineteenth century, culminating in the development of Blackheath and the opening of walking routes such as the Cliff Top Track. The area’s lookouts, waterfalls, and natural grandeur have attracted scientific visitors—most famously Charles Darwin—as well as recreational bushwalkers since the late 1800s. Community action led to the preservation of the Grose Valley and the creation of Blue Mountains National Park in 1959, making it a core section of the present World Heritage landscape. Infrastructure development and public campaigns to protect features like Blue Gum Forest have shaped the present focus on conservation and nature-based tourism.
Clickable icons on this world map will open the related trip report
A detailed, searchable trip list with links to reports, photo galleries
