I absolutely love exploring the Blue Mountains! There is just so much to see and do, and I never get sick of taking trips here. It is a bit of a drive for me to get there from where I live, so I don’t get to visit as much as I would like, but I have made my fair share of trips there over the past few years. And one of my favourite walks so far is found at Wentworth Falls. This is definitely one of the more popular walks in the Blue Mountains and there is never a shortage of people, particularly towards the top of the falls, but in my opinion it is still worth a visit. And if you are willing to tackle the copious amounts of stairs to get to the very bottom of the falls, it is well worth it, in fact I would recommend completing the whole National Pass track which takes you to the bottom of Wentworth Falls, and then continues on along the bottom of the mountains for a time before coming back up via Empress Falls.
On my first visit to Wentworth Falls, I didn’t even realise that this full circuit existed, in fact, I didn’t even get to the second crossing of the falls. I ended up sitting halfway down the steps while the rest of my group continued on. I was a bit daunted by all the stairs and as we were rapidly descending, I was very aware of the fact that I would have to come back up all the steps. I tend to be very slow when going uphill and I am quite conscious of this when I am in groups, as I don’t want to slow everyone down. So I decided to tap out halfway down and enjoy the views from where I was while they continued down. I am glad that I made this choice, as I even struggled to keep up on the climb back up to the carpark. But I did see the photos from those who went to that next crossing and saw what I missed out on.
It wasn’t until almost a year later that I tackled this walk again, this time I was out for a day trip with my mum, who was visiting at the time. We weren’t exactly sure what we were going to do that day, we just started driving to the Blue Mountains and eventually ended up at Wentworth Falls. I remembered our visit the year before and we decided it would be fun to try and get to the river crossing that my friends had gotten to previously. At this point I still didn’t realise that there were actually multiple levels to the waterfall and that the track was a circuit. Once we made it to the first level we stopped for a break but then decided to go a bit further before turning around and heading back. And I am so glad that we did. We ended up going all the way to the bottom of the falls which, was so incredibly beautiful. To get there we had to go down numerous ladders and flights of steep stairs, so I knew that it was going to be a challenge to get back up again, but I was comfortable with my mum and knew she wouldn’t mind taking our time. We were both excited to keep exploring and see where the path lead.
Once we made it to the bottom of the falls, we eventually committed and decided to do the full circuit. It was deceptively easy along the flat until we started going uphill again, and that’s when I started to feel it. But we pushed on and took our time and made it to the top, where Conservation Hut is. It is then a fairly short, flat walk, to get back to the car.
I’ve done the whole walk a few times now and I really enjoyed it both times, and I can’t wait until I am able to do it again, even just writing about it has brought back the fond memories.
This walk is a bit of a trickier hike than others, with lots of steep steps, ladders and climbing, but in my opinion, it is totally worth it. It is a lot more removed from the public once you make it down to the bottom of the falls, and while we encountered numerous other groups doing the hike, it was a lot less packed and felt like we had the trail to ourselves most of the time.
The Barefoot Adventurer 