I went for a nice walk yesterday to Wentworth Falls and the Valley of the Waters. I took a camera.
I caught a train to the town of Wentworth Falls and then after crossing the highway, set off down the Charles Darwin Walk to Wentworth Falls. This is a nice track and gets you off road and into the bush very quickly.
I was disturbed to read some notices put up by the council about a recent pollution incident in the creek. This track is a quick way to the Wentworth Falls, but I took my time, finding many photographic opportunities. There are lots of beautiful small cascades – and to take good photographs is time consuming.
The cascades increase in size as you get closer to the Wentworth Falls.
At the main falls you then join up with the National Pass Track. It crosses above the top falls and then descends to the Half Way Ledge via a series of ledges and steep ladders and stairways. It is a very spectacular tourist walk.
Below the top fall of Wentworth Falls, the track crosses the creek and then follows the Half Way Ledge to the Valley of the Waters. I followed the track for a while and then descended Slack Stairs to drive at the base of the lower of the Wentworth Falls.
From here I followed a track down to Hippocrene Falls. I was not aware that the track continued on to Vera falls and then up to the Valley of the Waters. Instead I retraced my steps back to the base of the lower waterfall and then continued on the Wentworth Pass Track to reach the Valley of the Waters.
More photography stops in the Valley of the Waters. There are many delightful waterfalls and cascades. It is one place that has been very appropriately named.
The track then climbs and meets the National Pass Track and continues past Empress Falls to some lookouts below the Conservation Hut. From here, I walked along the Undercliff Track back to Wentworth Falls. The track passes many nice lookouts and ferny dells. One place in particular is worth a visit – and that is the side trip down Den Fenella. This is a not yet finished canyon. The track to it climbs down into a deep slot and ends with a marvellous lookout. This feature and others nearby are well described in an old book – Sydneyside Scenery by geographer Griffith Taylor. This book is well worth seeking out if you can find it.
I continued on the Undercliff Walk back to the top of Wentworth Falls and then went back to the station via the Charles Darwin Track again.
More photos can be found on my website here. Photos from a trip in 2010 can be viewed here. This page has photos of a trip down Empress Canyon and then a walk along National Pass.
National Pass is the walk I always recommend to anyone doing just a day walk in the Blue Mountains. A good extension is the Nature Track.
Once down the Slack Stairs, is there another way up and out from Wentworth Falls. I gather there is from reading your article. I am writing a fictional story. Girl from Oz goes to the land of Oz – from Kansas to Australia to find her true love – a comedy. Thanks! P.S. I visited the Blue Mountains in 2005 but never made it to Wentworth Falls. I could kick myself now!
Yes – once you go down Slack Stairs, the track continues to the base of the lower of the two big waterfalls that make up Wentworth Falls, then heads west and crosses the creek flowing out of Valley of the Waters, and then joins the National Pass Track (which continues on the Half Way Ledge past Slack Stairs – and from there you can continue up the Valley of the Waters to the Conservation Hut (and then roads to Wentworth Falls village). Have a look at some online maps.