I was heading up the Blue Mountains with Bob. We had cancelled plans to visit a canyon due to a lot of recent rain and instead decided to visit some waterfalls. We first went to Minnehaha Falls north of Katoomba, then went to Reids Plateau on the other side of Katoomba and visited the nearby Katoomba Cascades and the Witches Leap. Then mist cleared to give us views of Katoomba Falls from Reids Plateau. Next was a visit to the cliffs of Leura, and a stop at Gordon Falls Lookout and the Pool of Siloam. Our last stop was at Wentworth Falls. We had rain on and off all day – but nothing really heavy.
Minnehaha Falls
Minnehaha Falls at North Katoomba were impressive in high flow. Its a short walk down to the falls from the carpark.
The track down to the falls was a little underwater.
The creek nearby had a good flow too.
On the way, you get a good view of the falls.
Then the track descends some metal stairs and you pass through a cave to reach the base of the falls.
On the way back to the carpark, I photographed some of the cascades.
We then went to the other side of Katoomba. We parked at Katoomba Falls Kiosk and visited Reids Plateau. It was quite misty to we descended to the base of Witches Leap.
We then climbed back up and walked around the other side to Katoomba Cascades, which are above Katoomba Falls.
We then headed back to Reids Plateau to have lunch in a dry “cave”.
Here is orphan Rock just appearing in the mist –
And there is a lookout where you can see the top of Witches Leap.
The cave has a few Aboriginal hand stencils –
The mist cleared enough to see Katoomba Falls.
We next headed to Olympian Parade at Leura and went down to the track, intending to visit a lookout to see Bridal Veil Falls – the upper waterfall of Leura Falls, but most of the track were closed due to track work.
Not far away was the lookout for Gordon Falls.
Gordon Falls is a an impressive set of waterfalls.
Across from the falls we could see some interesting caves.
And a bit to the east is Lindeman Falls. This only flows after rain.
We then walked down to the beautiful Pool of Siloam.
Our last stop was at Wentworth Falls. A lot of the tracks there are closed due to track work – and this includes the ones with the best view of the falls.
Here is the view from Fletchers Lookout –
Here is the view from the top of the falls –
Rocket Point Falls were flowing nicely.
We walked down to the Grand Balcony. This provides a view of the top waterfall of Wentworth Falls, but it was a bit misty.
Back up to the top, we looked at the Queens Cascades –
And just upstream, Weeping Rock Falls –
We then visited a few lookout to try and get a better view of Wentworth Falls. We walked down to Princes Rock Lookout and it provided a reasonable view. But better views can be obtained from the closed tracks.
A wet day – but a good day out. During or just after rain is the best time to see these waterfalls. Many thanks to Bob for driving, and for his patience while I was photographing the falls.