Detour #355: Rolling Through The Blue Mountains, Australia

Photo Shutterstock

For stunning sandstone canyons draped in eucalyptus forest and a leisurely meander through heritage towns, few drives can match Australia’s Blue Mountains.

An hour’s drive west of Sydney, the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains form part of Australia's Great Dividing Range, where sandstone plateaus are dissected by vast valleys cloaked in gum trees. The eucalypts release aromatic oils into the air, creating the distinctive blue haze that gives the region its name.

I begin my 100-mile tour in Richmond, originally home to the Darug people and settled by Europeans in 1794. The route heads southwards across the western Sydney fringe before joining the M4 near Emu Plains. Crossing the mighty Nepean River, its broad, languid waters marking the edge of the city, the motorway becomes the Great Western Highway, and the Blue Mountains rise ahead as a dark, heavily wooded escarpment.

The highway climbs steadily through a series of gentle curves. This is nothing like blasting along a European motorway; the pace is relaxed with steady traffic, smooth asphalt, courteous driving and speed limits between 60 and 90km/h. Eucalypts, rainforest vegetation and flashes of seasonal deciduous colour crowd the verge as the road threads past historic mountain towns, affording occasional glimpses east across Sydney's rolling plains and west into a sweep of green-clad folds. Bushfire warning signs are a constant reminder of the landscape's volatile nature, while sulphur-crested cockatoos swoop to gather noisily by the roadside.

Katoomba

A brief detour leads to Wentworth Falls, where the waterway plunges over successive sandstone ledges into the immense Jamison Valley. A few miles farther west, Leura’s colourful shopfronts sit beneath awnings typical of Australian country towns. Then comes Katoomba, home to the Three Sisters, although today only two rocky pinnacles emerge clearly through the mist.

The Megalong Valley

A little further, the outdoor terrace of the historic Hydro Majestic is hard to beat for a flat white and an unfolding panorama across the Megalong Valley, where layer upon layer of forested ridges fade into a soft blue with distance.

At just over 1,000 metres, Blackheath and Mount Victoria are among the Mountains’ highest towns. Beyond, a structural failure has closed the route west towards Lithgow. The Darling Causeway is the main alternative, and with a woodland canopy spilling away on either side from its winding, undulating ridgeline, it hardly feels like a diversion.

At Bell I reach the quieter alternative to the Great Western Highway: the Bells Line of Road. Named after the man who in 1823 enlisted the help of two Aboriginal guides to find a route across the Mountains, it follows a corridor that had long been known to Indigenous people. The road’s remoteness hints at the difficulties encountered during its construction, and why it fell into disrepair not long afterwards, before being revived during WWII.

S-bends, dense vegetation and steep gradients surround Mount Tomah, where signs warn against stopping due to rockfalls. The mist that lingered in the southern valleys now spills across the rain-slicked tarmac, and the constant twists and turns are almost dizzying.

Apple pie and coffee in Bilpin

At Bilpin, I’m in the heart of apple-growing country; orchards replace forest, while cafés and cider houses advertise homemade pies and local produce. The landscape opens once more, particularly from Bellbird Lookout, where Sydney's plains again stretch toward the horizon.

The final highlight arrives at Bellbird Hill near Kurrajong Heights. With gradients of up to 1:8 and a series of tight bends, it’s one of the most satisfying sections on the entire circuit. Before long, suburbia reappears and I'm back in Richmond, having completed a loop that captures the Blue Mountains at their finest: engaging roads, characterful towns and a landscape that seems to stretch without end.

Words & Photography Indi Bains

---

ROADBOOK

CLASS: Mountain High

NAME: Blue Mountains Grand Circular Drive

ROUTE: Sydnet to Sydney

COUNTRY: Australia

Distance: 100 Miles

---