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Anyone Have Recommendations For The Blue Mountains? (AUS)
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Heyo! A friend and I are considering a big trip from the states to the blue mountains in December or January. Does anyone have any recommendations for camping or must hit crags? I have been looking around on The Crag website and the sheer number of areas is a bit overwhelming it is hard to parse through it all. Any info would be helpful, thanks! |
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I can't provide any first hand beta for the blueys, but will note that the UKC destination guides are often a great resource: https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/welcome_to_the_blue_mountains-8989 |
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I only spent 3 days there, but I can confirm that Mt. Piddington has an excellent selection of trad classics--some requiring the classic Aussie 'carrot bolts'. Upper Shipley and adjacent crags has a great spread of modern-style sport routes from very easy to desperate. Both areas are very easily reached from the local towns. |
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Local here (Sydney/Blackheath) It will be hot! You'll generally be want to plan to climb mornings and siesta in the afternoons. Please pay attention to fire danger ratings too! Camping - a car is really a must - Mt York is generally the dirtbag hub, with the most climbers to meet, common camp fires etc, and easy walking to a great variety of decent climbing from high end sport, moderate sport, 80s old school bolted routes and some trad cracks. Alternative campsites - Cathedral of Ferns Mt Wilson is the canyoneer's campsite, arguably the nicest, but a bit of a drive to climbing. It's OK for Pierces Pass/Bell. Blackheath Glen/Megalong campsite is nice but also a steep windy drive back to town. With accomodation - if you are staying in a hostel in Katoomba (Flying Fox and No. 14 hostels were good, tho i cant comment post-pandemic) or AirBnB/hotel in a main town - you can actually get away without a car - train all the way from the airport, and catch the train between Katoomba, Blackheath, Mt Vic etc. Crowds can be a bit frustrating on weekends and holiday periods, but midweek should be fine, maybe even a bit lonely. Crags recommended - Mezzaluna area, Bardens Lookout area (crowded) at Mt York. Jimmy Cliff, Celebrity Crag at Blackheath (also Heath Cliff sector a good intro to longer routes) Piddington the classic trad crag, tho best before midday before the sun hits. Rest day - Dam Cliffs for swimming + Dargans Creek slot canyon downstream. Blackheath Grand Canyon slot canyon. (Google OzUltimate canyoneering tracknotes). Grand Cliff Top tourist walk sections are all nice hikes. Any Grose Valley hike is excellent (Hat Hill, Bald Head, Hanging Rock, Mt Banks, Walls Lookdown) |
JCM wrote: This is pretty good and I'm broadly in agreement. Special note for mentioning the legendary Katoomba kebab shop - though the guy only opens weekdays because he hates tourists! Alas, the Imperial Hotel at Mt Vic is now closed and derelict. Instead, the new Mountain Culture Brewery in Katoomba is the current fashionable venue. My food recommendation is Altitude Deli at Blackheath, their pre-made sandwiches are a great takeaway option if you didn't get time to pack lunch. |
Sam M wrote: Thank you so much for all the details, this is really a huge help! You are awesome :) |
Sam Ehmann wrote: No worries, hope it works out. The Facebook group "Rock climbing in the Blue Mountains, Australia" is also good place to ask stuff and find partners. Though if it's a very lazy question Simon Carter himself will often reply "you could, idk, BUY THE GUIDEBOOK" which is always funny. |
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Piggybacking on this - how would one fare climbing in the Blue Mountains in August-September? I generally prefer colder temps and can tolerate climbing in the shade in mid-40's F. If one were to have a van and be able to travel around, what would be the spots to hit during this time frame? Mostly sport, but bouldering is good too. Grampians, Arapiles...? |
Pandy Fackler wrote: August september is a great time if you dont like the heat, a bit more daylight, but not yet too hot. It can be a bit two faced though, you can get locked in to a cold damp windy winter pattern for a few days, then a warm summery period.
You could go almost anywhere in NSW & Vic really, follow the weather. Don't forget Nowra. It's about 650 miles and 10-12 hours of driving between the Blue Mountains and Dyurrite/Arapiles (Grampians and Araps are basically the same destination, you can see one range from the other). Not too bad if you're on holiday, but you wouldnt want to plan on doing it multiple times in one trip. |
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Would Arapiles/Grampians be better for colder weather in August and then head to Blue Mountains for September? Nowra is a good cold weather spot as well, yes? |
Pandy Fackler wrote: Nowra is "the" cold weather midwinter spot, if its totally miserable everywhere else, Nowra will finally have good conditions. It's "too hot" 3 seasons of the year, though that's mostly the vibe for sending the hardest sloper dependent sport climbs, you can of course climb year round. I'd probably go August in the Blueys, September at Arapiles, just cos Araps is supposed to be wettest in winter and it will be more social down there closer to peak season (BMs are practically in the suburbs of Sydney, while Araps is halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide and is much more isolated) They're pretty similar (BMs higher elevation, Araps higher lattitude) But seriously if you plan on having a car I'd just pick each week or 2 based on the weather fforecast.It could be miserable or dreamy depending on the day. |
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Haha the GravityLab folks were just here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EhbfxyYt1Rg Looks like a nice day out! Bit ironic to visit Echo Point tourist lookout "The Three Sisters are OVERRATED, we're ditching this tourist trap to get on some COOL rigs on a SERIOUS cliff" and the next shot is the most popular, crowded, outdoor gym crag in the state ahaha. We used to call Shipley/Centennial Glen/Porters Pass the "Bro-muda Triangle" because if you picked up a few sport projects while passing through, you would never escape, and get stuck going to that same trail head and same 3 crags every weekend. |
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Sam E, did you end up going? How was it? Sam M, my son & I are heading over in May, we've rented a camper van, currently building our trip. We've already connected w the blue mountains fb group. Would you mind if I message you to get more details? |
Jeremy L wrote: Sure. I'm in Katoomba right now lol. Good time for it money wise as the greenback is buying a lot of dollary-doos right now! If you have more general questions I can answer on MP in this thread so it's searchable for others - though of course if you wanted to talk private details etc, go ahead and PM. |
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Oh for sure. I was just wondering about our dates. We're arriving late May, leaving early June. Will give us roughly 20+ days to climb & rest. We were thinking of splitting our time between blueys & nowra, maybe point perpendicular. Should that be a 50/50 split or should we spend more time at the blueys? Ultimately, we'll be following the weather. Another question was campsites. Is the flying fox a climber-centric area or would YHA be better? As I said, we'd be in a camper van but my son will probably appreciate some down time on rest days. 4 walls & a proper bed will probably be a good break from van life. Lastly, what's the name of the delicious doner joint? |
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Or do you have better suggestions for room/hostel areas? My plan was to camp in the RV around the Mt York area while climbing then head over to the hostel during rest days to shower & take advantage of the wifi. |
Jeremy L wrote: Accomodation You can also rent a cabin for yourself at Blackheath Caravan Park. When my friends travel from out of area, that's actually their favourite option. Not sure on pricing. Blackheath is closer to climbing...but...it can be a little quiet at night, and as a local you run out of restaurants quickly. Though for a few days, you'll have things to do. Katoomba is a regional center, it has multiple chain supermarkets etc, a full high street, at least 2 outdoor equipment stores, and so on. Flying Fox and the YHA are close to everything. In the end, Blackheath is only 10min from Katoomba and Mt Vic is only 10min from Blackheath so they're actually all very close and you can't go wrong. There's AirBnBs and traditional BnBs everywhere too. Camping The camping is a bit limited unfortunately, there was a bit of a crackdown during Covid. You have Mt York - the hub. practically on top of the cliffs. Can be crowded, and hard to get a sport. In May, shouldnt be too bad though. Blackheath glen - lovely spot. Down a windy mountain road, so it feels a long way from the crags, but it's not really that far and actually pretty close to the Shipley/Centennial Glen carpark which is the most popular sport crag. Also it's close to a filming location for Mad Max 3. |
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Nowra Camping Paid camping at Nowra Ski park. You can rent a canoe and paddle across the river to climb at Thompsons Point. This sounds amazing but its a bit of a pain in arse. Free camping at Berry Showground. Its a bit of a commute (15-20min) but on the plus side, Berry is a really really nice town. You can also check out "Hip Camp" which is a website and app for cheap camping. Point Perp Point Perpendicular has a really unusual access situation in that its a military base. There's a checkpoint to get in, and you might be lucky to see a warship sail past. It's only open on weekends, if you didnt know that. Honeymoon Bay is a really really nice campsite on the beach. You have to book (May is off season so shouldn't be hard). You can stay "outside the gate" in the town of Currarong. In general the white sand beaches around Jarvis Bay are spectacular. Some of the best in the country and world class. If you don't make it to Honeymoon Bay, stop past any of the towns on Jervis Bay, all the beaches are good. |
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Following up on Sam's comment on Nowra camping. We stayed at the campsite across from Thompson!s Point, did the canoe rental thing, and agree that it is a PITA, but works. As far as I am aware, Thompson's is the cliff at Nowra with the largest number of routes, especially in the easier and moderate grades and many of good quality. I know that there is an overland approach, though requires a bit of a complicated drive to get there. If you do use the canoe option, don't forget ( as we did) that what you are canoeing across is a tidal estuary. We discovered to our chagrin that what was a nice low-angle slab to dock at one afternoon, was very different at high tide the following morning. This led to a tipped canoe and unplanned swim in the Shoalhaven --and the next few hours attempting to dry ourselves and our gear---not a recommended way to spend your day!!!! |
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Sam, thanks for the camping beta. Really appreciate it. What's the name of the kebab shop though? Alan, thanks for that as well. I saw Thompson's Point had the highest concentration of routes but didn't realize the canoe access issue. I can already see myself forgetting about the tides during a climbing day. Hopefully it was funny after the fact. |
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Oh it's really not hard to drive to the top of Thompsons Point! The carpark is on Google Maps as "Thompsons Point Climbing" It's a 20min drive to go around via the road bridge. https://maps.app.goo.gl/r8iid1WCv9QWAJQQ9?g_st=ac |
