Echo Point to Leura Cascades Loop - Blue Mountains National Park - NSW
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Since we did a beautiful coastal walk last time, this weekend we headed back to our favourite Blue Mountains National park. Our hike, Echo Point to Leura Cascades was a 7.4 Km hard track involving many steep climbs and descents. However, our hard work was well rewarded by many scenic lookouts with sweeping views of hazy blue Jamison Valley, the beautiful lush green rainforest, creeks with crystal clear water and many picturesque waterfalls.
We started at Echo Point and followed the Three Sisters walking track, Dardanelles Pass and Federal Pass to Leura Cascades and hiked back to the Echo Point via the Prince Henry Cliff Walk.
Below is the path we followed.
The Echo Point is the most popular lookout in the Blue Mountains, visited by millions of tourists every year. This lookout provides magnificent views of the Three Sisters, the world-famous sandstone peaks, which according to Aboriginal legend represent three sisters who were turned in to stone.
Start of the walk from Echo Point Lookout
We followed the Three Sisters Walk signage from the side of the visitor information centre. The concrete path led through a stone archway and soon came to an intersection with the Prince Henry Cliff Walk track. We continued straight and followed the Three Sisters, Giant Stairway sign.
Stone Archway near the Visitor Center
Just after the intersection with Prince Henry Cliff Walk, the Oreades Lookout to the right provided a much closer view of the Three Sisters.
Views of Three Sisters from Oreades Lookout
A bit further on, another stone archway led to the top of the Giant Stairway and 80m steep descent took us to the Honeymoon Bridge which is connected to the first sister.
Giant Stairway to Honeymoon Bridge
I have been to Echo Point lookout many times and have enjoyed the views of the Three Sisters from there. For the first time, I viewed the Echo Point from the Three Sisters.
Honeymoon Bridge and Views of the Echo Point
From the side of the Honeymoon Bridge, there is a track that winds downhill which is not signposted. So unsure of whether this leads to the Dardanelles Pass that we were supposed to take, we climbed up the steep Giant Stairs, only to find the signage at the top pointing to the track below. Signage clearly said about 900 steep steps would get us to the Dardanelles Pass. It is just that we added 80m up and down steep steps extra to the challenge.
The Giant Stairway continues from the side of the Honeymoon Bridge to the bottom of the Three Sisters. The steep climb down the 998 step Giant Stairway was a good workout and my legs felt like jelly by the end of the descent.
Giant Stairway - from Honeymoon Bridge to the Bottom of the Three Sisters
From the bottom of the stairs, we turned left to follow the Dardenelles Pass towards Leura Forest.
After the demanding climb down the stairs, we enjoyed the relatively easy walk on Dardanelles Pass to Leura Forest Picnic area through the beautiful, shady and moist Leura Forest with many moss-laden rock boulders which led to the magical Leura Forest Picnic area.
Leura Forest
Leura Forest Picnic Area
Leura Forest Picnic area looked like a setting straight out of a storybook and provided a magical setting for us to enjoy a cuppa and recharge.
Just after the Picnic area, track merges with the Federal Pass and we followed the signage towards Leura Cascades (opposite direction on Federal Pass goes towards Scenic World).
We walked crossing the wooden bridge over the Banksia streamlet, a small creek with crystal clear water and continued to the base of the Fern Bower track,
Start of the Fern Bower track and the Mini Waterfall at the Base
Fern Bower track is a steep climb up and was a reminder that all those steps we descended on Giant Stairway have to be climbed back up.
Fern Bower track
About five minutes walk on the track brought us to another wooden bridge and the gorgeous little Marguerite Cascades.
The Marguerite Cascades
Less than 10 minutes walk from Marguerite Cascades presented us with Linda Falls.
Linda Falls
After a short walk, we climbed a narrow bridge with a warning sign for one person to use the bridge at a time. To the left of the bridge is the small trickling Lila falls.
Lila Falls
The track kept climbing up and trickling sound of the water could constantly be heard in the background.
Linda Creek - Fern Bower track
We were supposed to follow the Amphitheatre track towards Leura Cascades. However, as the track was closed due to damage from landslides, we continued on the Federal Pass towards Prince Henry Cliff Walk.
In the shelter of tall trees, fern thrives in the forest floor earning the tracks its name, Fern Bower track.
Fern Bower
Federal Pass - More Steps
The demanding uphill climb forced us to take a few stops to catch our breath. About 30 minutes walk from the intersection with Amphitheatre track took us to the Jamieson Lookout that provided uninterrupted views of the Jamison Valley,
Jamieson Lookout
After a short stroll from the Jamieson lookout, we came to the intersection with the Prince Henry Cliff Walk and followed the signage towards Leura Cascades. After walking for about 20 minutes we came to an intersection with Round Walk track. The track towards Leura Cascades, which would have led us to the Majestic Lookout was closed and someone has marked the alternate route to cascades through the Round Walk track.
Another 10 minutes took us to the upper viewing platform of the Bridal Veil Falls with spectacular views of the waterfall.
Bridal Veil Falls
Just a few meters after the Bridal Veil Fall, there was a bridge and the main track continued uphill. There was another bridge towards the creek which came to an abrupt end and out of curiosity, I wanted to check it out. I saw a glimpse of a cascade and before I knew it I was standing in front of the magnificent Leura Cascades.
Leura Cascades
We started tracing our steps back to join the Prince Hemry Cliff walk. It took us around 30 minutes to get to the intersection with Fern Bower track and Prince Hemry Cliff walk.
We followed Prince Henry Cliff walk towards Echo Point through the beautiful rainforest with
lush fern undergrowth. This section also provides magnificent views from a few lookouts like Banksia Lookout, Honeymoon Point Lookout, Honeymoon Lookout and Lady Carrington Lookout.
Prince Henry Cliff Walk
We had been walking for more than five hours and by the time we reached the Echo Point, We were exhausted and felt the effects of climbing all those steps up and down. We thoroughly enjoyed this walk and recommend it to anyone who would like to be close to nature and up for a challenge.
Below is a video that captures the highlights of the hike.
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