Medlow Bath to Radiata Plateau Walk – 2 August 2017

Bob and myself decided to have a look at the shale ledge between The Three Brothers at Medlow Bath and Blacks Ladders on the Radiata Plateau. The only information we had about this walk was firstly a note marked on one of the maps in Jim Smith’s book – “How To See The Blue Mountains”. It was near the Three Brothers and had an arrow pointing east and said – “shale ledge to Radiata Plateau”. The second bit of information was something I had seen online about another bushwalker traversing the half way ledge from Medlow Bath to near Back Creek.

So, we set out from Bellevue Crescent at Medlow Bath and then along the firetrail to The Three Brothers and the Flying Fox. We turned off on The Three Brothers Track, and were soon there. Before finding our ledge, we walked out to a nice lookout nearby. This did provide us with a view of part of our ledge. From what we could see, it looked like a continuous ledge at least until close to Blacks Ladders.

We dropped  down a short way from The Three Brothers (on their left as you look at them), to the ledge. This was not far down, but it is still the “half way ledge” – its just that here the top cliffline is not very high.

We assumed there would be a fair bit of scrub on the ledge, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy and open walking. Most of the way there was a shale ledge with an overhang above. We followed a rough pad a lot of the way – perhaps a man made trail or perhaps an animal pad? But in some places we spotted human footprints – so we knew others had been this way.

Indeed, we soon came across a climbing area. Later looking online it appears to be DG’s Crag. There was also a track that went up through a gap back on to the tops.

We continued on. More easy walking and we soon arrived at the two major tributaries of Back Creek. It was a little scrubby crossing them, but still not hard. Not far past the second one, we found a nice sunny cave to have lunch in.

It would have been easy to climb out from near here via a variety of routes, and the map indicated there were some trails above on top of the cliffs. But we were keen to continue on, and see if we could get to Blacks Ladders.

Further along our ledge, we arrived at another climbing area – The Nest. All the footprints around indicted that the ledge did continue further, although perhaps not all the way.

As we continued, the ledge did become thinner, but it was still quite easy walking.

Around a point, we were stopped by a creek. We thought this was where Blacks Ladders were – but on the far side of the creek. We left the climbers track and found a way down to the creekbed, and then climbed up the other side and soon found ourselves on what looked like the Blacks Ladders track. We followed it down a short way and soon arrived at the spikes and ladder that make up Blacks Ladders.

We intended to sign the logbook there, which is in a tiny crack. We found the book OK, but there was strangely no pen, so we could not make our entry. We then walked back up the track. on the way we saw a track coming in on our left – probably the climbers track we had been on? We soon arrived at the firetrails of Radiata Plateau and after some road walking we reached the Grand Clifftop Walk – which we followed back to Medlow Bath.

This was an interesting and new walk to both of us. More photos are online on my website here.

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5 Responses to Medlow Bath to Radiata Plateau Walk – 2 August 2017

  1. Wyn Jones says:

    Gday David
    Nice route. I did that years ago as far as back ck.
    Is it a likely route fir a grand cliff top walk?
    I mean are there are difficult sections.
    Or should I steer the route along the cliff top above.
    It would be good to still get to black s ladder and continue on tge fire trail around Elphinstone Plateau. Aka sad weedy pine plateau

    • Dave Noble says:

      Yes – I think it would be quite good for a Grand Clifftop Walk”. Its not too difficult from an engineering point of view to put a track in, and most of the walking is very straightforward (on a flat ledge). Im not sure what the land status is however – some of it may be private land? There is a council map online that shows private land boundaries. But those problems would also apply to the top of the cliffs.

      • Dave Noble says:

        Just checked on that council map – seems to be all private land – looks like there is a big block right from Radiata all the way along the highway and including the cliffs – called “Karuna Sanctuary” – so same as Radiata Plateau.

  2. chriskoz says:

    Hi Dave,
    Just did this walk. Fantastic day trip. Very secluded & beautiful place.
    I think the idea of “engineering” it into a “Grand Clifftop Walk” similar to that around Katoomba is bad for 3 reasons:
    – the “engineering” would have to destroy a lot of fragile vegetation, especially around what you describe as a “thin bit” – the section near the end, between the overhang with hanging rope and “the Nest”, the ledge terminates just behind the nest. The overhang has not only rope but only plenty of bolts above the roof, unreacheable from below. Who put them, and why? They should be removed together with thw ugly rope.
    – On the approach to Back Creek, I’ve heard a peregrine falcon chick screaming loud. And soon after, a parent was flying erratically 100m from the cliff about my altitude and screeching like crazy, clearly trying to distract my. There is an acitve nest there. Furtunately, there is no climbing area nearby.
    – I’ve heard the whole ledge area (probably extending all the way to Esgate Pass) to the top ridge, is owned by the guy living in the valley. So PNWS cannot do any works there unless they buy the land. I hope it never happens. The owner is considerate to the bushwalkers, and if climbers don’t make too much noise, I hope he will continue to be. There are no unnecessary track markers, only informal path, and only good and careful bushwalkers be able to walk it. It should stay like that.

    I’ve noticed a well established camping site under a huge overhand/cave on the N side of the second (main) fork of Back Creek. The creek is very flat, and the area is only 200m or so from where the Saywell Rd 4WD track crosses the creek. I’m almost sure said 200m is walkable (I haven’t checked). If the above land and 4WD track is not publicly accessible, then the private owner has a nice buchwalking retreat at his backyard.

  3. Gavin says:

    Awesome stroll. Was nice having your website with information before we set off. Thanks, I actually use it a lot!
    We decided to go all the way around to Esgate Pass.

    Thanks again for such a wonderful site and such great knowledge.

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