Little Switzerland and Wentworth Pass – 10 October 2017

I was heading up the Mountains with Bob for a day trip. We had discussed a few possible walks, and had decided on a walk at Blackheath, but when we stopped for coffee at Lawson, the weather was not the best – misty with some drizzle, so we though that a walk with some shelter – e.g. caves, may be a better option.

So we decided to visit Wentworth Falls and do a circuit around Wentworth Pass and then back via the clifftop tracks. To make it a little different, we started from Little Switzerland, which is at the end of Hordern St, Kings Tableland.

We parked at a barrier and then set off along a fire road for a short distance before heading down a track towards the cliffs. The mist if anything, made the views more impressive. Once the track reaches the cliffline, it skirts around the tops to reach Rocket Point which lies just above Wentworth Falls. As we proceeded, the mist gradually cleared.

Descending from Rocket Point, we soon reached the National Pass Track which we followed down the upper fall of Wentworth Falls and then to the turnoff to Slack Stairs.

We carefully climbed down the wet and slippery ladders and soon reached the base of the lower of the Wentworth Falls. We then followed the Wentworth Pass Track towards the Valley of the Waters.

This didn’t take long to reach, and we climbed up past all the waterfalls. I paused for a few photos of Lodore Falls – one of the waterfalls I had missed photographic on recent trips. It was a bit tricky to reach the base of these falls. I scrambled to a ledge below an upper fall. Below lie Flat Rock Falls. But is the small waterfall below my ledge the lower part of Lodore Falls or an upper part of Flat Rock Falls?

Lodore Falls

We then continued up the Valley of the Waters to reach the track to the Conservation Hut. We then turned off on a track that took us to the Undercliff Track which we followed to the Overcliff Track and then back to the top of Wentworth Falls.

At Rocket Point, we walked back via a different track for a while, until it turned into a fire trail, so we turned off and followed the original track back to Little Switzerland.

Once back at Bob’s car, we drove the short distance to Lincolns Rock for views. The views are nice but there were too many tourists and too much graffiti and rubbish for the area to be appealing. Also, I wonder if it has been due to the  very dry conditions we have been experiencing lately – but there seemed to be a lot of toilet paper in close proximity to the main tourist sites like the top of Wentworth Falls. Disturbing to see! Perhaps this, sadly, is an everyday occurrence, but rendered more visible by the lack of rain that would wash it away?

More photos from this walk are online here on my website.

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