Charles Darwin Walk, Wentworth Falls

Charles Darwin Walk, Wentworth Falls

This delightful, easy walk is a great way to get to one of the best views in the Blue Mountains without  having to fight for a car park.

Charles Darwin Walk, Wentworth Falls

I have my definite favourite walks in the Blue Mountains: Ruined Castle, Blue Gum Forest, National Pass and a few other absolute corkers are highlighted in my book, Top Walks in NSW.
But one of the problems with having such outstanding favourites is finding the time to explore some of the smaller tracks around the mountains - particularly the gentler walks that perhaps don't appeal to me as much. This delightful little walk, the Charles Darwin Walk at Wentworth Falls, had therefore escaped my footprints until today.
Darwin of course visited the mountains in 1836, and wandered around this area. The walk named after him follows Jamison Creek from the Great Western Highway, right down to the big plunge of Wentworth Falls. It has a wonderful series of little bridges across the bubbling creek, and passes by cascade after cascade, all through a fern-filled valley brimming with birds. Without really trying we saw honeyeaters, wattle birds, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, fairy-wrens, a host of crimson rosellas and the delightful eastern spinebill. There are little caves to explore and logs across the creek, all on a very well defined track.

Fern-filled overhang, with Jamison Creek flowing through. 

It's only 3km from Wilson Park, where there are toilets, down to Wentworth Falls, so will take an easy hour, or two hours return. You can make it even shorter by driving down the narrow Dalrymple Ave, and parking right at the end by the gate – room for one, possibly two cars.
A network of other little tracks dive off to the sides, and many of these would be fun to explore if you have the time, but we preferred getting down to the dramatic cliffs around the falls. From here you can then do the glorious National Pass loop – if you have the energy and the time – check out the stunning lookouts on the west side of the falls, or wander up to the important Aboriginal area of Kings Tableland, east of the falls. We decided to avoid the crowds heading down the stairs to the bottom of Wentworth Falls, and instead took the track up to the left, towards Rocket Point, which is accessed through a keyhole in the rock.

Keyhole leading to Rocket Point lookout

This little lookout offers a stunning but quite different view of the falls. Unfortunately, there's nowhere to sit where you can enjoy the view, but if you follow the main cliff-side track here for a bit over 5 mins more, it'll wind through shrubs and scrub up to a rock platform with an extensive view that is great for lunch and a turnaround point.
All in all it's a wonderful little wander, suitable to little legs and big.  

Log 'bridges' across the bubbling creek.

    
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