What more can be said about the world famous Blue Mountains, with it's escarpments and breathtaking scenery. Named after the blue haze created by the eucalyptus oil in the air above the mountain gum forests, it is an easy sixty minute drive west of the heart of Sydney to the foothills of the Blue Mountains.
 

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The Blue Mountains has long been renowned as one of the finest bushwalking areas of the world with the cascading waterfalls, breath-taking panoramas, rainforests, fern-filled gullies and the abundance of flora and fauna. The Blue Mountains National Park includes more than 240,000 hectares of dissected sandstone plateau, forested river valleys and deep gorges. The Park adjoins Wollemi National Park to the north and Kanangra Boyd National Park to the south west, making it one of the largest natural areas in NSW.

How did the Blue Mountains get the name?
The first inhabitants in the region were the Aborigines that included the Daruk tribe, as can be seen through the rock art and other artefacts.

In 1788, Governor Phillip named the mountains ‘Carmarthen Hills’ and ‘Landsdowne Hills’, but it wasn’t long before the distinctive blue haze surrounding the region, saw the name change to the ‘Blue Mountains’. The air above the terrain is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil from the Eucalyptus that predominates in the region. In combination with dust particles and water vapour, it scatters the predominantly blue short-wave rays of light, producing the famed blue hue of the mountains.

Climate
• Spring (September-November) • Summer (December-February) • Autumn (March-May) • Winter (June-August)

The climate in the Blue Mountains region tends to be more temperate than that in the lower Sydney region. An rough guide is for every 300 metres rise in altitude, there is about a 2ฐC drop in temperature. The lower parts of the Blue Mountains region being much warmer than that higher up.

The Blue Mountains also receives a higher rainfall than Sydney due to the air masses coming into contact with the Mountains ranges, with the upper Blue Mountains receiving more than that in the lower parts of the Blue Mountains.

The snow period also attracts many visitors, when the Blue Mountains celebrates the yearly ‘Yulefest’ festivities, with the cold winter climate making for enticing cosy log fires found in many of the establishments. Although there is generally only snow in about 5 days in a year and that is mainly in the upper mountains, it is not unusual to see a white blanket of frost covering the ground in the early hours of the morning, with sleet also being common at this time of year.

Spring in the Blue Mountains is something to experience with its blaze of colours and spectacular scenery that attract visitors and photographers from around the world. Choose from any of the 36 towns, villages and hamlets or just to marvel at the Three Sisters and the valley below.

Towns and Villages
For the purpose of geographic location the towns and villages of the Blue Mountains can be divided into three regions that tend to follow the main route across the mountains:

• Lower Blue Mountains • Lapstone • Glenbrook • Blaxland • Warrimoo • Sun Valley • Valley Heights • Winmalee • Springwood
  
• Mid Blue Mountains • Faulconbridge • Linden • Woodford • Hazelbrook • Lawson • Bullaburra
  
• Upper Blue Mountains • Wentworth Falls • Kings Tableland • Leura • Katoomba • North Katoomba • Yosemite • Medlow Bath • Blackheath • Mount Victoria

Beyond Mount Victoria, descending into inland New South Wales is Hartley and Lithgow. Other towns south of the route are Shipley and Megalong. On the north side of the main route across the mountains are Yellow Rock, Hawkesbury Heights, Kurrajong, Bilpin, Mount Tomah, Mount Wilson, Mount Irvine, Harley Vale and Clarence.

Check out some of the listed travel guide attractions and visit the local tourist centre for additional information. For Blue Mountains accommodation click here: