Carrington Park to Leura Forest return

Carrington Park

Carrington Park is a medium-sized park on a traffic island, at the junction of Cliff Road and Merriwa St, Katoomba. The park is partially fenced and has a picnic shelter, picnic tables, garbage bins and children’s play equipment.

(0km) Carrington Park → Int of Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Carrington Park Track

40 m
1 mins
0m
-9m

Easy track

From Carrington Park, the walk crosses Cliff Drive and goes down the stairs and past the sign for ‘Blue Mountains National Park’. The walk continues down the stairs until reaching an intersection signposted with the way to ‘Echo Point’ or ‘Leura Cascades’.

(0.04km) Int of Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Carrington Park Track → Int of Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Leura Forest Track

150 m
3 mins
2m
-10m

Moderate track

Turn left: From the intersection, this walk follows the ‘Leura Cascades 1km’ sign down the wooden steps and along the bush track, winding through the forest until coming to the signposted intersection of the ‘Leura Forest’ Track.

(0.18km) Int of Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Leura Forest Track → Int of Federal Pass and Jamieson Lookout Tracks

40 m
1 mins
3m
-3m

Moderate track

Turn right: From the intersection, this walk follows the ‘Leura Forest’ sign along the bush track, winding down the hill for a short while before dropping down a set of wooden steps, to the signposted intersection with the ‘Jamieson Lookout’ track.

(0.23km) Int of Federal Pass and Jamieson Lookout Tracks → Jamieson Lookout

20 m
1 mins
0m
-6m

Easy track

Turn sharp left: From the intersection, this walk follows the ‘Jamieson Lookout’ sign along the short bush track to the rock shelf at the Jamieson Lookout. At the end of this side trip, retrace your steps back to the main walk then Veer left.

Jamieson Lookout

Jamieson Lookout is a fenced lookout at the east end of the Federal Pass track, and just off Prince Henry Cliff Walk. The lookout has a bench seat and provides great views up the Jamison Valley, along Kings Tableland escarpment and past Mount Solitary. The lookout is perched up on a large rock buttress, giving views unobscured by trees.

(0.23km) Int of Federal Pass and Jamieson Lookout Tracks → Fern Bower

90 m
3 mins
0m
-36m

Hard track

Continue straight: From the intersection, this walk follows the dirt path, heading down the long set of wooden and rocky steps. The walk winds down past a picnic chair under a cliff overhang, and continues down the steps into the valley and through the forest to the Fern Bower information sign.

Fern Bower

Fern Bower is an especially pleasant part of the Blue Mountains National Park, protected from heat and providing a great environment for fern trees, bracken ferns and moss to thrive. Fern Bower is a signposted area along the Federal Pass walking track, just below Jamieson Lookout and next to Linda Creek. This is a nice place to stop, rest and enjoy the bird noises.

(0.32km) Fern Bower → Int of Federal Pass and the Amphitheatre track

320 m
13 mins
10m
-150m

Hard track

Continue straight: From the information sign, the walk follows the track down the steps, passing a ‘Rich History’ information sign before coming down to the signposted intersection with the Amphitheatre track, at the top of a metal staircase.

(0.64km) Int of Federal Pass and the Amphitheatre track → Lila falls crossing

20 m
1 mins
0m
-18m

Moderate track

Turn right: From the intersection, this walk follows the ‘Federal Pass Leura Forest’ sign down the long metal staircase, to cross the bridge over Linda Creek in front of Lila Falls.

Lila Falls

Lila Falls is a thin waterfall on Linda Creek. The Federal Pass crosses the creek (on a bridge) in front of these falls, just below the intersection with the amphitheatre. The waterfall is not the most spectacular one in this valley, but it is a nice cool spot to catch your breath.

(0.66km) Lila Falls crossing → Marguerite Cascades

180 m
11 mins
37m
-90m

Hard track

Continue straight: From the Lila Falls, this walk follows the track heading down the hill, winding down a wooden walkway keeping the creek to the left. The track hugs the rock wall and passes under a shallow overhang. The walk continues down a staircase, then turns back down into the gully where it come to the taller and slender Linda Falls. After passing Linda Falls the walk follows the wooden steps down through the gulley, crossing the creek again before heading down to the Marguerite Cascades.

Marguerite Cascades

Marguerite Cascades are a series of small cascades finishing with a taller waterfall of a few metres height, dropping into a shallow sandy pool. The cascades are on Linda Creek and a small bridge crosses the creek at the base of the falls as part of the Federal Pass walking track. The cascades are a nice place to sit and listen to the water running and the local birds in this cool shady area.

(0.84km) Marguerite Cascades → Leura Forest

320 m
11 mins
50m
-14m

Hard track

Continue straight: From the ‘Marguerite Cascades’[1], this walk follows the timber steps downhill, winding steeply for a short while until coming to an intersection with a faint track, marked with a timber ‘Federal Pass’ sign[2], just beside a foot bridge[3].
Veer right: From the intersection, this walk crosses Linda Creek just below a pleasant cascade[4] using the foot bridge with a handrail[5]. This walk then continues along the bush track that winds along the valley floor, to the signposted ‘Leura Forest’. From here, the walk continues along the wide bush track, passing a few picnic tables, and winding through the forest to an open area with a large gazebo and an information sign at the intersection of the Federal Pass and the Dardenelles tracks.

Leura Forest

Leura Forest is a great picnic area in the Jamison Valley at the junction of the Federal Pass and Dardenelles Tracks. This place was home to a popular tea house (also known as ‘Lady Carrington Dining Hall’) from the late 1800’s[6]. Today walkers can still enjoy the historic rotunda and the foundations of the original tea house[7]. The picnic area provides a great rest spot under the shade of the lilli pilli and coachwood forest.

Maps for the Carrington Park to Leura Forest return walk

You can download the PDF for this walk to print a map.
These maps below cover the walk and the wider area around the walk, they are worth carrying for safety reasons.

Six Foot Track	1:50 000 Map Series	Six Foot Track	NSW-six-foot-track
Katoomba	1:25 000 Map Series	89301S KATOOMBA	NSW-89301S
Katoomba	1:100 000 Map Series	8930 KATOOMBA	8930

Cross sectional view of the Carrington Park to Leura Forest return bushwalking track

Analysis and summary of the altitude variation on the Carrington Park to Leura Forest return

Overview of this walks grade – based on the AS 2156.1 – 2001

Under this standard, a walk is graded based on the most difficult section of the walk.

		Length	2.3 km
		Time	1 hr 30 mins
		.
Grade 4/6 Hard track	AS 2156.1	Gradient	Very steep (4/6)
		Quality of track	Rough track, where fallen trees and other obstacles are likely (4/6)
		Signs	Directional signs along the way (3/6)
		Experience Required	No experience required (1/6)
		Weather	Weather generally has little impact on safety (1/6)
		Infrastructure	Limited facilities, not all cliffs are fenced (3/6)

Some more details of this walks Grading

Here is a bit more details explaining grading looking at sections of the walk

Gradient

900m of this walk has gentle hills with occasional steps and another 200m is very steep. The remaining (65m) has short steep hills.

Quality of track

690m of this walk follows a clear and well formed track or trail and another 410m follows a rough track, where fallen trees and other obstacles are likely. Whilst another 35m follows a smooth and hardened path and the remaining 20m follows a formed track, with some branches and other obstacles.

Signs

Around 910m of this walk has directional signs at most intersection, whilst the remaining 250m is clearly signposted.

Experience Required

This whole walk, 1.2km requires no previous bushwalking experience.

weather

This whole walk, 1.2km is not usually affected by severe weather events (that would unexpectedly impact safety and navigation).

Infrastructure

Around 1km of this walk is close to useful facilities (such as fenced cliffs and seats), whilst the remaining 150m has limited facilities (such as not all cliffs fenced).

Plan your trip to and from the walk here

The Carrington Park to Leura Forest return walk starts and ends at the Carrington Park (gps: -33.720233, 150.31744)
Your transport options to Carrington Park are by;

Bus. (get details)

Car. There is free parking available.
(get details)

Fire Danger

Each park may have its own fire ban, this rating is only valid for today and is based on information from the RFS Please check the RFS Website for more information.

Weather Forest

This walk starts in the Central Tablelands weather district always check the formal BOM forecast or pdf before starting your walk.

Forecast snapshot

Carrington Park to Leura Forest return

Carrington Park

(0km) Carrington Park → Int of Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Carrington Park Track

Easy track

(0.04km) Int of Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Carrington Park Track → Int of Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Leura Forest Track

Moderate track

(0.18km) Int of Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Leura Forest Track → Int of Federal Pass and Jamieson Lookout Tracks

Moderate track

(0.23km) Int of Federal Pass and Jamieson Lookout Tracks → Jamieson Lookout

Easy track

Jamieson Lookout

(0.23km) Int of Federal Pass and Jamieson Lookout Tracks → Fern Bower

Hard track

Fern Bower

(0.32km) Fern Bower → Int of Federal Pass and the Amphitheatre track

Hard track

(0.64km) Int of Federal Pass and the Amphitheatre track → Lila falls crossing

Moderate track

Lila Falls

(0.66km) Lila Falls crossing → Marguerite Cascades

Hard track

Marguerite Cascades

(0.84km) Marguerite Cascades → Leura Forest

Hard track

Leura Forest

Maps for the Carrington Park to Leura Forest return walk

Cross sectional view of the Carrington Park to Leura Forest return bushwalking track

Analysis and summary of the altitude variation on the Carrington Park to Leura Forest return

Overview of this walks grade – based on the AS 2156.1 – 2001

Some more details of this walks Grading

Gradient

Quality of track

Signs

Experience Required

weather

Infrastructure

Similar walks

Other Nearby walks

Plan your trip to and from the walk here

Fire Danger

Weather Forest

Park Information & Alerts

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