Hiking fron the Conservation Hut and Carramar

Our pro tips are:
Plan the day before, get your backpack ready. If you set out early, you beat the crowds and the weather, and can do more ambitious hikes. If you decide over breakfast, you are likely to only be on the tracks by 11.

Light rain is lovely. You will have the pkace to yuorself. The Blue Mountains can be very mystial and atmospheric and it is wonderful to watch the weather change
download hiking apps like maps.me mad map guru. They are was better than google maps, and have real updates from hikers. 

Be sure to check in on local council guides - with the unusual weather tracks are getting more attention for upgrades and may be closed from time to time
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/blue-mountains-national-park/local-alerts?
         

The escarpment that Carramar sits on top of has tracks on each tier of the cliff face, right down to the Valley Floor. You can start the hikes from the end of Murphys lane, or Conservation Hut a few doors down the road. The very bottom of the valley floor has the Valley of the Waters track. National Pass is level the next up the cliff, the Overcliff track is on the very lip of the escarpment, and the shortcut track is for when you are walking with people who are not used to hiking (or indeed walking past the fridge) - but shortcut tracks views are far less spectacular than the others. 

Empress Falls 

The Empress falls hiking trail can be accessed from the Conservation Hut a the end of Fletchers road (about 100merters fron Carramar) , or the trail which starts at the end of Murphys lane if you want to do a walk with more lookouts first. 

For a gentler day, follow the 'nature walk' signed just before you dive down into the last flight of stair, there you will find gorgeous secret upper waterfall with a table and bench and rockpools for a picnic. We take our toddler there. 

For the more adventurous, go canyoning in Empress Canyon

Wentworth Falls 

The spectacular Wentworth falls are a national treasure and draw visitors from around the world. 

You can walk out of the door at Carramar, and straight onto a hiking trail. Go down Murhpys lane, then you can either go the shortcut track (top level, 350m to picnic area), or down the path for a longer hike talking on spectacular lookouts along the way. 

The falls can get busy, so its best to plan the night before and leave as soon as you are ready. another tip from seasoned hikers is if there is a smattering of rain in the morning, the tracks are empty, and those days are the best time to walk if you don't feel like seeing another human being

Undercliff track
This is one level above the originl National pass and is spectacular
For a short walk (about 4 hours) go all the way down Murphys lane to breakfast point, turn left towards Wentworth falls
For a longer hike, (about 6 hours) do the loop from conservation hut-> Lyre bird lookout > breafast point lookout-> underdliff track to Wentworth (short detour down Den Fenella) -> wentworth falls - > back to Carramar. If you want to finish up with a coffeee, you could start with wentworth falls and end up at conservation hut

Den Fenella walking track 

This is a gorgeous little track leading off the main track to wentworth falls, off the undercliff track. well worth the detour if you don't mind a few steps. You will be rewarded with deep green forest, and a sublime lookout at the end 

National Pass

One of the most spectacular hikes in all of the Southern hemisphere, the National Pass is closed for repairs. but there are tracks above and below it

Valley walk
for a full day hike you can traverse the valley between wetnworth falls and empress falls. This is a rouch track, not clearly marked, and can have landslides, so I would only do this if you are an exprienced hiker and let someone know where you are

Grand Clifftop walk
One of the best hikes it he world. Recently opened after a major multi million dollar project
You can start this from Carramar. Its about 16km fron Carramar, 17 km from wentworth falls car park, 19km if you start at Darwins walk.
It is meant to be a 2 day hike, but and can be done in  day if you are used to walking
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-management/community-engagement/walking-tracks-and-trails-in-national-parks/grand-cliff-top-walk
here is a video if you are more visual
A parks department video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgMH2xhaRkA
a solo female hiker doing the walk (not me!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkUGotu3IzI
a 7 news story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHfi_fGzMA8

Pro tips for hiking - continued: 

Decide the day before, and pack your kit ready to go, when you get up in the morning, leap out of the door before you have time to procrastinate. That way you get far more route options and make a whole day of it, than if you dawdle over breakfast and waste hours reassuring others you will be back soon. 

Best days ever are when there is a smattering of rain before 9. seems everybody decides not to go out on those days, and when the sun makes it glorious hello from behind the the clouds, you are alone with the universe to greet it 

As a solo female hiker I usually give someone a screenshot of my intended route, and check in 2-3X a day. 

When I restarted hiking I stopped a glorious athlete (a well- muscled trail-runner) and asked her how she knew where to go. She suggested the apps 'maps.me' and Guru Maps. google maps is not good for hiking. maps me has never let me down, and has taken me down many glorious unknown but still good tracks. Download the apps 'maps.me' or 'Guru 

maps' - far more granular and accurate for hiking  trails than google 

 Katoomba Falls Reserve 

102B Cliff Drive 

The Blue Mountains council has recently added a 

night time walk so you can see this lit up after dark 

Some lesser known walks the locals love: 

Old Ford Reserve 

1363 Megalong Road 

for a gorgeous little river with sandy banks to frolic on - our toddler loved this spot and did not want to leave. Open fires allowed if you want to BBQ 

    Coachwood Glen Nature Trail 

You can almost see the fairies peeping out from behind rocks . A magical secret glen with its own rainforest - just off the road as you plunge down into the Megalong valley

    South Lawson Waterfall 

Circular Walking Track 

“5 waterfalls walk”

A magical walk, great with kids, sandy beaches alongside babbling brooks - idyllic. . This track is an easy-medium grade , 3km loop that takes around 1.5 – 2 hours. 

Windyridge Garden 

25 Queens Avenue Mount Wilson 

there are many gardens to visit in the Blue Mountains, and in October many private gardens are open to the public for a garden festival. To get your fix year round, Mount Wilson is quite special. It is mostly inhabited by people who are that obsessed with gardening they move there to build a garden. Why? It has a microclimate with decent rainfall, and a pocket of deep volcanic soil. Most of Australia has relatively barren soil, with no recent volcanic activity and very little tectonic movement. Mount Wilson has fertile Volcanic soil and decent rainfall. Windy Ridge is one of our favorites, but there are many private gardens there open regularly throughout the year. take your own picnic lunch - you wont even find a corner store 

Govetts Leap lookout 

another Fantastic lookout to get a great view of the canyon on the other side of the blue Mountains - and not overrun with tourists. you can look from your car if you are very laconic or dont feel like walking, or you can take a massive hike down the valley - up to you 

     Jamison Valley 

For one of the most spectacular views you will ever see of the Jamison valley, go from Carramar straight down Murphys lane (next to Carramar on one side) and just keep walking straight down the track for about ten minutes until you reach the lookout. Then you can go left for Wentworth falls (and more lookouts on the way) or right for Empress Falls (and more lookouts on the way)