MT WILSON ESCAPE - stunning bushwalks, epic views, spring blooms, easy camping

Join us for a fab weekend at the iconic Mount Wilson village in the Blue Mountains, to enjoy beautiful bush walks amongst stunning forests and epic mountain trails, explore the local heritage gardens with the spring explosion of flowers, have a relaxing night of super easy car camping and dinner under the stars, and experience a true escape in arguably the most beautiful location in the whole Sydney region.

You can

• come for only the Saturday daytime walk activities, and/or
• stay the night at the campground with us, and/or
• come for only the Sunday daytime walk activities

... just RSVP on this page and turn up for the parts that suit you.

We'll be based for the weekend at Cathedral Reserve, an idyllic and peaceful camping area on the edge of Mt Wilson village, with no fees or bookings required, and right next to all the forest trails, gardens, and lookouts that we want to enjoy.

You can bring your tent and camping setup, or use your car to sleep in (if it is roomy enough with the back seats folded down, all you need is a mat and bedding).

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THE PLAN

Arriving in Mt Wilson and setting up camp

• Our base for the weekend is Cathedral Reserve, on Mt Irving Rd in Mt Wilson village.
• For saturday activities, arrive by 9.30am saturday.
• If you are coming for sunday only, arrive by 9.30am sunday
• If you are staying the night, set up your camp on the beautiful lawn as soon as you arrive. If you are going to sleep in your car, you will be able to park right next to our camp spot.
• There are no facilities other than toilets - so bring your water and food (you can cook, or have cold meals) for 2 days, torch, and a chair to sit on.
• As spring is already turning out with quite hot weather and bushfire risk we are not doing a camp fire for this trip.

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Saturday morning bushwalk 10am - 2pm

• 7km easy-moderate walk through rainforest and escarpment trails.
• The trail undulates gently, with only a couple of short ascents, easily handled with moderate fitness.
• The route takes in all the best bits of Mt Wilson's scenery: stunning rainforest full of tree ferns, vines, exquisite birds, wombats, gorgeous waterfall and crystalline creek, elegant streets and garden estates, and emerging onto escarpment over the dramatic canyons of Grose Valley.
• Morning break and toilet stop at a picnic area at 11am.
• Lunch at 1pm at a lookout with epic valley views.
• Easy finish - we'll have a car to transfer everyone back to camp, luxury!

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Saturday afternoon 2pm to 4pm - free time to do as you please
Options for you:

• Relax at camp.
• Explore the famous cold climate gardens - eg. Breenhold is 40 acres of stunning tree-lined avenues, flowers, fountains, rainforest corridors, classic architecture, and sculptures, open 10am - 4pm. See the Mt Wilson gardens guide.
• Driving tour - Mt Irving Rd has rough bitumen but ok if you go slow, it's a beautiful 20km drive through epic forests and idyllic rural properties.

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Saturday evening

• Sunset drinks with a view - at 4pm we'll drive across the village to an amazing lookout to watch the sunset over a huge sweep of the rugged valleys, rock faces and peaks. Bring a drink and appetisers!
• Dinner - at 5pm we return to camp to make our meals at the picnic table and chill out.

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Sunday activities

• Relaxed breakfast
• Pack up our camp by 9.30am.
• Walk 1 - at 10am we drive 5 minutes across the village to do a short 2.5km but impressive walk looping across the dramatic rock pagodas of the escarpment and the wind-carved expanse of a huge cave.
• Lunch - at 12 noon we head into the beautiful Kashmir private garden for refreshments from the coffee van, and sit with our packed lunch (or can also buy a delish woodfired pizza here).
• Walk 2 - at 1pm we drive out of Mt Wilson for 11km on Bells Line of Rd (heading us back to Sydney), and stop at a picnic area for an easy 600 metre walk ascending 40 metres to summit a hill with jaw dropping views deep into the valley below and across the Blue Mountains, wow!!
• Finally, we head home to Sydney at about 3pm. Bells Line of Rd is gorgeous with forests, cafes, orchards, farms, and mountain views all the way.

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Optional after-party

• For the die-hards, on the way home you are welcome to stop off for a drink and food with us at the Hillbilly Cider Shed on Bells Line of Road at Bilpin.
• They make nice pizzas (see the MENU), and serve locally made apple cider ... what else do you need in life?

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IS THIS ACTIVITY OK FOR ME?
The walks are all short and mostly on flat or very gentle undulations around the Mt Wilson plateau. They are graded moderate if you are beginner walker, and easy if you routinely do 8-10km bushwalks.

The saturday morning rainforest and escarpment walk is 7km.

• It has two short ascents of about 50 metres each - these are easily handled if you take it slow, we will keep a very relaxed pace.
• The trails are soft dirt and easy going. No rock scrambling to do.
• The descent to the waterfall is steep with a few carved steps and some loose dirt trails - avoid if you have significant knee issues, and in this case you can sit at the picnic ground at the top of this section while the group does the waterfall loop and returns to the picnic ground to pick you up for the onwards walking.

The sunday morning walk down the escarpment and to the cave is 2.5km.

• The trail is made of carved stone steps, and the descent and ascent are 40 metres each.
• If you want to skip this walk but still enjoy the escarpment views, there is an excellent lookout at the start of the walk to sit at while the group walks the loop down to the cave and back.

The sunday afternoon walk up the hill is only 1.2km return.

• The trail is hard packed dirt and few rocky steps, but nothing technical.
• The ascent and descent are each only 40 metres.

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TRANSPORT

By car:

• Mt Wilson is on the north side of the Blue Mountains, 125km (2.5 hours) from central Sydney.
• Take the M2, M7, then Richmond Rd to Kurrajong in western Sydney, then Bells Line of Rd through the Blue Mountains, and then turn right into Mt Wilson Rd which takes you all the way to the village and campground.

There is NO access by public transport:
You can post in the Comments section on this page if you want to seek a ride and share fuel and highway toll costs with the car drivers.

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GRATUITY
Please contribute $15 per day that you attend (or $30 for the two day weekend) to the organiser to help offset the group's operating costs. You can either

• bring cash on the day, or
• make a PayID bank transfer to the organiser's phone number 0411600717 in the morning before you arrive to the event.

Your contribution will cover, amongst other costs, the purchase of a good supply of wood fuel for the camp fire, so that people are not denuding wood from the surrounding forest at Mt Wilson.

The contribution does not cover entry to the formal gardens at Mt Wilson (eg. Breenhold is $20, Windybanks $12) if you choose to visit them.

Our lunch visit to Kashmir garden on sunday is free entry. Bring your own packed lunch, or purchase coffee/pizza there as you wish.

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BRING

If you are coming for just one day, bring the usual day walking setup: sturdy shoes, dress in layers, sun protection, insect repellent, food and drinks for the whole day (there are no shops or water supplies in Mt Wilson).

If you are going to stay the night, bring sufficient camping gear and food/water for 2 days:

• your food (Saturday lunch & dinner, Sunday breakfast and lunch, plenty of snacks, you can choose to cook or just bring cold meals in a chiller box)
• water/drink (at least 4 litres to last you for 24 hours, there are no public water taps at the camping reserve or in the village)
• if you need to cook saturday dinner and/or sunday breakfast, bring cooking utensils and a gas stove
• insect repellent highly recommended
• sun protection (sunscreen, sunglasses, hat)
• a good warm jacket, pants, and beanie for your head (the temperature in the mountains can drop fast at sunset to below 10 degrees, and sometimes it is windy here)
• sturdy walking shoes
• towel or pad or folding chair to sit on at camp
• your camping gear (tent, mat, sleeping bag) or sleep in your car with normal bedding and pillow
• torch (head torch, hand torch, or just use your phone light)
• toiletries, towel, biodegradable wet wipes

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DISCLAIMER:
By your RSVP to this event you agree to the conditions of membership and participation which you can read in the WHAT WE'RE ABOUT section HERE.