BLUE MOUNTAINS SPRING FLOWERS - Mt Wilson & Mt Tomah gardens - 8km easy-moderate

It's spring, yay! So let's take a day trip to the Blue Mountains to immerse in Mt Wilson's legendary exotic gardens, elegant tree-lined avenues with heritage propertires to die for, and epic mountain scenery. We'll spend the morning on an easy 6km loop through the private gardens, teach you some landscape photography if you like, have lunch at a magical spot overlooking the immense expanse of the Grose valley, explore rainforests, waterfalls, a mysterious cavern, and incredible lookouts. On the drive home to Sydney in the afternoon, we can also stop off to wander the equally magical Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens, and the lush beauty of the Bilpin countryside. This is an elegant, low-effort escape from the city, mostly very easy walking, and an overdose of visual pleasures!

HERE is a nice quick video guide to Mt Wilson to whet your appetite.

And HERE is a taste of Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens.

This day is part of our Blue Mountains adventure weekend on September 20 and 21:

• Sat 20 Sep – 10.45am Blackheath/Ikara Head wildlflower bushwalk
• Sat 20 Sep – 5pm Mt Wilson easy car camp & dinner under the stars
• Sun 21 Sep – 9am Mt Wilson spring gardens tour & Mt Tomah gardens

These events are designed to flow easily one into the next, so join us for some or all of them as you please for a big wonderful weekend away.

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THE PLAN

The organisers will be staying at Cathedral Reserve camping area at Mt Wilson on Saturday night, so let's meet up there on Sunday morning at 9.00am.

Meeting up

If you are driving straight from Sydney on Saturday morning, the formal start for the day of touring the gardens is at 9.00am. Meet us at the road entrance into Cathedral Reserve, on Mt Irving Rd at the far end of Mt Wilson village.

Mt Wilson - walking tour of gardens & wild bits

At 9.00am, we'll head off as a group on a walking tour of the private gardens and avenues around Mt Wilson village. There will be lots to fill our day with:

• We'll follow a loop trail around the village, about 8km total. There will be toilet stops along the way.
• First off, a 1km loop through beautiful rainforest of Waterfall Reserve.
• Then the trail winds around the village passing all big private display gardens. Each one charges a modest $10 - $20 entry, payable by card. We'll visit a couple (eg. tranquil Windyridge, magnificent Breenhold) chosen by agreement with the group on the day. Take your time to wander around, take photos, whisper romantic things from Jane Austen novels in the grottos, enjoy the peace. Have a look at the Mt Wilson gardens online guide HERE.
• After a lunch stop, we'll dip down to a rocky lookout with dramatic vistas over the canyon wilderness of Grose valley, and a short bush walk down to a hidden cavern - this is a short 40 metre descent/ascent.
• The road from the lookout back up into the village is steep BUT we've got your back baby! The organiser will have their car there to ferry everyone back up to the village - this is the luxury walking group people!
• Our final stop for the day is the wonderful newly restored Kashmir Gardens which has a terrace cafe and a pizza bar (we can lunch there if the group prefers, or have it as an afternoon coffee stop.
• At the end, the organiser will ferry everyone back to their cars at our start point in Cathedral Reserve. Easy!
• We'll try to wrap up in Mt Wilson by about 2pm.

Walls Lookout - very short walk to incredible views

• This is an amazing place for a brief and very worthwhile stop as we drive out of Mt Wilson back to Sydney
• Turn left out of Mt Wilson Rd onto Bells Line of Road to head towards Sydney, then in 2.5km turn right into Pierces Pass Rd.
• Drive 850 metres along this dirt road to the car park.
• Walk 600 metres along the bush track, and then it's a steep but short 40 metre ascent to Rigby Hill overlooking Grose Valley escarpment.
• Try not to faint when you see the epic view. Wow. Just wow.

Optional tour of Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens

If your eyeballs have not exploded from the many beautiful sights in Mt Wilson, we have the option to also stop at Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens, 23km drive along Bells Line of Road (on the direct route back to Sydney).

• Entry is free.
• The garden complex is huge, with sections for different climatic environments (rock garden, gondwana rainforest, conifers, etc).
• Feel free to explore for as little or as long as you please - it is possible to loop through all the sections in 30 - 60 minutes.
• It's open until 5pm, but you can head home any time you like.

Bilpin

• The drive back to town along Bells Line of Road through Bilpin is very beautiful and famous for the local apple produce.
• Feel free to stop at the Royal Gardenia cafe for apple pies, and grab a coffee and enjoy it on their huge balcony with stunning lush views over the valley back towards Mt Wilson.
• Also many roadside orchard stalls and apple cider shops along Bells Line of Road.

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IS THIS ACTIVITY OK FOR ME?
This walking tour of Mt Wilson is fine for beginner walkers with basic fitness. The total distance to walk around Mt Wilson over the day will be about 8km - it will be relaxed, with many stops to enjoy things, and substantial lunch break and coffee breaks.

The morning walk down to the rainforest waterfall is on a dirt track, but is gently sloping and the 50 metre descent/ascent is quite short.

The walk around the private gardens and public avenues is quite flat, and at worst you will go down and up some small sets of steps into different sections of the gardens.

The trail from the lookout down to the bush cavern is a 40 metre descent, and then same ascent back up - it's not very challenging, and you can even skip it entirely of you wish and wait at the beautiful lookout for 30 minutes until the group returns from the cavern.

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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. It is accessed either

• directly from northwest Sydney via Richmond and Kurrajong to Bells Line of Road, and turn right Mt Wilson Rd, OR
• indirectly from the Great Western Highway through the Blue Mountains (ie. if you joined us for the saturday walks in Mt Victoria), turn right from Mt Victoria onto Darling Causeway, then right onto Bells Line of Road, and left onto Mt Wilson Rd.

You can post in the Comments section on this page if you want to offer a car pool and share fuel and highway toll costs with others.

There is NO access by train
You can get a train as far as Mt Victoria, but there is NO public transport from Mt Victoria to Mt Wilson.

You can post in the Comments section on this page if you want to seek a car pool with others, but do NOT rsvp to the event until you have ensured that you have a ride all the way to Mt Wilson and back to Sydney.

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GRATUITY

Please contribute $15 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.

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BRING

• your food, snacks, and drinks to last you all of Sunday (there are no shops at all in Mt Wilson)
• dress light for walking, but also bring a good warm jacket, pants, and beanie for your head (mountain weather is highly changeable during the day, and the temperature can be quite low in the early morning and late afternoon)
• sturdy walking shoes
• insect repellent for the forest sections
• sun hat, sunglasses, sunscreen
• the private gardens usually collect the entry fee by card, but have some cash handy

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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.