North Lawson
In 1878-1882 Trustees of Lawson made Dantes Glen one of the most accessible rainforests in the Blue Mountains region. The track had well constructed long flights of stone steps and ladders. More tracks were build between 1895 and 1910 linking the other natural wonders in the area such as Hazelbrook’s Echo Point, Frederica Falls and Empire Pass. The Picnic Area was developed in 1930. Parts of the original track system have since been turned into fire trails.
Address:
The Loop track starts at the end of St Bernards Drive in Lawson.
The walk to Frederica falls starts at the end of Hughes avenue.
Distance:
-The ~2km loop will take you past three waterfalls, Dantes Glen, Fairy Falls and St Michaels falls (St Michaels on a short spur track) will take around 90 minutes to complete and is rated as Medium. Because of national park boundaries Frederica falls can not be reached from here, so walk or drive to Hughes street Entrance if you have your doggo with you.
-Frederica Falls is roughly a one hour return Medium grade walk starting at Hughes Ave. If you are looking at the sign, the start of the track is to your right, underneath some power lines.
I never go walking without Buffy so never tried these but if you happen to be dogless and after more of a challenge..
-Echo point via Dantes Glen & Fairy falls is a 2.4km Medium graded walk that will take about 2 hours to complete.
-or If your feeling super energetic, Empire pass via Dantes Glen is a 4.8km Hard graded Loop that will take roughly 4 hours.
Fairy Falls was the first waterfall that we came across. Lovely colours on the stone made this one different to other waterfalls in the area.
So somehow I missed the small track descending through the sandstone boulders and going down the steps. The track to Echo point goes a short while before it hits the national park boundaries. When I turned around and got back to this point I got the “I tried to tell you” look from Buffy. Somehow she always seems to know which path is the correct one.
The walk does contain the usual wet and slippy rock jumping creek crossings that are typical of these kinds of places.
St Michaels Falls
Some of the stunning stairways in this area were built as early as 1878.
I am not too sure that this bridge was not built around that time too… eep!
I followed this sign, taking the “NoThroughTrack” as a kind of challenge. Actually there was not much of a track really. So uhm, dont do that.
I think that’s another one of those “I told you so” Looks. Anyway…. Onwards.
The waterfalls at Dantes Glen… Quite Stunning really 🙂
To save some time I moved the car from the main entrance down to the end of Hughes avenue. From here the track starts to the right of the sign under the power lines as shown. Easy to miss if your not looking for it.
If you were here without a Doggo you could use the Empire pass or Echo point tracks or the fire trails around the area to reach Frederica falls and make a larger loop of this walk. But all three of these options pass through national park.
Although very scenic I found the path very overgrown and a little hard to walk through at times. Most people would be using the connecting trails that cross through the national park instead of this small access path. The path though is clear enough and the area quite pretty.
Definitely worth the effort though. How gorgeous is this?
Buffy giving me pleading eyes Because she has decided this is a perfect time to play fetch! What an amazing place for it too!
I think Buffy enjoyed her day at North Lawson park… and so did I. The Blue mountains truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world and a great place to just chill out and destress while working on your cardio!
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