Wentworth Falls

Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia

About Wentworth Falls


Hiking Distance: 600m round trip
Suggested Time: 30-45 minutes

Date first visited: 2006-11-06
Date last visited: 2006-11-06

Waterfall Latitude: -33.72803
Waterfall Longitude: 150.37421

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Wentworth Falls was perhaps the most scenic waterfall in the Blue Mountains.

It was certainly our favorite waterfall in this region though admittedly our sampling of waterfalls here was quite limited.

Wentworth_Falls_009_11052006 - Wentworth Falls
Wentworth Falls

It was a very tall waterfall with two main drops, where the upper drop was easily seen while the lower drop was mostly blocked from the cliffside viewpoints we were at (see photo above).

Nonetheless, we felt lucky upon our November 2006 visit to the falls because it was flowing quite well at a time when we had feared the worst given Australia’s multi-year drought.

Moreover, the storm that was upon us had cleared just long enough for us to be able to see the falls instead of a bunch of clouds obstructing the view.

Timing Wentworth Falls

Speaking of timing, we had seen plenty of photographs in the literature showing the falls not flowing very well.

We can’t say how reliable this waterfall would be considering we only visited it on one occasion.

We also don’t know how it would flow compared with the nearby Katoomba Falls, which we actually visited twice – once in Spring 2006 and once in Autumn 2008 – under nice flows.

However, I’d imagine our Katoomba Falls experience would be somewhat similar to the Wentworth Falls experience given that they weren’t far from each other, and they seemed to be the major falls of the area.

Experiencing Wentworth Falls

Wentworth_Falls_035_11052006 - The weather momentarily cleared up enough for us to experience this vista from the Princes Rock Lookout
The weather momentarily cleared up enough for us to experience this vista from the Princes Rock Lookout

Julie and I had to walk from the car park near the corner of Falls Rd and Wentworth Rd (see directions below) to a pair of lookouts that allowed us to get decent views of Wentworth Falls.

I’m sure there might be more lookouts in addition to the ones we checked out, but I’ll only describe the ones we did.

We actually had a choice of direction to go because Sir H Burrell Rd and the end of Falls Rd formed a loop.

For minimum walking, we would start from the Falls Rd/Wentworth Rd intersection, then continue walking south on Falls Rd as it curved to the right to become Sir H Burrell Dr.

The first lookout was the Wentworth Falls Lookout on the left, but that did not yield the best views of the falls.

A short distance beyond the Falls Lookout on the Sir H Burrell Dr, there was a trail on the left towards the Princes Rock Lookout.

After about 200m of walking that trail, which also included some stairs, the path ended at the lookout with the frontal views of the falls as pictured at the top of this page.

Wentworth_Falls_005_11052006 - Closer look at the upper tier of Wentworth Falls from Princes Rock. Note the lower tier which falls mostly out of sight on the bottom.  This gives you an idea of how tall this waterfall really is
Closer look at the upper tier of Wentworth Falls from Princes Rock. Note the lower tier which falls mostly out of sight on the bottom. This gives you an idea of how tall this waterfall really is

This lookout also featured expansive vistas framed by the Princes Rock itself.

While Julie and I did this walk going in the opposite direction from the more straightforward route described above, all throughout the walk to get to and from the Princes Rock Lookout, we saw other trails that would have taken us closer to the lower waterfall, the nearby Queens Cascades, and the Overcliffe Track.

However, since we didn’t do those other tracks to the other waterfalls given that most of the tracks were closed during our visit (which the unstable weather didn’t help much with either), we can’t say more about them until we come back here and try again.

Authorities

Wentworth Falls resides in the Blue Mountains National Park near Wentworth Falls in New South Wales. It is administered by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Wentworth_Falls_002_jx_11052006 - This was the sign we saw as we got to the end of the Falls Rd
Wentworth_Falls_004_jx_11052006 - This was the sign at the start of the track to the Princes Rock Lookout
Wentworth_Falls_001_11052006 - This was the Falls Lookout view though there wasn't much of the Wentworth Falls to see from here
Wentworth_Falls_007_11052006 - Finally, a nice view of Wentworth Falls (or at least the upper tier of it)
Wentworth_Falls_029_11052006 - Wentworth Falls as the clouds started to close in again
Wentworth_Falls_030_11052006 - View of the cliffs from the falls lookout
Wentworth_Falls_010_jx_11052006 - When the clouds pretty much clouded the view of Wentworth Falls, that was when we left
Wentworth_Falls_014_jx_11052006 - Julie noticed this bug on the way out of the Wentworth Falls, where we couldn't tell if it was a centipede or millipede or something


The Wentworth Falls township is about 100km (1.5-2 hours drive) west of Sydney CBD (Central Business District, or the city centre). Take the Great Western Hwy (M4/A32) towards Penrith, which then becomes Hwy 32 as it winds upwards into the Blue Mountains.

While still on Hwy 32, look for Falls Road on the left (heading south) while in the Wentworth Falls town. Follow this road to its end (about 1.5km later) where I recalled there was some signage ultimately leading us to one of a couple of small car parks and lookouts (or walks to them).

If headed east on Hwy 32 from Katoomba or Leura, then turn right onto Valley Rd. Follow Valley Rd (which becomes Fletcher St after 1.2km) for about 1.7km to Falls Rd. Turn right onto Falls Rd and take it to its end.

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Tagged with: blue mountains, blackheath, katoomba, wentworth falls, macquarie, new south wales, australia, waterfall, govetts leap, bridal veil, sydney, penrith, princes rock



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Sylvia Falls October 23, 2009 11:46 am by Herbert - First of all, thank you very much for this great site! Part of the Wentworth Falls - at the very end of the round track. I would say this waterfall is about 15m tall ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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