Wentworth Falls is a town in the NSW Blue Mountains on the Great Western Highway and the Main Western railway line from Sydney, just one stop before Leura. Its elevation is 867m and population about 6,000. The town was, of course, named after the explorer William Charles Wentworth. Wentworth Falls enjoys spectacular views over the Jamieson Valley with a similar southerly outlook as Leura and Katoomba. Kings Tableland, to the south of the town, is a place of significance to the Gundungurra, Darug, and Wiradjuri peoples, with evidence suggesting it has been a gathering place for at least 22,000 years. We read that about 150 axe grinding grooves are fairly well preserved in hard sandstone, but sadly rock art is generally degraded. Visitors are not enouraged as the NPWS attempts to protect the area and resist further damage.
Wentworth Falls is home to the Charles Darwin Walk which (probably) follows the route that the famous naturalist strolled from his now-gone hotel, the Weatherboard Inn near Pitt Park, along Jamison Creek, which he called a `tiny rill of water`, to the cliff`s edge in 1836. In his notes, Darwin desribed the Jamieson Valley as an `immense gulf` as he stood on the `brink of a vast precipice`. His visit here was just one component of his developing thoughts on natural selection, particularly in relation to the unique Australian flora and fauna he encountered on his larger trip to Bathurst, which included the famous observation of the platypus and the `lion-ant` (the larval stage of a particular insect) F.W.Nicholas, `Charles Darwin in Australia: His Zoological Observations`. But in Wentworth Falls, his thoughts on evolution were overwhelmed by his response to geology! He compalined about the track but concluded that it `was worth getting wet feet to see these falls`.
Clifftop Tracks
There are some very adventurous walking trails to the south of Wentworth Falls. It`s worthwhile attempting some of these because the official Falls Lookout is easy to get to, but has no view of the falls! We`re not young, and only did the Princes Rock Track which was 150 steps downhill and when you get there, looks back to the falls very well, as well as offers great views of the stunning escarpment and the Jamieson Valley. From this lookout we could see people on other walks,
The Surprise Lake
A drive to Wentworth Falls Lake (WFL) proved to be a surprise highlight of the day. We saw it on a map, so went there. This artificial lake is plain beautiful, a haven for locals on hot days, and a great place to spot some birdlife, so we found. The dam which created the lake was built across Jamieson Creek as a reservoir of water for steam trains, date uncertain, maybe around 1878. Those steam boilers had a big thirst! As steam gave way to diesel, the lake was turned to recreation. The latest improvements to the dam wall, the walk which circumnavigates the lake, and the park on the south side look very recent. On the west of the lake is a Hanging Swamp, one of 1200 in the Blue Mountains and nearby and which are `ecologically critical wetlands that provide essential services such as carbon storage, water filtration, and habitats for endangered species` Alastair Swayn Foundation. It is home to threatened critters like the Blue Mountains Water Skink and the Giant Dragonfly. We may have seen the latter, but certainly not the former during our trek around the lake.
Whatever, we spent a very pleasant hour or two in the environs of WFL. We are not twitchers, not bird experts, but we do like to know what has been photographed. We used Gemini AI to identify the ducks we found about WFL, of which there were plenty. Gemini seems to do this quicky and easily, and negotiates on species identification when we get to discussing location.