101 Lookouts in the Blue Mountains – finding the most epic views

There’s hundreds of lookouts in the Blue Mountains, from easily accessible and child-friendly vantage points to informal, unfenced lookouts that are reached by challenging bushwalking trails. Most offer a view of one of the three major valleys that dissect the Blue Mountains: the Grose Valley, Megalong Valley and Jamison Valley. 

What are the best lookouts in the Blue Mountains?

It’s hard to pick a favourite, and the time of day can make a big difference. Sunrise and sunset will almost always be more spectacular than the middle of the day – and if it’s a wet and foggy day, you won’t see anything and you’re better off chasing waterfalls include:

Some of the best lookouts in the Blue Mountains which are accessible by car (or a very short walk) are:

• Portal Lookout at Glenbrook in the lower Blue Mountains offers a view over Emu Plains and the Nepean River. (Also stop at the nearby Tunnel View Lookout where a 600m return walk takes you to a vantage point over Glenbrook Gorge and Glenbrook Creek.)
• Jamison Lookout is one of the most popular Wentworth Falls lookouts with nice view over the Jamison Valley and Kings Tableland (avoid the crowds with a 1km return walk to Princes Rock Lookout)
• Lincolns Rock at Wentworth Falls is a spectacular and very popular lookout (especially at sunset), offering sweeping views over the Jamison Valley (try Sunset Rock just off Kings Tableland Road for similar views without the crowds)
• Echo Point Lookout (Three Sisters) is the busiest lookout in the Blue Mountains, with spectacular views of the iconic Three Sisters, the Ruined Castle & Mount Solitary in the Jamison Valley.
• Evans Lookout at Blackheath is “an accessible spot with iconic Blue Mountains views” (NPWS), and is easily reached via a short, paved path.
• Govetts Leap Lookout at Blackheath is one of the best-known and popular lookous in the Blue Mountains, providing a view straight down Govetts Gorge.
• Pulpit Rock at Blackheath is arguably the most impressive lookout in the Blue Mountains, with an almost 360-degree panorama from multiple platforms. 
• Pulpit Rock Pulpit Rock in Mount Victoria provides views over the Kanimbla Valley, offering a different perspective to the most of the other lookouts.

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If you don’t mind a bit of a walk to your lookouts, you’ll avoid the crowds with the Blue Mountain lookouts:

• McMahons Point Lookout is reached by a short bushwalk from the end of Kings Tableland Road, and is one of the few lookouts providing a view of Lake Burragorang .0.6km / 1.8km return
• Butterbox Point in Leura at the very end of Mount Hay Road offers some spectacular views over the Grose Valley. 3.2km return
• Fortress Creek Falls combines a cliff-top swimming hole and waterfall with some great views (9km return and partly off-track walk.
• Lockleys Pylon along the Mount Hays Road provides provides one of the best vantage points over the Grose Valley. 7.6km return.
• Vanimans Lookout near Scenic World offers one of the most “classic” or iconic Blue Mountains views of Katoomba Falls, the Three Sisters and the Jamison Valley. 0.4km (steep) return
• Castle Head is a popular and impressive Katoomba lookout reached via an easy bushwalk along Narrow Neck. 4.7km return.
• Ruined Castle in Katoomba is my favourite lookout and bushwalk in the Blue Mountains: the rocky outcrop in the Jamison Valley provides unobstructed 360-degree views. 8-13km return.
• Hanging Rock at Blackheath is a thin sliver of rock that offers spectacular views over the Grose Valley. 10.9km.

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If you have more time, there are many Blue Mountains bushwalks which offer multiple lookouts as they explore the cliffs and ridge-lines:

• Rileys Mountain Track in the lower Blue Mountains passes multiple lookouts over the Nepean River. 12.6km return.
• The popular Overcliff-Undercliff loop bushwalk from the Wentworth Falls Picnic Area passes eight lookouts with with sweeping views over Jamison Valley, as well as multiple vantage points over Wentworth Falls. 3.9km one-way with a few variations possible.
• The Prince Henry Cliff Walk (now the Grand Cliff Top Walk) is designated a NSW “Great Walk” and connects 20+ spectacular cliff-top lookouts between Wentworth Falls, Leura and Katoomba. 19km with multiple access points allowing shorter options.
• The Furber Steps descends steeply from Scenic World at Katoomba to the bottom of the Jamison Valley, and provides access to many longer walks – or you can come up the Scenic Railway. It offers multiple vantage points over the Three Sisters and Katoomba Falls. 1.2km one-way.
• The Cliff Top Track and Pulpit Rock Track between Evans Lookout and Pulpit Rock Lookout at Blackheath offers a non-stop vista of outstanding escarpment views, as it follows the top of the cliff-line. 7km one-way.
• The Bald Head via Hat Head bushwalk follows a long ridge past multiple informal vantage points and two cliff-lookouts over the Grose Valley views. 6.8km return.

Hawkesbury Heights & Winmalee

At the foot of the Blue Mountains and approached via Richmond or Springwood is Winmalee and Hawkesbury Heights, which have a number of lookouts that mostly provide a view over the Nepean River and floodplain. Some of these lookouts are in the Yellowmundee Regional Park, which is positioned on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Mountains. Grose Head – accessible from Winmalee – offers the best views in this area, but requires a long bushwalk or mountain bike ride.

Mulgoa to Glenbrook (Lower Blue Mountains)

The lookouts of the lower Blue Mountains are (obviously) much lower in elevation than those around Katoomba and Blackheath, and don’t offer quite the same spectacular escarpment views. But, there are a few lookouts that offer some dramatic Nepean Gorge views.

Blaxland to Springwood

While most of these lookouts don’t offer spectacular views, you get some nice vistas over the valleys and ridges of the Lower Blue Mountains. (This area is a better destination for waterfalls than lookouts.)

Faulconbridge to Bullaburra

The mid-Blue Mountains area between Faulconbridge and Bullaburra has very few lookouts – although if you’re up for a longer bushwalk or mountain-bike, Faulconbridge Point Lookout won’t disappoint!

Wentworth Falls

From the Wentworth Falls Picnic Area (at the end of Falls Road, 3.2km from the village) there are a multitude of lookouts. Two are very easily reached (Jamison Lookout and Wentworth Falls Lookout), while the popular Overcliff-Undercliff loop bushwalk provides access to many more spectacular vantage points.

There are a few lookouts along the Kings Tableland, which offer a variety of views over the Blue Mountains, from the Jamison Valley to Lake Burragorang.

Leura & Katoomba

Leura and Katoomba have their own railway stations and very different and distinct town centres, but the border between these suburbs is often not obvious, or a little confusing. It was even proposed (so some staunch opposition) in the 1930s that Leura be re-named East Katoomba. Many popular bushwalking trails – in particular the Prince Henry Cliff Walk – traverse Leura and Katoomba.

These two adjoining suburbs have some of the busiest – and most spectacular – lookouts in the Blue Mountains. Most of the Leura and Katoomba vantage points provide an outlook to the south, across the expansive and rugged Jamison Valley, or over the Grose Valley.

Mount Hay Road (Leura)

A number of lookouts are accessed via the unsealed Mount Hay Road to the north of Leura; they all require a bushwalk (of varying lengths and difficulty) but offer some spectacular viewpoints over the Grose Valley.

Prince Henry Cliff Walk (Grand Cliff Top Walk)

Now designated a NSW “Great Walk”, there are a multitude of lookouts along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, which follows the top of the escarpment from Gordon Falls Reserve in Leura to Scenic World in Katoomba. There are more lookouts than you can poke a stick – or camera at – or a total of xx to be more accurate.

Furber Steps

While most Blue Mountain lookouts are along the top of the escarpment, the Furber Steps descends steeply down to the bottom of the valley. A number of vantage points along the track provide a variety of different perspectives over the Jamison Valley.

Narrow Neck and Mount Solitary

The long and sinuous Narrow Neck – and Mount Solitary which sits to the east of Narrow Neck in the middle of the Jamison Valley – offer some more remote lookouts, which are reached by a few different bushwalking trails.

West Katoomba

There are a few lookouts on the western side of Katoomba – many of which are not too busy – that provide views over the Megalong Valley.

Medlow Bath & Blackheath

Medlow Bath and Blackheath in the upper Blue Mountains area has a number of lookouts, including the very popular Evans Lookout, Govetts Leap Lookout and Pulpit Rock that are very easily accessible. The most popular lookouts offer a view out to the east and north-east over Govetts Gorge and the Grose Wilderness – the opposite side of the Great Dividing Range to most of the Katoomba lookouts.

For a different perspective, there are a few lookouts on the western side of Blackheath which offer views over the Megalong Valley – and they are generally a lot less busy than those on the eastern side.

Mount Victoria

Mount Victoria has the highest point in the Blue Mountains Plateau (One Tree Hill), so it’s not surprising that if offers some outstanding views from a number of lookouts. There’s a mix of car-accessible vantage points and lookout accessible via a bushwalk, but they are all easy to reach.

Bells Line of Road

The Bells Line of Road between Richmond and Bell provides an alternative route across the Blue Mountains, and access to a number of bushwalking tracks and lookouts. Almost all the lookouts along the Bells Line of Road are undeveloped and require a walk to reach them – but they offer some outstanding vistas.