I wasn’t expecting too much from the Lions Head bushwalk, which starts from the Kings Tableland Road… but I was wrong! The trail isn’t signposted, as it heads up from the road over Double Hill towards the top of the ridge. It’s a bit overgrown in places, but fairly obvious and easy to follow.
It’s not long before the top of the ridge is reached, and you get the first views of distant cliffs.
The trail follows the undulating ridge, with cliffs to the right and the Kedumba Valley below.
Just over a kilometre from the start, the trail skirts around a small rock outcrop. From here there are some more sweeping views, and you can see the trail snaking its way along the wide ridge.
After heading into some denser scrub, the Lions Head trail follows the edge of the escarpment again, offering some great views of the Kedumba Valley and the cliffs of the Lions Head ridge looking back.
There are multiple rock platforms along the top of the cliff, which would make great picnic or rest stops on a less cold and windy day.
As the scrub changes to more open grassland, you can see Lions Head in the distance, my destination at the end of the ridge.
Although the trail has been fairly flat so far (after the initial climb up from the road), it now descends a little steeply into a small gully and through a dense patch of flowering wattle.
At the 2.8km mark is a large rock cairn (which is also home to the Lions Head geocache), to the right. This marks a steep route or pass (the Lions Head Pass) down through the Kedumba Walls cliff line to the Kedumba Farm campground. It was used by early settlers living in the Kedumba Valley to get to Wentworth Falls, and requires some scrambling (but no exposure). You can return the same way, or walk out of the valley via Kedumba Pass or The Goat Track – both requiring a car shuffle.
From here the track continues to a small rock overhang, before getting a little overgrown and hard to follow. Clearly there are more people heading down Lions Head pass then continuing to the end of the ridge. I lose the track a few times, although you can’t really get lost as you’re following the top of the ridge.
After crossing another small gully, the trail ascends a small hill – Lions Head – at the end of the ridge.
There are some nice views from Lions Head – although the views are just as good along the start of the track (so if you are heading down the pass, you’re not missing much by not continuing to the edge of the ridge. You do get a nice view over the Kedumba Valley to Mount Solitary.
I don’t stay too long before heading back, as it’s getting late… the return trip is made even more scenic by the afternoon sun, with rays of light over the Kedumba Valley.
I’m back at the car just before dark, with my expectations for this walk having been very much exceeded – there are almost constant views and you’re not likely to meet too many people on this lesser-known trail.
Getting to the Lions Head trail
The start of the trail is 4.9km from the start of Kings Tableland Road (where the Tableland Road road splits into the unsealed Kings Tableland Road and Kedumba Valley Road near the old Qieen Victoria Hospital), and 9km from the Great Western Highway, at Wentworth Falls. There’s limited parking along the shoulder of Kings Tableland Road.
More information
- Geocaching Australia – Lions Head
- All Nations Bushwalkers – Lion’s Head Pass & Kedumba Pass circuit, Blue Mountains NP
There are lots more things to see along the Kings Tableland Road – at the very end is the McMahons Point Lookout, as well as Battleship Tops and three hidden trig stations.
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