A great walk after rain or on a warmer day (as it’s mostly in a shaded valley), the Empire Pass Loop (sometimes called the North Lawson Waterfall Circuit) in the mid Blue Mountains passes a number of waterfalls as it explores one of the historic tracks of the Blue Mountains. (The area around Lawson offers many waterfall walks, including the Terrace Falls Loop, South Lawson Waterfall Circuit, Horseshoe Falls to Burgess Falls and Transit of Venus walk.)
The Empire Pass bushwalk starts at North Lawson Park, and passes an information board as it heads towards Fairy Falls.
After 200m, there is a choice to be be made: turn left and do the loop in a clockwise direction, or turn right to Fairy Falls to do the walk anti-clockwise. I head to Fairy Falls, which means doing the more exposed ridge-top section first, and then returning via Empire Pass.
Fairy Falls is the first of six named waterfalls, where Fairy Falls Creek drops over a couple of wide ledges.
The track continues out towards Echo Bluff, with a last glimpse of Fairy Falls in the distance.
It’s a pleasant and shaded track that continues along the side of the ridge, leaving North Lawson Park and entering the Blue Mountains National Park.
After 1.2km there’s a junction with a track to Echo Bluff, at the edge of the cliffs above Empire Pass.
There’s not much of a view from Echo Bluff, named after the echo you get from here.
The bushwalking track continues towards Lawson, soon reaching a four-way intersection.
Two of the trails lead out of the park (to Hughes Ave and San Jose Ave), while the North Lawson Trail descends steeply into the valley. This is the least interesting part of the Empire Pass Loop, although the firetrail enters a shaded forest section as it gets closer to the bottom of the valley.
On the right hand side of the firetrail is a small overhang under a hanging swamp, with water trickling dowm the rocks to sustain a grove of dense ferns.
The North Lawson Trail meets the Empire Pass walking track at the bottom of the valley, with the firetrail continuing across Frederica Falls Creek to Queens Road in Hazelbrook. There’s a small, unnamed but picturesque cascade here where the creek gushes out from dense ferns.
Empire Pass Walking Track
At the very start (or end) of the Empire Pass is Frederica Falls, an impressive multi-tiered waterfall. The Empire Pass track was constructed in the early 1900s and officially opened on 24 May 1913 on Empire Day (a public holiday from 1905 until the 1950s to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday).
“The new path between Dante’s Glen and the beautiful Frederica Falls is attracting many visitors. It is considered to be one of the prettiest of many walks in the neighbourhood. It is not generally known that the Frederica Falls are named after Miss Frederica Roberts, a popular resident of Lawson, whose father owned the property many years ago. Miss Roberts was at the time was an infant in arms.”
Anonymous, circa 1910
From Frederica Falls the Empire Pass track continues along the valley just above the creek, soon leaving North Lawson Park and re-entering Blue Mountains National Park. It’s the most enjoyable half of the walk, especially with the track having been upgraded over the last few years.
After about 700m there’s a faint track that heads down towards the creek – a marked difference from the upgraded Empire Pass track!
This side-track, which is used to access Lucys Glen, is now very overgrown but a few moss-covered steps and a decaying timber bench suggest it was once in much better condition.
The track peters out just above Frederica Falls Creek, and the rest of the route is a bush-bash, crossing the creek and staying above a waterfall as it continues down-stream. Just below the waterfall is a tributary creek on the right which flows into Frederica Falls Creek. Keeping to the right of this steep-walled valley is provides the easiest path up.
It’s less than a hundred metres but very slow going up the valley, with slippery rocks and fallen branches hindering progress… but eventually I’m at Lucys Glen, an 18m multi-tier waterfall that tumbles down the steep wall at the end of the valley. It’s impressive sight after heavy rain… butnot so impressive on my visit, where despite some rain in the previous days there’s just a trickle of water.
I carefully re-trace my steps to the Empire Pass track, which continues to be a delightful walk along the creek. The track crosses the creek about 600m after the Lucys Glen turn-off, which is also a nice spot for a break on the boulders above the water.
The track gets even more scenic from here, as the valley gets narrower.
The valley becomes almost a canyon and the vegetation rainforest-like with tall coachwood trees, as the track ascends along the creek.
The Empire Pass track crosses the creek again just below a small cascade.
After passing a small (unnamed) waterfall on a side creek, the Empire Pass track leaves Blue Mountains National Pass and enters North Lawson Park.
It’s still really nice walking, past tall overhangs and fern-filled sections of Frederica Falls Creek.
Eventually a small clearing is reached, with a timber picnic table that has seen better days, and a signposted track to St Michaels Falls.
It’s an easy 100m walk to the base of St Michaels Falls, a picturesque waterfall that drops into a shallow pool.
Another 100m (or less) through thre rainforest brings you to the last of the four named waterfalls on the Empire Pass Loop bushwalk.
Dantes Glen Falls is arguably the most picturesque of the four waterfalls, cascading into a shallow pool in an amphitheatre-like setting.
From the falls it’s a steep-ish climb up a series of stone steps, with the flora changing from rainforest to dry sclerophyll forest as the track climbs of the valley.
The track passes the junction with Fairy Falls, completing the Empire Pass loop, before returning to the North Lawson Park carpark. Allow 2-3 hours, with the Easy rating based on staying on the formed tracks; the side-trip to Lucys Glen makes the walk Moderate, and requires some off-track experience.
Getting to the Empire Pass track
The Empire Pass track starts at Fairy Falls, which is most easily accessed from the end of St Bernards Drive, and follows Frederica Falls Creek to Frederica Falls. You can return along the North Lawson Trail via Echo Point as described here, or continue along the North Lawson Trail to finish at Hazelbrook, Woodford or Linden. The large carpark at the end of St Bernards Drive in Lawson is 850m from Lawson Station, and 15km (15km drive) from Katoomba.
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