I’ve meaning to do this bushwalk for while, with Blacks Ladder to Esgate Pass on the Radiata Plateau connecting two historic Blue Mountains passes in a loop walk. I expected it would be a challenging bushwalk, but a quick search the previous evening didn’t inspire confidence: “Trail is impassable due to a landslide on the cliff trail” and “I spoke to a rescue guy and they’re picking people up from here regularly”. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) Connor is unfazed, and at 10am the next day we’re heading off from the locked gate on the firetrail at the end of Pulpit Hill Road.
Originally known as Pulpit Plateau (after Pulpit Hill, which is above the plateau), the area was cleared for a plantation of Radiata pine in the 1960s. It was proposed that the plateau be officially named the Elphinstone Plateau (in recognition of Charles Edward Elphinstone, Surveyor General of NSW from 1960-63), but instead it was officially gazetted as Radiata Plateau in March 1970. The NSW Government purchased the land in 2019 for $2.8m, and it was incorporated into the State’s national park reserve system as Ngula Bulgarabang Regional Park in June 2020 (Ngula Bulgarabang means “large wood forest” in the Gundungurra language).
There’s a network of trails in the dog-friendly reserve, but it’s not too hard to follow the slightly overgrown Black’s Ladder Track, which heads toward the cliffs.
As the track approaches the edge of the plateau, we get our first view of the cliff-line which we’re about to follow.
There’s a steep descent down the gully, with the track following an old Aboriginal route into the Megalong Valley. Known as Blacks Ladder, the route was marked on maps as early as 1921. It was also called Bottle Neck Pass (by Jim Smith) and Megalong Cleft. (In 1937 it was suggested in a Letter to the Editor in The Katoomba Daily that Black’s Ladder would be the most suitable route for a road into the centre of Megalong.)
Near the bottom are a couple of scrambles down rock ledges; the first has a few metal spikes in the rock.
Just below the metal spikes is an actual ladder, which looks it may fall apart at any moment…
The top of a large boulder near the bottom of the ladder provides a nice vantage point over the creek, which has carved out the gully we’ve just descended.
The track continues a little further, passing another picturesque waterfall.
From here, the route follows the base of the cliffs – and there’s no longer any track. It is – at least initially – easy and pleasant walking along a series of ledges under the tall cliffs. To the north are some great views across the Megalong Valley to the Shipley Plateau.
We make relatively good progress for the first kilometre.
Although I’m expecting some of the ledges too run out, so far there’s been no back-tracking required – in some ways the first section of ledges lulls you into a false sense of complacency…
…which eventually ends as we reach a ledge that narrows to a sloping, scree-covered section that feels too sketchy to safely traverse.
We backtrack a little, soon finding a safe route down below the ledge that we were just on. We also spot a small cairn marking this detour, suggesting that the ledge we just retreated from wasn’t a viable route – even if we did manage to traverse the sketchy section.
We’re soon back on the ledge, on the other side of the obstacle. We’re about a third of the way between the two passes, and can now see the line of cliffs stretching most of the way to Megalong Head.
Another obstacle in the form of a small rock fall is fairly easy to scramble around.
There are some nice rock formations, although despite the series of long ledges there are very few deep caves or overhangs along the cliffs.
We stop for a quick lunch; we’ve walked a little over two hours and covered more than three quarters of the distance along the cliffs. As we near Megalong Head and Esgate Pass, the ledges get more dramatic. And the terrain a lot more challenging – although we don’t know this yet!
A particularly wide and scenic ledge brings us to the edge of a precipitous drop, and (a little ironically) frames a nice view of Megalong Head directly ahead.
Another backtrack is required to find a spot where we can drop below this dead-end ledge; this is also marked by a small cairn. A rope or tape isn’t essential here, but it helps to descend the steep slope to where we can find a route below the ledges.
We’re back on a ledge on fairly well-defined track soon after we pass the bottom of the impassable ledge – but after only another hundred metres or we reach our next obstacle. A small landslide has cut through the ledge, and while you could potentially leap across it, a slip would result in a fairly nasty tumble.
We seriously contemplate turning back (in case we couldn’t via a viable way up to the pass)… but we’re now very close to Esgate Pass. So, down we go a third time beneath the bottom of the cliffs and along the very steep slope.
As we near the landslip, the vegetation gets thicker (the slide having been caused by a perennial creek) and there’s a short but Not Fun section of serious bushbashing past a fallen tree and dense ferns. We’re pretty happy when we finally spot the gully that leads up to the bottom of Esgate Pass.
Esgate Pass provide a route to the Radiata Plateau between the plateau itself and a large detached block. It was regularly used by local bushwalker Ben Esgate to ascend from the Megalong Valley to Katoomba, and the spikes were installed by Esgate in the 1930s so he could carry his dog (Scottie) up the steep rock face.
A wide ledge continues along the cliffs beyond Esgate Pass, which we explore for a short distance as we look for the start of the pass.
It’s at this point we realise we have a slight problem: our relief at reaching Esgate Pass is soon negated by the fact we cannot locate the pass. Our GPS traces both show the route going directly up a vertical rock face, but there’s no sign of any chains… As I consult my map for a fifth time and start contemplating Plan B to get back to our car – a steep bushbash down to Nellies Glen Road – Connor finds a narrow crack that presents the only non-climbing route up.
Hauling ourselves up with the aid of a sturdy tree, we continue up the narrow cleft in the rock, finally reaching the chains up the middle section of Esgate Pass.
The chains is easier that the initial section; it looks dramatic (and offers some great views), but there are plenty of hand-holds in the rocks and not much exposure.
There’s another easy scramble up a slot to the left of the chains, and a nice platform with sweeping views over the Megalong Valley.
From the top of Esgate Pass it’s an easy final stretch back to the car. The first 500m is along a rough track (I’m surprised it’s not more well-worn, but Blacks Ladder to Esgate Pass doesn’t seem to be a popular walk) that ascends gently up from the top of the cliffs. It meets up with a firetrail for the last 2km back.
We skip the detour to Megalong Trig, but check out a lookout about halfway along the firetrail that offers a view over Peckmans Plateau to the east.
The Blacks Ladder to Esgate Pass ended up taking just under five hours – with almost two hours for the last diversion under the landslip near the end up and ascent of Esgate Pass. Allow 6-8 hours just to safe; I’d recommend starting at Blacks Ladder, mainly as going up Esgate Pass is easier than going down… it’s a similar walk to the Carlons Head to Tarros Ladder in terms of the difficulty of the passes, but a bit tougher overall due to the off-track section between the two passes.
Getting to the Blacks Ladder to Esgate Pass bushwalk
The start of this walk is easy to get, with the trailhead located at the end of Pulpit Hill Road in Katoomba, accessed by Nellies Glen Road off the Great Western Highway. It’s a 3.5km (5min drive) from Katoomba. There is a reasonably large carpark near the locked gate, with the firetrail popular with dog-walkers.
More information
- Two Breakfasts – Some history on Ben Esgate
- Jim Smith – The Last of the Cox’s River Men: Ben Esgate 1914 – 2003 (2006)
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