Five fantastic Grose Valley lookouts near Wongarra Hill

This fairly short and not-well-known Blue Mountains bushwalk from the Bells Line of Road delivers five spectacular lookouts near Wongarra Hill, including the unusual Mirrorball Arch. A rough track heads into the bush which is obvious if you’re looking for it… but you wouldn’t spot it if you’re driving past.

The trail soon emerges from eucalypt forest into heathland, a “sclerophyllous plant community” that forms only about 2% of the Greater Blue Mountains region, typically where there is nutrient-poor soils on exposed ridges. (Lockleys Pylon also has this fairly unusual landscape.)

A short off-track detour to the top of Wongarra Hill offers a view to the eastover Walls Lookout and across the Grose Valley, and to Mount Banks to the west.

A lookout just off the track provides one of the best views of the multiple headlands that jut into the Grose Valley: Walls Lookout (you can just make our a few people enjoying the late afternoon views from here), Rigby Hill and Liversidge Hill.

The trail continues over a small hill to the next vantage point.

From this rock ledge on the edge of the cliffs are extensive views down the Grose Valley.

On the southern side of the Grose River which snakes through the Grose Valley is Burramoko Head (Hanging Rock Lookout), Burra Korain Head and Asgard Head.

Towards the west is Mount Banks and the imposing Banks Wall, and beyond it Mount Hay, the Mount Hay Wall and the Walford Wall. Where the Govett Gorge meets the Grose Gorge is the Blue Gum Forest.

With the full view of Mount Banks to the west partly blocked by a small hill, the obvious solution is to leave the track… and head up to the end of the next ridge. It’s unusually easy off-track walking through the low heath as we make a beeline for our next vantage point.

This is my favourite of the multiple lookouts we visit, with a small ironstone rock formation (like a miniature version of the Geometric Rocks Lookout) providing the perfect spot to admire the views.

As with the previous lookout, you can see from Mount Banks and the Explorer Range and the Blackheath Walls on the opposite of the Grose Valley.

Unlike the previous lookouts, you can see all of Mount Banks and Mount Banks Wall on the other side of Oronga Gully and Oranga Ridge (a future potential bushwalk which has been done by the Upper Blue Mountains Bushwalking Club is a challenging traverse of Oronga Gully from the Mount Banks carpark to Wongarra Hill.)

To the right of Mount Banks is the Wallford Wall and Butterbox Point on the other side of the Grose Gorge and directly across the Grose Valley is the imposing Blackheath Walls (Bennett Lookout, Anvil Rock Lookout and Perrys Lookdown are at the top of this cliff-line).

We reluctantly leave this lookout, re-tracing our route back through the heath to the track, and then back along the track.

The last lookout (Mirrorball Arch) is also accessed by a rough climbers track, although it’s a little less distinct than the previous trail and easy to lose in a few places.

The trail descends to towards the cliff-line, but takes what seems at times like a somewhat meandering route as it avoids a couple of more densely vegetated gullies.

Before reaching Mirrorball Arch, a very small detour to the edge of the cliffs leads to a nice vantage point; a bolt in the sandstone indicates that this is one of a 36 climbing routes in the “Lunch Ledge” area.

The last couple of metres descend a wide gully towards another vantage point along the cliff line.

As you approach Mirrorball Arch, it looks like a small pagoda…

…but soon reveals itself as being a natural sandstone arch. (The arch gets it’s name from “Mirrorball”, another of the “Lunch Ledge” climbing routes.)

From the top of the cliffs just below Mirrorball Arch there’s another great view of Walls Lookout, Rigby Hill and Liversidge Hill and the Grose Valley.

With the sun setting (and the moon rising), we set-off back up the climbers track.

There are more views of the Grose Valley cliffs as the sun dips below the horizon, and once we reach the main ridge which we follow back to Bells Line of Road, Mount Banks can be seen again.

It’s a very pleasant walk back to the car, with the clouds still glowing orange behind us.

Visiting all of the lookouts is about a 6km bushwalk (including an optional kilometre off-track), but they all offer a fairly similar perspective over the Grose Valley, so you easily shorten the route.

Getting to the Wongarra Hill Lookouts

Park along Bells Line of Road at a wide shoulder on the northern side (at -33.56833, 150.34946) between the Mount Banks Road and Pierces Pass Road. It’s about 22.7km (20min drive) from Bilpin and 10.4km (8min) from the Darling Causeway / Bells Line of Road junction at Bell. From the parking area, cross the road and walk eastward about 100m until you spot the start of the trail.