My rough plan for the day was to visit a couple of lesser-known waterfalls, explore Henson Glen which is one of the bushwalks in Jim Smith’s classic How to See the Blue Mountains book, and avoid the heat by staying as much possible in Govetts Creek. There’s no avoiding some trail-walking, with an electricity transmission maintenance trail off Mount Hay Road providing access to Govetts Creek.
The firetrail abruptly ends at an electricity pylon after about 900m.
A bushwalking trail – a section of the historic Bruces Walk – continues down into the valley to meet Govetts Creek at the bottom.
It’s only about 1.2km from the carpark (20min or so) before I’m standing in the creek; you can avoid getting wet feet by following a rough track on the right-hand side of the creek. But it’s much more pleasant to walk down the shallow creek, which passes a few small cascades.
I’m soon at the top of Myers Fall, where you need to exit the creek and scramble around the right-hand side of the small cascade.
The secluded Myers Fall has a pool deep enough for a swim, and I cool off here before continuing my journey.
Rather than re-tracing my steps to Bruces Walk, I continue walking down Govetts Creek, which remains fairly shallow with just a few small cascades to negotiate.
Only one of the cascades is a bit too high to climb down, but can be negotiated by a short scramble along the left-hand side of the creek. (A not-very-pleasant scramble as the scrub along Govett Creek is quite thick… but it’s very short.)
It’s otherwise a very enjoyable creek-walk so far, and the fact it’s a fairly warm 30-degree day is barely noticeable.
Govetts Creek starts to gradually get less steep and the cascades smaller and less frequent.
As it approaches Henson Glen, Govetts Creek becomes sandier and fernier – it’s one of the nicest sections of the creek. Named after Herbert Allan Henson, who was a local Katoomba resident and bushwalker, and the Leura postmaster in the 1940s, Henson Glen is near the confluence of Govetts Creek and a smaller tributary.
I’m now near the trail that provides access to Henson Glen from Bruces Walk, as I continue walking down the creek a bit further. Progress gets a bit slower, with more vegetation and some large boulders in the creek.
There are some deeper pools that offer multiple opportunities for a swim…
…but also more sections where it’s easier to walk through the scrub above the creek.
As the gully gets increasingly scrubby I turn back, walking back up Govetts Creek to meet the bushwalking track which heads up a spur that runs roughly parallel the creek (the start of the trail is not obvious, but it’s a well-defined track once you find it).
The bushwalking track gradually turns into a firetrail as it continues up the spur.
I make the mistake as I near the top of the sput to leave the firetrail and take a more direct path to the waterfall at the top of the gully. As I descend into the gully I quickly realise it’s more of swamp filled with razor-sharp grass. I try and keep to the edge of the swampy bit as I head towards Ross Dell Falls – small and rather unimpressive waterfall after Myers Fall.
Fortunately there is a somewhat muddy walking track from the waterfall back up to Bruces Walk.
From here it’s just over a kilometre back to Mount Hay Road and the car, following Bruces Walk (which is mostly a firetrail, with a shorts section of bushwalking track section). It’s all uphill, but easy walking.
There are a few variations of this walk I’m keen to come back and explore, such as continuing down Govetts Creek to the junction with Katoomba Creek and returning via the Minnehaha Trail. If you’re doing this section of Bruces Walk, Myers Fall is worth the detour – but give Ross Dell Falls a miss.
Getting to Govetts Creek and Henson Glen
There a few ways to reach Henson Glen; the “easy” way is to follow Bruces Walk and then an unnamed track down Govetts Creek. This is all “on track”. Alternatively, both Bruces Walk and an unnamed firetrail off Mount Hay Road provide access down Govetts Creek further upstream, from where you follow the creek down to Henson Glen. Both trailheads are about 4km (5min) from Leura and 6km (10min) from Katoomba.
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