Redledge Pass to Devils Hole: a challenging Narrow Neck circuit

There’s a buzz of activity around Narrow Neck Lookout; with Glenraphael Drive closed to traffic, the lookout is the main access point for bushwalkers, climbers and mountain-bikers heading out along Narrow Neck. Led by Peter Cai, our bushwalking group meets here before we set off down Narrow Neck towards Castle Head and Redledge Pass.

Viewpoints along Narrow Neck

Several detours to a few Narrow Neck Lookouts along our route provide some welcome relief from the somewhat uninspiring fire trail walking. The first vantage point has a great view over the Jamison Valley to Mount Solitary and Castle Head.

Between Mount Solitary on the left and Castle Head on the right is Ruined Castle, and in the distance are the many peaks of Kanangra-Boyd National Park.

From the fire trail are alternating views: towards the north is Mount Elphinstone on the Radiata Plateau and the Megalong Valley, and to the south-west is Diamond Head, where we can just make out the tiny figure of a bushwalker (or climber) traversing the ledge cut deeply into the cliff face.

It’s about 2.5km to the locked gate on Narrow Neck, which is as far as you drive when Glenraphael Drive is open.

We leave the unsealed road again to visit some more viewpoints along Narrow Neck; the first one provides an expansive view over the Jamison Valley and Mount Solitary.

Along the edge of the cliff are several Aboriginal axe grinding grooves.

We continue off-track along Narrow Neck, admiring the profusion of Spring flowers, until we reach the track out to Castle Head.

Castle Head – A Trig With a View

Initially called “Ruined Castle Ridge”, the Castle Head spur – which juts out from Narrow Neck on its eastern side – wasn’t included on Miles Dunphy’s 1919 map of Narrow Neck.

Now a popular, signposted bushwalk the Castle Head track offers some splendid views for most of its length: to the south is the Jamison Valley, bounded by the cliffs of Kings Tableland.

As the trail follows the top of the Castle Head ridge, the views open up even more, with Lake Burrogorang and Nattai National Park in the distance.

The highest point of the ridge is Castle Trig (987m); the end of the Castle Head is a little further.

Castle Head offers one of the most spectacular views of the Blue Mountains – and one of the best views for least effort – with a panorama that encompasses the cliff of Katoomba and the Scenic World cablecar to the north, Kings Tableland to the east. Mount Solitary to the south-east in the middle of the Jamison Valley and Narrow Neck to the south west.

Directly ahead, below Mount Solitary (Korowal), is the small rocky outcrop that is the Ruined Castle – my favourite vantage point in the Blue Mountains.

As we make our way back to Narrow Neck, we leave the formed track again as we head for another informal Narrow Neck lookout.

The vista starts to unfold as we make our way to the rocky outcrop at the edge of Narrow Neck.

From the exposed rock platform is a magnificent 180-degree view to towards the south.

Offering a similar perspective to Castle Head, from here you look straight down Cedar Valley to Mount Solitary, with the Castle Head ridge to the left and Narrow Neck to the right.

After a short break, we make our way back via a very indistinct trail to the Narrow Neck Firetrail.

Down Redledge Pass

Another indistinct trail from the unsealed Narrow Neck road heads towards the cliff line on the western side of Narrow Neck, where we are descending via Redledge Pass.

As we reach the cliffs, there’s an initial 80m descent to Corral Creek down a narrow and steep slot.

Along Corral Creek is Lizards Leap – a small waterfall – just above where we drop down into the gully.

Despite Redledge Pass being a relatively popular route, there’s almost no track as we traverse the scrubby gully.

On the opposite side of the gully is the start of Redledge Pass, one of the easier Narrow Neck passes. It’s an old miners’ route to the Glen Shale Mine, and was used long before Europeans by the local Aboriginal people. A log book is located here.

The wide ledge has no real exposure (although care is needed on a few short sections where there is a steep drop), providing an easy passage along the base of the tall cliffs.

About halfway along the cliff-line is a vantage point over the Megalong Valley; below Megalong Head on the Radiata Plateau you can see one of the rural properties along Nellies Glen Road. From here you can continue along the cliff-line Rock Pile Pass or to Diamond Head to ascend back to Narrow Neck, or (as we are doing) descend to the bottom of the valley to pick up a firetrail at the bottom of the valley (Mitchells Creek Trail or Nellies Glen Road).

The descent down the gully starts by scrambling under a large chockstone and down a wide slot.

There’s some easy scrambling along the distinct but steep track.

The most common route follows a northerly direction to meet Corral Creek, and then the remains of an old mining tramway. We take a slightly longer but easier route that continues in a north-west direction, passing what might be some old mine shafts.

Most of the descent is through fairly open forest, with a bit of scrub as we cross a minor (dry) creek.

Up via the Six Foot Track and Devils Hole

We eventually reach the Mitchells Creek Trail, a firetrail which descends gently to Nellies Glen Road (also known as the Six Foot Track).

Turning right onto Nellies Glen Road (Six Foot Track), we pass the site of the Glen Shale Mine village, which between 1885 and 1904 had a hotel with 13 rooms, a public hall, butcher and bakery with a population of about 40 families. The buildings were demolished and the material re-used in Katoomba when the mine closed, and there is almost no remains other than some foundation stones near the boundary fence.

After about 1.5km we turn right onto the old Water Board Road, which starts to ascend a little more steeply towards the base of the cliffs.

It’s another one kilometre – and several flowering waratahs – before we reach the bushwalking track that exits the valley via Devils Hole.

The Devils Hole Track crosses Devils Hole Creek (which is flowing), as it climbs steadily up from the valley.

Our progress is briefly paused as we observe an echidna, which eyes us cautiously as we pass.

As it continues to ascend, the Devils Hole Track gets gradually steeper.

The steepest – and most interesting – section is the last scramble up to Devils Hole.

The route heads straight to a dramatic cleft in the cliff line, which has a massive chockstone jammed at the top. Devils Hole was originally an Aboriginal route into the valley (referred to as “Blacks’ ladders”) which was later used by shale miners between 1892 and 1897 and then upgraded and incorporated into the tourist walking track network.

The Devils Hole track emerges on Cliff Drive, with a last view to the south of Mount Solitary and the Jamison Valley.

The Redledge Pass to Devils Hole loop is about 11km (allow 5-6 hours); with the addition of Castle Head and a few off-track Narrow Neck lookouts the bushwalk as described here is around 18km (6-7 hours). If Glenraphael Drive is open to cars, you could reduce the distance by about 2.5km with a car shuffle.

Getting to Redledge Pass and Devils Hole

The best starting point if doing this bushwalk from Redledge Pass to Devils Hole is to park at the Narrow Neck Lookout along Cliff Drive, which is around 3.5km (6min drive or 45min walk) from Katoomba Station. Alternatively, if Glenraphael Drive is open you could do a car shuffle, leaving one car at the locked gate along Narrow Neck, and another along Cliff Drive near the junction with Essendene Road.