Evans Lookout (Blackheath)

Summary: Discovered in 1882, Evans Lookout in Blackheath is "an accessible spot with iconic Blue Mountains views" (NPWS).

How to get there: Cartpark at end of Evans Lookout Road
Walking distance to Lookout: 0.2km (return)
Duration: <1 hour
Grade: Easy
Height of Lookout: 960m
Topographic map/s: 8930-1S KATOOMBA (1:25K). Buy / Download

A popular Blue Mountains vantage point, Evans Lookout offers is described as “an accessible spot with iconic Blue Mountains views” (NPWS).

The lookout offers spectacular views over Grose Valley; just before dusk the sandstone walls glow orange from the setting sun.

It’s always a fairly busy lookout, with a view benches and tables from which to enjoy the view, and there are toilets here.

Evans Lookout is named after George Evans, a local solicitor and pioneer of the Blackheath area, and one of the first European settlers to discover this viewpoint in 1882. It’s been a popular Blackheath attraction since the 1880s.

Evan’s Lookout is at last reached. It is not able to boast a waterfall like Govett’s Leap, but the general panorama is positively grander. On the left of the scene stand Pulpit Rock, Hat Hill, and Perry’s Look Down, and in the distance, gaunt and stately, are Mount Wilson (3600ft.), Mount King George (3620ft), Mount Hay (2400ft.), and Mount Tomah (3240ft.).Almost on every side are the gigantic cliffs silhouetted against the setting sun, with a dainty waterfall flashing here and there in a thousand hues.

Below are the green slopes of “talus,” and at the bottom a silver, shimmering stream threads its way through the dense undergrowth, all playing their part in — “An inland sea of mountains, stretching far In undulating billows, deeply blue. With here and there a gleaming crest of rock.”
Wonders of Blackheath Gorge and Canyon Nature in her Wildest Mood,, The Daily Telegraph, Fri 25 Nov 1921

Bushwalks from Evans Lookout

A couple of bushwalks start or end at Evans Lookout:

Cliff Top Track continues along the edge of the cliff to Govetts Leap Lookout, with great views and more lookouts along the way
Grand Canyon Track descends steeply into a spectacular gorge, and back up to Neates Glen.

Getting to Evans Lookout

The fenced lookout platform is a short walk along a paved and wheelchair-accessible path from the end of Evans Lookout Road, where there is a large parking area. It’s about 6.2km from the town of Blackheath, 13km (15min) from Katoomba and 115km (1:45min) from Sydney.

Just below Evans Lookout is the smaller and unfenced Valley View Lookout, which offers a similar outlook without the crowds.