A long and narrow lookout opposite Reids Plateau, Vanimans Lookout offers one of the most iconic Blue Mountains views of Katoomba Falls, the Three Sisters across the valley and the Scenic Skyway cable car above.
Vanimans Lookout is also a great vantage point to see Katoomba Falls.
The Three Sisters is directly in front of Vanimans Lookout, and in the distance the cliffs of Kings Tableland.
Vanimans Lookout was regarded as one of the best viewing spots of the Three Sisters from the early 1900s:
Perhaps the most perfect view is that which is obtained from Vaniman’s Look-out, a little further down the mountain… Immediately on our left are the beautiful Katoomba Falls, precipitating themselves over stupendous cliffs, bold and rugged in outline. The Sphynx Rock, wonderfully like one of the mysteries of the Egyptians, looks down upon the valley; the Watch Tower and the Three Sisters stand out in bold relief, and beyond them the King’s Tableland.
In front of us the Orphan Rock, looked down upon by Mount Solitary; the old coal and shale workings; and away in the distance fold upon fold of indigo coloured hills, on which the sun throws ever-changing lights and shadows. Beneath us, in the forest, we see the tracks running down to many beauty spots, and it seems difficult to believe that anywhere there can be a landscape possessing more sublime grandeur than this.
Katoomba and Leura in the Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 6 September 1905
Vanimans Lookout was named in 1905 after Melvin Vaniman, an American photographer who visited the Blue Mountains in the early years of the 20th century. He specialised in panoramic images, and “his antics atop a pole in Katoomba Park in 1903 earned him the nickname ‘the acrobatic photographer’”.
For some time past a pole 80 feet high has been standing in the high part of the Katoomba park, and all that was known of it was that it was for taking a photograph of Katoomba. It has been standing for some time waiting for an opportune day, and was utilised on Wednesday last. We saw the photographer, Mr Melvin Vaniman, from San Francisco, U.S.A., who is under special agreement with the New South Wales government and railway commissioners, and had the pleasure of seeing some of his unique work. These are panoramic pictures taken on one plate 48×16 inches, and embracing a panorama of over 190 degrees.
Panoramic Pictures of the Mountains in The Mountaineer, 27 November 1903
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For a slightly different perspective, a bit further along the the Furber Steps from Vanimans Lookout is a small overhang next to the track which frames a view over the valley.
Getting to Vanimans Lookout
Access to Vanimans Lookout is from Scenic World (in Katoomba), where the signposted Furber Steps descend steeply to the bottom of the valley, to meet the Federal Pass. You can re-trace your steps or take the Scenic Railway back to the top (or continue along the Federal Pass to extend the walk).
Vanimans Lookout is one of seven lookouts along the Furber Steps:
- Vanimans Lookout
- Juliets Balcony
- Rainforest Lookout
- Queen Victoria Lookout
- Lynes Point
- Furber Lookout
- Katoomba Falls View
More information
- Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (6 September 1905) – Katoomba and Leura [PDF]
- The Mountaineer (27 November 1903) – Panoramic Pictures of the Mountains [Trove]
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