The Blue Mountains offer breathtaking views, rugged tablelands, sheer cliffs, deep inaccessible valleys, enormous chasms, colorful parrots, cascading waterfalls, historic villages, and stupendous walking trails. In 2000, UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage Site. Although the Blue Mountains are where Sydneysiders go now to escape the humidity and crowds of the city, in the early days of the colony, the mountains kept at bay those who would explore the interior. In 1813, three explorers -- Gregory Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth, and William Lawson -- managed to conquer the cliffs, valleys, and dense forest, and cross the mountains (which are hardly mountains but rather a series of hills covered in eucalyptus and ancient fern trees) to the plains beyond. There they found land the colony urgently needed for grazing and farming. The Great Western Highway and Bells Line of Road are the access roads through the region today -- winding and steep in places, they are surrounded by the Blue Mountains and Wollemi national parks.
The entire area is known for its spectacular scenery, particularly the cliff-top views into the valleys of gum trees and across to craggy outcrops that tower from the valley floor. It's colder up here than down on the plains, and clouds can sweep in and fill the canyons with mist in minutes, while waterfalls cascade down sheer drops, spraying the dripping fern trees that cling to the gullies. You'll need at least a couple of days up here to get the best out of it -- a single-day tour, with all the traveling involved, can only just scratch the surface.
Color Me Blue -- The Blue Mountains derive their name from the ever-present blue haze that is caused by light striking the droplets of eucalyptus oil that evaporate from the leaves of the dense surrounding forest.
The Blue Mountains are also one of Australia's best-known adventure playgrounds. Rock climbing, caving, abseiling (rappelling), bushwalking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and canoeing are practiced here year-round.
