A lesser known but nevertheless spectacular walk in the Upper Blue Mountains near Mt Victoria. There are cliffs galore, views up and down the deep Grose Valley, and other features such as patches of treeless grasslands.
This walk near Mt Victoria offers some of the best views of typical Upper Blue Mountains scenery, but is relatively unknown so you’ll be able to enjoy the serenity without the crowds. The tracks visit some excellent vantage points on the edge of rather precipitous cliffs with views over the spectacular Grose Valley, and there’s also a few patches of treeless grassy plains (the swamps I presume) that make for a nice change of scenery in this heavily forested area. Add to this a handful of rocky outcrops along the way, some interesting trees, and a worthy side trip to visit a small historic mine. All this for less than 10km of flattish walking. And afterwards we drove down to the end of Victoria Falls Road to check out the lookout there.
The views started on the drive in.
Track Notes
Pretty straightforward to do the walk we did. We used notes in the book Blue Mountains Best Bush Walks, and you can buy a digital resource on the walks around Mt Victoria (and all around the Blue Mountains) on the author’s website. There’s also notes on Wildwalks for the route to Thor Head, and to the mine; continue on past the mine turnoff (which is real easy to miss) to reach nearby Asgard Head and more great views. These landmarks can be seen on Google Maps. And on the map below you can see that by continuing along Victoria Road you can visit the lookout there.
Asgard Swamp & Thor Head Walk: The Scenery
Sophia was fascinated with this tree. One of the swampy areas.
There were a number of rocky outcrops on this walk, which added to the atmosphere.
Sophia with the Grose Valley behind her. From Thor head. The Grose Valley viewed from Thor head. Looking deeper into the Grose Valley. I liked the shape of distant cliffs. Looking north-westish up an arm of the Grose Valley, viewed from Thor Head. The Grose Valley. Quite a few hundred metres deep. Sophia checking out the view of cliffs on the other side of the Grose Valley. A panorama on the way to Thor Head, viewed from where the track passes near the cliff edge.
Knobbly, mottled bark. “Ebony, and ivory….” Silvery bark. There were various rocky outcrops like those behind Sophia in this picture. A bit of zoom to capture Mt Banks at the back there. Taken at Asgard Head. Nicely textured cliffs. A patch of super abundant rainforest in the Grose Valley below Asgard Head. Me taking pictures. Sophia doesn’t take many, but she did a good job with this one I think. This at Asgard Head. Walking down to the historic mine with one of only two parties we saw during the walk, despite it being a public holiday weekend. It’s easy to miss the track and in fact they found it for us. The mine entrance. Probably a coking oven at the mine.
My wife, Sophia, looking angelic.
We drove down the road to Victoria Falls Lookout to catch the sunset.
Sunset at Victoria Falls Lookout. Sunset at Victoria Falls Lookout. This is a short drive down the road from the start of the walk. A panorama from Victoria Falls Lookout.
