Two reasonably easy going walks here on Narrow Neck Plateau in the Blue Mountains at Katoomba. They both offer sweeping views over the famous landmarks of the Jamison Valley from a different angle than the more famous vantage points, and there’s also views of the Megalong Valley.
Castle Head juts out from Narrow Neck Plateau into the Jamison Valley, providing roughly 270 degree views, and if you’ve ever done the Ruined Castle / Mt Solitary walk then you’ll have seen it from down in the valley (it’s to the right of me in the picture below). There’s attractive heath vegetation on this part of the walk.
The main body of Narrow Neck Plateau divides the Jamison and Megalong Valleys, and at the narrow part you get good views over both. You can walk all the way to the end of this peninsula, however we stopped at this narrow section and walked back. There’s some attractive sections of forest along the fire trail which adds to the appeal of this walk.
There’s also a viewpoint over the Jamison Valley a few hundred metres from the start. Those views are at the end of my photos because we missed it on the way out and visited it instead on the way back. Definitely worth the very short detour, which is on an indistinct track to the left before you get to the Castle Head turn off. Track notes at the end.
Castle Head & Narrow Neck Plateau: The Scenery
Back onto the fire trail and we passed through some nice sections of forest, with endangered plants protected by the side of the fire trail in one section.
Views from near the start here…
Track Notes
We used track notes in Blue Mountains Best Bushwalks, but the tracks are fairly obvious. You could do one or both of these walks; easy if you do just one, but moderate if you do both.
From the locked gate and car park on Glenrafael Drive (an unsealed road with lots of big potholes!) you walk down the fire trail for a few hundred metres until you come across an indistinct track on the left leading off to views of the Jamison Valley (very close). Return to continue along the fire trail: the Castle Head turn off is signposted on the left, and you walk to the end of the track. Returning from Castle Head, keep going down the fire trail until you get to the obvious narrow part for more views. You can continue down the trail if you like, but it’s a long way on a fire trail and I don’t think there are any more views until the end.
