Prince Henry Cliff
Walk & Three Sisters
steps
GPX route · Path & steps
What to expect
We came for a run and gave up on that idea inside the first kilometre. The Prince Henry Cliff Walk hugs the edge of the Jamison Valley from Echo Point, and there's a lookout every few minutes, so we stopped trying to push a pace and just walked from view to view like everyone else. The path is sealed and stone underfoot, rising and falling along the escarpment the whole way, never dropping into the valley, so the climbing comes in small repeated doses rather than one big descent and haul back out. The Three Sisters are the obvious stop, a short set of steps down toward them, but the quieter lookouts further along were the ones we lingered at, with the valley opening up and hardly anyone around. Worth knowing this is the clifftop walk, not the Giant Stairway, which drops steeply to the valley floor and is a very different day out.
Getting there
Start from Echo Point at Katoomba, the main lookout and the busiest spot in the mountains, about two and a half hours from Newcastle. There is a large paid car park with toilets and a visitor centre, and it fills early on weekends and in school holidays, so come at first light if you can. Without a car, it is an easy trip: Katoomba station is about 1.5 km from Echo Point, with local buses running the gap, and the train from Sydney comes straight up the line.
Conditions
Good year-round, and one of the few mountains walks that holds up in winter, though the clifftop is exposed and the wind off the valley can be sharp, so carry a layer. The path can close in high wind or fire danger, so check park alerts before you set out. The lookouts get busy from mid-morning, so early starts give you the views and the light with far fewer people. Carry water, there are taps at Echo Point but none along the cliff. We walked it on a cool 13 degree morning with a light easterly and low cloud lifting off the valley, which is the mountains at their best.
From the trail
