Golden Stairs, Ruined Castle and Mount Solitary all in a day!
With absolutely amazing views to behold, this is a Blue Mountains icon. Mount Solitary (Korrowall (meaning ‘strong one’) to the Gundungurra people) is the solitary mountain and feature point of the Jamison Valley in Katoomba. Both its modern and traditional names draw attention to its solitary status!
We will start our day by descending the challenging but beautiful golden stairs into a rainforest setting. After walking for a while in the valley we will reach the first campsite, an area that used to be home to a mining community, which is blessed to have a loo! After that, we will climb up to the ruined castle, a formation of very unique and interesting Hawkesbury sandstone that evokes feelings of a tall and grand “castle” above. I will help the team rock scramble up to get the best vantage points for photos. This is where we will have our morning tea.
Now we will climb up solitary. This is a very enjoyable walk with views all around, with the best being on the climb to the top. This is where we will have lunch. The group can take some free time to enjoy the views and take photos here.
Afterwards we will climb back down and route around to return to the golden stairs (we won’t be going back the way we came via the ruined castle) there is of course the opportunity for another toilet stop before we climb back up to the cars.
Finally, once back at the top, I will walk the team to one of my favourite ‘secret’ lookouts in Narrow Neck, armed with a thermos and everything we need for Tea/coffee to admire the landscape we just explored and conquered.
Details:
🗓When: Saturday 6 July
⏰Time: Walk departs 8:00am (please be on site at 7:45am for briefing)
🧭Meet at: Narrow Neck Golden Stairs Carpark
😎Difficulty: Hard, (steep 950m+ elevation gain)
🗺Length: 18km, approximately 8-9 hours, including lunch and morning tea breaks
🥾Hiking boots: advantageous
⛰Fitness level: High
🚻Toilets: There is a toilet part way through the walk, allowing for 2 proper stops in the day.
What to bring:
💊essential medication (eg. Ventolin, Epi Pen)
🥢walking poles if you have them
💧3 litres of water (minimum) there is no water on trail anywhere to filter so please don’t skip this, there will be a water check before we start.
⏹A small towel in case you get wet, this is also good for sitting on at lunch.
🥪Food for lunch
🌞Sunscreen/hat
🧥A warm top/jacket plus a Raincoat/poncho or similar depending on the weatherman!
What is included:
🌟Guidance by an Experienced Local guide
🍪Snacks throughout the day
☕ Hot Drinks at the secret lookout before your drive home
🛡First Aid and CPR
📡Personal Locator Beacon
📸Photo and Video assistance throughout the day
🌳Limited to 8 customers only
🎟 $5 of your ticket price goes directly to NPWS for upkeep and improvement in the park
Note we are only taking a maximum of 8 customers on this walk. Please do not attempt this walk if you have not walked at least 15km on a hike before.
This is a demanding walk, Customers must be able to walk at a reasonable pace of 4-5km an hour at a minimum.