Day Trip To Blue Mountains, Exploring Hazelbrook
Hazelbrook does not has the attention that towns such as Katoomba, Leura or Blackheath have. However, Hazelbrook is home to some incredible beautiful cascades, waterfalls, water holes, pools, gorges and incredible colors.
The small town of Hazelbrook is only 1.5 hours from Sydney City by train or less by car. I really loved exploring this area, as someone who enjoys the connection with Nature, this place offered incredible views, peace and serenity. I could enjoy the entire hike for myself, explore their emerald waterfalls and much more ✨
What you’ll see
- Victor Falls
- Terrace Falls
- Little Terrace Falls
- Waterholes
- Bedford Pool
- Enjoy a snack at Willawong Pool
- Little Lester Pool
- Pyramid Falls
- Canyon along the creek
Difficulty
This is a short-ish loop hike — 10 km return from the train station back to the station. It is classified as a Medium grade. The trails are narrow and seem mostly very old and obviously not as frequented which is something I really like. There’s no much elevation gain or loss, perhaps around 200m over 5km, which makes it very smooth.
It could be completed in 5 to 6 hours at an average pace and taking the time to enjoy every view, take photos and have some snacks.
Getting there
I always catch the 05:24am Train Service from Sydney Central Railway Station. By 07:00 am I am in town ready to start.
Follow Terrace Falls Rd, soon enough the trail starts and it will take you along the creek heading downwards.
Victor Falls
After a few minutes on the trail, you’ll arrive to the bottom of the falls. These are very nice falls. They look like a big sheer wall with plants hanging, like a Babylonian garden. The water flows nicely forming a glassy pool on the base. You’ll get to have them all for yourself:
This hike is a like playing a game and you level up after each highlight, it gets better and better!
The next highlight is more breadth taking than the previous one and the same can be said for the next ones
Terrace Falls
Due to the rich dense vegetation of the area, you cannot see further ahead. That means that all of a sudden the waterfalls open up to you in the most spectacular way!
There’s this giant Amphitheatre like structure. This is such a magical one. Absolutely peaceful! and again, all for yourself, take the time to enjoy them as much as you want.
Look closely, there are eroded engravings done on rocks several decades ago ;)
Next, we continue down the trail always along the creek, sometimes it involves crossing the creek from side to side.
What comes next are a Waterfall that is not showcased on Google Maps
Little Terrace Falls
When I arrived to this spot from the top I got to see the whole water hole from above. The turquoise colour was like something out of a movie, like The Beach or something like that.
Head for the Pools
Continuing down the trail, the creek comes at a T intersection with another creek. From there, you can choose heading right or left. I recommend heading right and then towards the left as it allow us to loop back to town from there.
Heading right takes you to Willawong Pools. The pattern repeats, while on the trail the visibility is scarce, the thick bush prevents you from seeing further up ahead. Which is great because suddenly the majestic nature opens up to you…
Once in Willawong pool, you can retrace your steps back to the T intersection and take the left. From there it is a short-ish walk until you reach Bedford pool. Perfect open area with a nice beach to seat down and enjoy a snack.
Bonus: from the beach side, the trail continues down to the smaller pool, Lester pool. That’s were actually I decided to have a nice cuppa tea ;)
From the point you reached Bedford pool, there’s another trail heading left and upwards. That trail will link up with Terrace Falls Rd later on.
Before reaching the gravel road, we can do a small detour to Pyramid Falls.
By midday you are back in town ready to explore the Cafés of Hazelbrook
This time I took away my coffee and jumped right onto the train.
Note: this can be a dangerous hike for less experienced hikers that are not used to rough terrain. Always check the alerts from the NSW National Parks. Sometimes there might have heavily rained recently and the creek can become a real hazard if you’re planing to head into the area.
Checkout other astonishing day hikes in the Blue Mountains:
Explore the famous the Grand Canyon
Explore more unique canyons in Blackheath
Incredible Hidden Blue Pools in Springwood
Explore the Breathtaking Glenbrook Gorge
Leura to Katoomba gems
Finally, if you enjoy exploration, adventure and travel as much as I do :) join me in my Instagram account for some great genuine content about all that :)
Au revoir!
