Wentworth Falls
Three-tiered cascade reached by a staircase hand-carved into the cliff face over a century ago.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains near Sydney opens with the wind trick that can make Jamison Creek appear to flow uphill on a wild day. It traces the 1813 crossing by three colonists, including young William Charles Wentworth, and Charles Darwin's 1836 visit, when he stood at the cliff edge, guessed at the drop, and turned back because there was no way down. It follows the stonemasons known as the Irish Brigade, who set out to cut a staircase straight into the sandstone by hand. Try it on a windy day.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Scenic World
Former coal-mine railway turned thrill ride, dropping into rainforest valley on the world's steepest passenger incline.
Mrs Macquarie's Chair
Sandstone bench hand-carved into a harbourside rock ledge, with sweeping views across Sydney Harbour.
Cockatoo Island
Sandstone island dockyard where convicts carved a dry dock and one prisoner swam to freedom and outlaw fame.
Georges Head Lookout
Convict-carved coastal gun battery on a sandstone headland, its tunnels and casemates built twice over for invasions that never came.
Wattamolla Beach
Sheltered lagoon beach behind a sandbar, fed by a waterfall and framed by sandstone cliffs.
Echo Point Lookout (Three Sisters)
Sandstone peaks above a rainforest valley, tied to a legend invented long after the landscape.