Blue Gum Forest

Perrys Lookdown is the shorter route. You get a broad gorge view before dropping steeply toward the forest, then have to climb back out. Pierces Pass is a bigger day: 16 km return, 6–8 hours and Grade 4. It passes through Fairy Grotto’s coachwood and sassafras rainforest, then crosses the Grose River before the canopy thickens near the grove. Choose Perrys for the direct visit; take Pierces if the longer walk is part of what you want.

There’s no food outlet at the forest, so bring food and drinking water. If you need to treat Grose River water, boil it for at least three minutes. The published route advice calls for a topographic map, GPS, compass and personal locator beacon, and asks walkers to submit a trip intention form. Acacia Flat is the nearby overnight campground; park information lists toilets there, not at the forest itself.

In 1931, Bilpin farmer Clarrie Hungerford planned to clear the grove for walnut trees. Sydney bushwalkers, including Alan Rigby, raised £130 to secure release of the lease; the agreement was reached on 15 November. The reserve was proclaimed in 1932, years before Blue Mountains National Park was established in 1959. That’s why this quiet stand of trees has an outsized place in Australian conservation history.

Mountain blue gums (Eucalyptus deanei) grow here on fertile alluvial ground, watered by streams and seepage from shale slopes. Some reach 50 m or more, rising above a ferny floor. The pocket of moist, rich soil stands out against the sandstone ridges around it. The Grose Valley’s cliffs were shaped by uplift and erosion over roughly 15 million years.

Bell miners are known for their tinkling calls in the forest. Gang-gang cockatoos and yellow-tailed black cockatoos are possible along the Perrys route, though sightings are never guaranteed. Take a quiet pause under the canopy and you may hear more than you see.

For the wide scene, stop at Perrys Lookdown before the descent: the forest lies below in Grose Valley, with Mount Banks across the gorge. For a closer frame, get among the trees and look upward so the pale trunks and canopy fill the shot; ferns and sandstone glimpses give it a sense of scale. That second view only comes after the hike in.