Sight · Blue Mountains National Park
A rugged, unfenced lookout over the Grose Valley.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Blue Mountains Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Blue Mountains National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Blue Mountains audio tourRecorded for this place
Fortress Rock from Fortress Ridge Car Park“Up ahead is Fortress Ridge car park, where Fortress Rock makes a shorter outing of about three kilometres return and an hour and a half.”
Plays as you drive up to Fortress Rock Lookout in the Parkwolf Blue Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Fortress Rock is an informal, unfenced lookout on a spur of Fortress Ridge, opening over the forested Grose Valley. It suits visitors looking for a less-developed viewpoint and comfortable with a rough bush track; allow about 3 km return, though published route and visitor estimates vary.
Start near Fortress Ridge Carpark on Mount Hay Road. The route follows a fire trail for about 700 metres before narrowing into a partly overgrown bush track that drops steeply to the ledge; the way back climbs to the ridge. The turn is poorly marked, and the farther Fortress Ridge Lookout is a separate stop on the same ridge. Mount Hay Road is unsealed and can be rough after rain, with limited parking near the gate.
Look along the Grose Valley toward Lockleys Pylon and Mount Hay, framed by sandstone cliffs. The viewpoint is unfenced; include the foreground rock and both valley walls in a photo, and compose from stable ground set back from the edge.
Wildlife
58 sightingsGrey KangarooMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
43 sightingsWombatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
18 sightingsRed-necked WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
53 sightingsSwamp WallabyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
23 sightingsBrushtail PossumMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
30 sightingsRing-tailed PossumMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Blue Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateFortress Ridge walking track7.4 km · 3 hr · 1.2 km awayWide Grose Valley views reward a rugged ridge walk.
ChallengingDr Dark's Cave Walk3.2 km · 2 hr · 1.2 km awayA steep, unsigned scramble to a storied sandstone overhang.
ModerateFortress Rock Lookout Walk2.9 km · 1.5 hr · 1.2 km awayOrange cliffs over the Grose Valley, on a short walk.
ModerateFlat Top Walk1 km · 36 min · 1.5 km awayA short, steep climb buys a wide Grose Valley outlook.
ChallengingBlue Gum Forest via Lockley Pylon11.8 km · 6 hr · 1.7 km awayPylon panoramas give way to a steep descent into blue gum forest.
ModerateLockley Pylon walking track7 km · 2.5 hr · 1.7 km awayA rocky heath walk pays off with a huge Grose Valley view.
ModerateHorse Track to Junction Rock7.8 km · 4.5 hr · 2.7 km awayStair-heavy descent to cascades and pools at Junction Rock.
ModerateGrand Canyon track6.3 km · 3.5 hr · 3 km awayA ferny creek gorge, waterfalls and sandstone slots in one loop.
Sight · 2.6 km awayEvans lookoutA short, step-free stop above the forested Grose Valley.
Sight · 2.8 km awayLockley PylonA rocky summit with a full sweep across the Grose Valley.
Sight · 4.2 km awayPulpit Rock lookoutStep down the rock blade for wide Grose Valley views.
Campground · 4.3 km awayAcacia Flat campgroundA remote tent camp beside Blue Gum Forest.
Sight · 4.7 km awayGovetts Leap lookoutSee the Grose Valley's cliffs without setting off on a bushwalk.Sight · 4.9 km awayBlue Gum ForestWalk into the grove bushwalkers saved from the axe in 1931.
Visitor center · 5 km awayBlue Mountains Heritage CentreWalk advice, free PLB hire and a VR peek at Wollemi pines.
Sight · 5.9 km awayPerrys LookdownBig Grose Valley views, with the Blue Gum Forest far below.Parkwolf’s Blue Mountains ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
