Picnic area · Blue Mountains National Park
Quiet tables at Mount Banks' base, with a steep summit walk beyond.
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
Mount Banks: Ridge Views and Monkey Gums“Mount Banks picnic area is coming up, where you can have lunch among eucalyptus trees or start the summit walk. The climb takes two to three hours return, with steep steps and unfenced cliff edges.”
Plays as you drive up to Mount Banks picnic area in the Parkwolf Blue Mountains Tour Guide.
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Guide
Mount Banks picnic area is a quiet clearing at the base of Mount Banks in the remote Mount Wilson area. It’s a simple place for lunch among eucalyptus trees, and the starting point for the summit walk. Come for a peaceful break; the hike is a separate, much bigger outing.
Turn off Bells Line of Road onto Mount Banks Road; the last 1 km is unsealed before the picnic-area car park. There’s unpaved parking, picnic tables and a basic pit toilet. No food service or drinking-water supply is confirmed, so treat this as a bring-your-own lunch stop.
The Mount Banks Summit walk starts here. It’s 2.4 km return, Grade 3 and usually 2–3 hours, with a steep climb from exposed heath to tall monkey gums on the basalt-capped summit. The payoff is a wide view over Grose Wilderness; the top is unfenced.
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
ModerateMount Banks Road cycle route10 km · 4 hr · At the trailheadAn unsealed ridge road ends above the Grose Valley
ModerateMount Banks Summit walk2.4 km · 2.5 hr · At the trailheadOpen ridge views make the steep climb to a wooded summit worthwhile.
EasyWalls Lookout Track2.5 km · 1 hr · 2.3 km awayA short out-and-back to big Grose Valley views.
ChallengingPierces Pass to Blue Gum Forest walking track16 km · 7 hr · 2.6 km awayA steep Grose Valley descent to rainforest, river and Blue Gum Forest.
EasyRigby Hill walking track1.2 km · 1 hr · 2.6 km awayA short ridge walk ends above the Grose Valley.
ChallengingPierces Pass to Grose River4.9 km · 3 hr · 2.7 km awayA steep track to the river, then every step back up.
ChallengingPerrys Lookdown to Blue Gum Forest walking track5.3 km · 3.5 hr · 2.8 km awayDescend steeply to a forest bushwalkers saved from logging.
EasyAnvil Rock and Wind Eroded Cave Walk0.7 km · 24 min · 3.1 km awayTwo short spurs pair a valley lookout with a sculpted cave.
Sight · 1 km awayMount BanksA steep climb to a double-humped summit above Grose Wilderness.
Sight · 2.4 km awayWalls LookoutA short rocky walk opens onto a huge Grose Valley panorama.
Picnic area · 2.6 km awayPierces Pass picnic areaTwo very different walks start at this small Grose Valley picnic stop.
Sight · 2.7 km awayRigby Hill lookoutA short ridge walk to a broad Grose Valley panorama.
Sight · 2.8 km awayPerrys LookdownBig Grose Valley views, with the Blue Gum Forest far below.
Sight · 2.9 km awayAnvil RockA real anvil, a real story, and a wide Grose Valley view.
Sight · 3.2 km awayWind Eroded CaveA short stop for wave-shaped sandstone and a Grose Gorge view.Sight · 3.3 km awayBlue Gum ForestWalk into the grove bushwalkers saved from the axe in 1931.Parkwolf’s Blue Mountains ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
