Tunnel View lookout

Tunnel View lookout is an open, north-facing viewpoint in the Glenbrook area of Blue Mountains National Park. It looks across a wooded gorge toward Glenbrook and, on a clear day, as far as Kurrajong, nearly 50 km away. Come for the wide valley view and the chance to watch a train cross the line below.

Look down toward the train-line cutting for two historic tunnels built in 1911. Their openings are small against the gorge and can be hard to distinguish from the broad viewpoint. Beyond them, look for the flat, basalt-capped profiles of Mount Banks and Mount Tomah.

The lookout is unfenced, so keep children close and stay well back from the drop. Access is rated hard, but the specific approach length and footing are not established; expect an uneven walk and don't rely on a precise distance or assume a level path. Food, toilets and drinking water have not been confirmed at the lookout, so bring what you need.

In warmer months, woody pears carry creamy flower spikes and flannel flowers open white. May brings migrating red wattlebirds, honeyeaters and noisy friarbirds to feed around the lookout. It's worth slowing down after the panorama for the smaller signs of life in the surrounding bush.

For a photo, include a strip of the rocky ledge or nearby branches in the foreground, then leave room for the gorge and distant ridges. That gives the valley depth; a tight crop of trees loses what makes this viewpoint distinctive. The railway tunnels are a small detail to look for in person, not the main subject of the broad view.