Mount Banks Summit walk (2.4 km, Moderate) – Blue Mountains National Park

Overview

About Mount Banks Summit walk

Why go

Open ridge views across the Grose Wilderness
A basalt cap with tall monkey-gum forest

Heads up

Steep, step-heavy climb for a short walk
Unfenced summit; trees can screen the views

Mount Banks Summit walk is a steep out-and-back from Mount Banks Picnic Area to the 1,062 m peak. The listed walk is 2.4 km return and usually takes 2–3 hours; it is graded 3. It’s a short outing on a map but a proper uphill effort, with many steps and some obstacles. Choose it for the open ridge scenery, then the unusual forest at the top. The mapped path runs just over 1.3 km to the summit, so a GPS may measure closer to 2.6 km once you walk back the same way.

Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the climb for you?

Map & elevation

The route

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Full map

Elevation853–1,060 m

TrailheadMount Banks Picnic Area-33.57958, 150.36475

Keep this map with you offline in the Parkwolf app

Plan your hike

Before you go

Parking

Safety

Steep track with many steps and some obstacles; the upper junctions can be less obvious. The summit is unfenced, with cliff edges: stay back and supervise children. Carry water and navigation. No pets.

3 active Blue Mountains alerts

ClosureRoads and tracks closed across Blue Mountains National ParkMany roads, fire trails and walking tracks across Blue Mountains National Park are closed; do not enter closed areas.Official details
CautionPark-wide solid-fuel fire banA park fire ban is active across Blue Mountains National Park: campfires and solid-fuel barbecues and stoves are prohibited. - Gas and electric cookers are permitted, subject to safety rules.Official details

See all 3 alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Blue Mountains Tour Guide

Your drive to Mount Banks Summit walk, narrated.

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 tour

Recorded for this trailhead

Mount Banks: Ridge Views and Monkey Gums

0:00 / 0:23

“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 this trailhead in the Parkwolf Blue Mountains Tour Guide.

Hiking Mount Banks Summit walk

Follow the marked climbFrom the picnic-area parking, follow the formed, signed track toward the summit.

From the picnic-area parking, follow the formed, signed track toward the summit. It gains height quickly in short steep sections, with many steps and occasional obstacles. Scrub and rock open onto the ridge as you climb. The main track is marked, but some hikers report that the upper junctions are less obvious; keep watching for the summit markers instead of following the broadest-looking line.

Make time for the ridgeThe open ridge gives you long views across the Grose Wilderness and the surrounding escarpments.

The open ridge gives you long views across the Grose Wilderness and the surrounding escarpments. This is the most dependable scenic payoff: the upper track climbs into trees near the top, so look back and enjoy the ridge openings on the way up and down. For a photo, frame one of those open sections with the scrub or rock in the foreground and the wilderness beyond. Stay well back from the cliff edge, especially when stopping for pictures.

A wooded summit, not a bare lookoutAt the top, Mount Banks’ basalt cap supports a tall forest of monkey gums.

At the top, Mount Banks’ basalt cap supports a tall forest of monkey gums. The summit outlook is mixed: trees screen parts of it, and many visitors prefer the clearer ridge vistas before the forest. Expect a wooded high point with occasional openings rather than a bare platform with an uninterrupted panorama. The monkey-gum name has a story: early explorers mistook greater gliders moving in the canopy for monkeys.

Choose your returnThe route stored here follows the direct summit out-and-back. A longer 4.

The route stored here follows the direct summit out-and-back. A longer 4.7 km option loops back to the picnic area by connecting with the Mount Banks Road cycle route. That adds road distance and makes a different outing, so its mileage is not included in this trail’s route.

Get to the picnic-area startFrom Richmond, drive west on Bells Line of Road.

From Richmond, drive west on Bells Line of Road. About 10 km past Mount Tomah, take the signposted Mount Banks picnic-area turnoff and continue 1 km on an unsealed road to the parking area. The access is listed for 2WD vehicles, and spaces can be limited on busy weekends. Carry drinking water, a hat, sunscreen and navigation; a free personal locator beacon can be hired from Blue Mountains Heritage Centre in Blackheath. Leave someone your trip plan. Domestic pets are not permitted in NSW national parks, and the Mount Wilson area can close temporarily for poor weather or fire danger, so check current alerts before setting out.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Blue Mountains

All Blue Mountains wildlife maps

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 map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Blue Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Mount Banks Summit walk