Out of all the trails and lookouts I have been to in the Blue Mountains, this by far is my favourite. It’s remote, sheer, easy to get to and not overly busy. The view of the valley is one thing but hanging rock itself is breath taking to see up close. You can also face your fears and leap out onto hanging rock and go to the very tip to feel a serious adrenaline rush!
Hanging rock faces east so I think the best time of day to get out there is for sunrise, you will get the most beautiful photos with the glowing morning light in the backdrop and you will most likely have the place to yourself.
To access the train head, drive to the end of Ridgewell Road in Blackheath, there is an area to park and you will see the fire trail.
It‘s a 5km walk to the look out that‘s an easy, flat and wide fire trail. You will see a bunch of people ride this trail if that’s more your style, but you will have to leave your bike at the turning circle at the end of the trail to walk up the short bush track to the unfenced Baltzer lookout, also known as Hanging Rock.
From the look out is where you will see a rocky path down on the left which will take you all the way down to hanging rock, this is where the trail isn’t so flat or wide, you will need to hold on with you hands at parts to get down but it’s definitely worth it.
To actually get out onto hanging rock you need to be gutsy enough to leap a sheer gap in the rock. It seems like a small gap but you can feel the breeze coming up and if you think about it too long you might freak yourself out like I did!! Although I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to do it so I was the one staying back to take the photos!! But at least I did better than my other friend who was to scared to walk the goat track down to hanging rock!
The sheer drop off all around is absolutely breath taking and will get your heart pumping!! The views are straight out into uninterrupted nature, a great spot to stop, have a snack, take some photos and take it all in.
We ended up getting there a little later than we wanted and started the trail just after sunrise, so we missed golden hour at hanging rock, but we were the only ones there and on our return walk we passed a bunch of groups heading out, so to get it to yourself I suggest going early!
I hope you add this one to your list and get out to see it for yourself, it won’t disappoint!
AK xx