Features

• Valley of the Waters / Empress Falls 1/2 day
• Grand canyon 1/2 day
• Fortress Creek canyon full day
• Butterbox canyon long day

What to Bring

• Comfortable walking shoes
• Shoes that can get wet
• Change of clothes
• Drinking water
• Camera, hat & sunscreen
• Sense of adventure

More Information

Abseiling/Empress Falls Canyon
This is a fantastic introduction to canyoning. You will learn the fundamentals of abseiling in the morning with a range of abseils from 3 to 30 metres in height. It's easy to see why this trip is so popular. Comprising a combined abseiling course and canyon trip, you will learn all the essential skills to tackle more difficult canyons such as Yileen and Hole in the Wall. After a delicious and wholesome picnic lunch you put your newly acquired skills to use in the exciting and action-packed Empress Falls Canyon. Scrambling, wading, swimming and jumping leads to a thrilling climax - a 30 metre abseil straight down a pounding waterfall into a deep pool. The easy walk out is on a well formed track with magnificent views of the Jamison Valley

Abseiling/Grand Canyon
Another fantastic abseiling canyon day for complete beginners. Although technically easier than Empress Falls Canyon, it has a harder walk out. During the morning, participants learn to abseil and get plenty of practice on a variety of cliffs from 3 to 30 metres in height. The afternoon trip through Grand Canyon is the highlight of the day. The fun starts with a 12 metre overhanging abseil, followed by plenty of swimming, scrambling and wading.

The beauty and serenity of this compact little canyon will surprise you, with ferny glades and towering rock walls providing a spectacular setting. Shafts of afternoon sunlight cut a blue haze through the darkened canyon. As the canyon unfolds, tall trees reach skyward, searching for their place in the sun. The 45 minute walk out is on a good walking track through temperate rainforest, finishing at Evans Lookout with spectacular views across the Grose Valley to Mount Banks and beyond.

Butterbox (Mt Hay) Canyon
This canyon is not for the faint-hearted. Three tricky abseils are negotiated before you reach the main creek, which starts with a bit of creek walking and scrambling (easy climbing) around big boulders. Soon the first highlight of the canyon is reached: an awesome drop into a deep pool. The two main abseils will lead you down a vertical waterfall, with the stance between the abseils being a chock stone, wedged in an airy position half way down the waterfall. That is canyoning at its best!

Another abseil and jump gets us to the end of the canyon. To walk out we sneak up through the rock faces along narrow ledges. The last excitement comes at the easy, 10 metre rock climb, some 150 metres above the foot of the cliff face. The views get better and better, and another hour’s walking takes us back to the car park

Fortress Creek Canyon
The 30 minute walk-in is leisurely and scenic, offering great views of the magnificent Grose Valley and the many hanging swamps. We descend to the start of the canyon, at this point a small creek. You will soon marvel at the scenery as you follow the creek’s clear, fresh water. Sometimes it is only ankle deep, while other sections require short swims. The first water-jump is just ten minutes from the start. First throw your pack in, take a deep breath and jump - guaranteed to waken the senses!

Deeper in the canyon, the main section features a spectacular water-jump into a deep pool, a superb swim through a narrow rock gorge, a short and fun subterranean journey beneath the rocks and an easy and short abseil into a rock pool (no previous abseiling experience required!). Our lunch spot at the canyon’s end is one of the most spectacular and breathtaking views in the mountains, for the creek eventually spills over an edge 100 metres up the huge sandstone cliffs that border the Grose Valley. The lunchtime panorama takes in the awesome 550 metre walls of Mt Banks - the highest in the Blue Mountains - and Blue Gum Forest, heart of the Blue Mountains National Park. Here you will change into your dry clothes again and tuck into a well earned lunch.

The walk out quickly ascends onto Fortress Hill and then Fortress Ridge. The view of the area from here is simply awesome. This is a brilliant walk in its own right! After an hour or so you will be back at the vehicles.

The Next Adventure...

Where do you go from here? Why not try one of these...

• Canyons near Kanangra Walls
• Canyons Near Mt Wilson
• Canyons off Bells Line of Road
• Canyons off Newnes Plateau