Grose Valley

The Grose Valley in the late 19th century.

A photo of Blue Gum Forest taken 2002

The Grose River is a river in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. This river's headwaters are in the high Blue Mountains area around Mount Victoria. These headwaters have formed the Grose River Valley, a nice bushwalking area in Blue Mountains National Park. The river continues between the two major routes across the Great Dividing Range west of Sydney, the Great Western Highway and Bell's Line of Road.

The river has cut a deep gorge through the area as it meanders its way towards the Hawkesbury River to the east. Sheer sandstone cliffs standing hundreds of metres above the river make for spectacular scenery and can be viewed extensively from the Blackheath area where there are a number of easily accessible lookouts, the best known being Govetts Leap. The river can also be viewed from the Bell's Line of Road.

Charles Darwin described the valley as "stupendous … magnificent" when he visited in 1836. In 1859 some of the first photographs in Australia were taken in the valley. At various times there were proposals for rail lines and dams but these have not proceeded. In 1931, the valley was the subject of one of Australia's first forest conservation battles.

Within the valley, the Blue Gum Forest is a portion of the greater forest distinct from the adjoining vegetation. It is mostly composed of examples of the towering Blue Gum and is more open as the larger trees inhibit the development of ground cover by blocking most of the sunlight. Protected by the Blue Mountains National Park, the forest can be accessed by foot only with several trails from different portions of the Grose River Valley and adjacent canyons meeting in the Forest.

There are a number of walks through the valley, with various entry, exit points and valley arms offering a range of permutations to explore. A moderate-grade day walk covering approximately 10km in five hours starts at Perrys Lookdown and descends sharply to the valley floor. Crossing through a corner of the Blue Gum Forest, the path goes through the Acacia Flat camp ground and follows the Grose Creek. Passing several abandoned campgrounds the path forks at Junction Rock, the route to Govetts Leap was closed in October 2003 following a landslide and as of May 2005 had not yet reopened. The route then starts a continuous climb towards the Great Canyon where it forks again where the path is followed to a steep climb to Evans Lookout. The general direction of travel is towards the southeast and this direction is recommended as the final climb at Evans Lookout is not as difficult as the ascent at Perrys Lookdown. In the valley the creeks are seasonal and are known to cause gastrointestinal upsets. The walk is much more strenuous in summer due to the higher daily temperatures and there is also an attendant greater risk from bushfire.

In November 2006 the valley was damaged by bushfires. In particular the Blue Gum Forest was damaged by back burning.