Florabella Pass is a very pretty walk in the lower Blue Mountains, the majority of which is also dog friendly. The track takes you through classic bushland, past loads of great overhangs, with an optional detour down to the creek for a dip - though this section is not dog friendly as it crosses into national park.
It’s not one of those walks which is all about the destination; the pass is for those that love spending time in the gorgeous Aussie bush.
It works best if you have two cars, allowing you to walk the track one way, though if like us, that’s not an option, you could also add on a little extra distance and take the train to save walking the track twice.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Florabella Pass Track.
The Florabella Pass Track
The stats
Distance: 6km one way in the bush.
- Extra 1.7km (7.7km total) if using the train to complete the loop
- Extra 4.4km (10.4km total) if walking along the road to complete the loop
Elevation gain: 305m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
Trailhead: End of Florabella St, Warrimoo
Summary: The trail conditions on Florabella Pass are generally very good. It’s mainly a well maintained dirt track, with wooden or stone steps to help with ascents and descents.
There are a few creek crossings, but these are almost always dry or with very shallow water, so it’s easy in anything but flood conditions. There are quite a few ascents and descents throughout the trail, but they are never long or overly steep.
The detour down to Glenbrook Creek is steep and this part of the track is not well manicured. It is rocky and narrow in parts and one section has footholds carved into the rock to help you get down - I would not recommend walking this section if the rock is wet.
If you’re walking with a dog you need to exit the pass at Plateau Parade to avoid crossing into the national park.
Starting the trail at Warrimoo
Though you can walk the pass in either direction, we decided to start at the end of Florabella St in Warrimoo.
From the parking area, you’ll see the old Florabella Pass sign hidden in the grass and as you head straight ahead, into the bush, you’ll also see the new council walking track sign.
There’s a good path with some stone steps and plenty of flat track as you quickly make your way into dense bushland.
After 110m you’ll begin descending a little more steeply, but the well maintained path means it’s easy and not in the least bit slippery (when dry).
The stairs soon give way to a zig zag path snaking downhill past lots of pretty overhangs. The track will then flatten and you’ll pass through lots of beautiful ferns and enjoy some shade from the forest canopy.
Through the bush
At the 700m mark you’ll need to look out for the creek crossing on the right. It’s not signposted and it would be easy to walk past it if you weren’t keeping an eye out.
The creek is generally very shallow and there are also rocks to use as stepping stones if needed.
The path continues heading uphill into the bush and curves left. There is a 150m ascent before the path flattens again. The next 250m are flat before you begin descending to the creek again, which you’ll reach 1.4km into the walk.
Less than 50m later you need to cross the creek again, but it’s also pretty dry and when you reach the opposite bank you’re in for a long flat stretch of track, which is very relaxing.
The next 1.4km are predominantly flat and pass many overhangs, which make it very picturesque. If you’re walking with a dog you need to look out for the Plateau Parade exit (Bridge Road) to avoid crossing into the national park.
At the 2.8km mark you’ll come to a fork and follow the path that leads downhill to the right, signposted as Ross Crescent.
The next 300m take you downhill a little more steeply, but it’s still a decent path. At the 3.1km mark, where a log lies alongside the track, there is a possible steep descent route to the creek.
This is a shortcut, but much steeper and sketchier than the main route and we’d recommend continuing on.
Along the cliff line
The main path now heads briefly uphill on a somewhat rubbly bit of track for 120m. There’s another nice overhang here, but if you do go and have a look, make sure you back track to the main trail afterwards.
There’s another social trail leading away from the overhang, that is very narrow and exposed in parts, which we ventured onto before quickly realising our mistake!
The main path continues along the cliff line above the water and is also narrow, but much less so than the other dodgy looking track.
The main path is in good condition, with the odd rocky section here and there, but it does run next to a steep drop.
Roughly 300m from the overhang you’ll come to a signposted fork, where you can make the short, but steep detour down to Glenbrook Creek. You can see the signs to look out for in the photos below.
Heading down to Glenbrook Creek
The path down to the creek is an extra 300m each way, with an elevation gain of 57m, so it’s pretty steep. It is not a manicured path like the rest of the track and is best avoided after rain as the rocky section may become slippery.
It begins easily enough, heading downhill on a mix of rocky/dirt track, but as you descend further it gets a bit scrambly in places.
There are a few spots which are quite narrow, a couple of bits with loose soil (though this is minimal) and you will need to climb down some rocks.
However, the bit that I think that makes it challenging in wet conditions, is a bit of rock wall you need to get down that has foot holds carved into it.
The footholds are wide, plentiful and well spaced out, but it is quite steep and it would not be pleasant if it were slippery. It’s very easy when going back uphill, but I went cautiously on the descent.
After this section you’re just 100m from the creek and the path is mainly rocky, but easy enough.
Swimming in Glenbrook Creek Boulder Pool
Once you’re down at creek level you need to head right (upstream) towards the swimmable part of the creek.
Our watch measured the distance to the Boulder Pool as 250m, but I think it’s a fair bit less, as rocky terrain always makes it over read the distance.
The first section involves some easy rock hopping. There’s a bit of debris, but nothing difficult to climb over or around.
You’ll come to a pool quite quickly, but this one is shallow and full of rocks making it unsuitable for swimming.
You can continue for another few minutes along the sandy overgrown path in the bush to the Boulder Pool (coordinates: -33.746262, 150.600638). This was just over 4.1km into the walk.
The Boulder Pool is large, deep and relatively easy to access. I climbed down the rocks at the coordinates mentioned above, but you could also enter from the sandy beach a little further back and then make your way upstream in the water.
The pool is nice, but it’s far from one of the best in the mountains. When the trees reflect in the water it’s a pretty green colour, but otherwise it’s more towards brown.
However, when inside the water it appears much greener and the view from inside the pool is really beautiful.
You can look back at where you entered the water and you’ll see a huge cliff wall, which reminded me a lot of some of my favourite swimming spots in Glenbrook.
If you don’t get in the water you won’t get this view and I didn’t take the camera in with me, so you’ll have to take my word for it : )
In short, Boulder Pool will never make it onto our list of the best swimming spots in the Blue Mountains, but it did make a refreshing place for a dip on a hot summer’s day.
Continuing to Pippa’s Pass and finishing the track
Once you’re back up on the main Florabella Pass Track again you’ll continue for another 50m before coming to a junction. The path heading up the steps on the left is signposted as Ross Crescent and this is a possible exit point.
There’s a second exit to the same place seconds later. However, we continued on to Blaxland along Pippa’s Pass. This is a right turn, leading downhill at the second fork (where going left would take you to Ross Crescent).
There’s a few minor undulations, but the majority of Pippa’s Pass is flat. The track is also very shady which was great on a hot day. The bush along this stretch of the walk is particularly pretty, with lots of ferns and Kangaroo tails.
Roughly 450m in, there’s a dry creek crossing and 500m later you’ll see a signpost for the library and follow it left. The path forks again 150m later and again you’ll keep left.
At this point the library is 150m away, the last little bit past an overhang takes you uphill on stones steps and then you’ll pop out at the car park behind the library, roughly 5.8km from the start of the walk.
The train station walks
If - like us - you want to use the train to make the walk a one way track, then from Blaxland library you’ll have approximately 450m to add onto the Florabella Pass distance. There’s pavement all the way to the station and it’s a mix of flat and uphill.
When you get off at Warrimoo you have a longer 1.3km stretch to get back to the trailhead, but this time it’s either flat or downhill. There is pavement the whole way and when you get onto the residential streets it’s quite pretty.
Parking for Florabella Pass
Parking for the walk is at the end of Florabella Street in Warrimoo in the lower Blue Mountains, you can see it here on Google maps. There’s room for several cars and no parking restrictions. There is also plenty of parking at Blaxland library at the other side of the pass, but this does have time restrictions (though I believe it was four hours, so still plenty of time and parking was free).
If you want to drive to the trailhead, but don’t want to get the train back, you could use Uber. When we looked it was a cost of $15, but this was a public holiday, so it might ordinarily be even cheaper.
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