When you’re looking for a workout that comes with an epic reward, it’s time to take on Perrys Lookdown. The track is essentially a stair master, but a beautiful one. You start at the top, head down into the forest and then there’s a big climb back up to the top again.
At the bottom you have the chance to walk through a picturesque blue gum forest and take a dip in the river - which has sensational mountain views.
It might be a steep track back, but once you’ve tackled all those stairs and won, it definitely gives you the feel good factor.
Here’s everything you need to know about hiking Perrys Lookdown.
Perrys Lookdown
The stats
Distance: 6.4km return to the Blue Gum Forest, 7.6km return to the campground
Elevation gain: 600m
Difficulty: Hard
Perrys Lookdown is a hard track in the sense that there is a lot of elevation gain over a relatively short distance (and it’s all on the return leg of the trail), however, it’s not a difficult walk in terms of terrain.
For the most part there is a well formed path, which - although uneven in places - makes the descent in particular much easier. If you’re not used to steep climbs, you’ll want to go on a cooler day as the heat and humidity can make the track feel a lot harder.
If you want to extend the walk, and have the option to make it one way using a car shuffle, there are plenty of options.
Starting the trail
The walk begins by heading to two lookouts, one just 60m into the track and the other 150m in. Both offer spectacular views over the mountains and the path to reach them is not very steep.
The track continues somewhat deceptively, with a leisurely almost flat stroll through a pretty stretch of forest for the next few hundred metres. You could be forgiven for thinking the steep nature of the trail is very hyped up.
At the 550m mark you will reach a memorial stone dedicated to those who lost their lives in a bush fire in 1957 - it’s heartbreaking to see how young they were.
The real descent begins
It’s from the memorial stone that the track begins to steepen. Although often in the bush, there are frequent views out to the mountains.
The scenery begins to get more atmospheric as you descend into a damp rainforest gully.
There are overhangs and at one point you walk between two tall cliff walls which is very picturesque.
The steps can be quite uneven and broken in places, but there are handrails in any of the steeper sections, and even when wet, the track didn’t feel particularly slippery.
Just after you walk between the cliffs you reach my favourite section of the descent. You head down a set of steep stone stairs beside a towering cliff wall with a distinctive rock formation to the right.
It’s so dramatic and has real lost city vibes.
Just beyond this, there is one very short section of track where there are large footholds cut into the rock. It’s the only bit of the track which is anything other than steps or sloped trail, but it’s not what I’d call a scramble and easy enough.
The descent continues
You’re now roughly 1km into the walk and the track continues in much the same way, but with less of the cliff faces and mountain views and more time spent solely in the bush - which is still very pretty.
After roughly a further kilometre of near continuous descent the path does flatten. It doesn’t last long, but it does offer some respite - more on the way up than the way down!
As you continue descending you’ll pass some tree stumps on the right which look like they are sometimes used as a makeshift campsite. It’s a good place to take a break if you’re suffering from jelly legs!
From here the track continues downhill, but there are more short flat sections in-between.
Roughly 3km into the track you’ll begin to enter much denser forest and start seeing some of those beautiful blue gums.
Arriving at the Blue Gum Forest
As the path makes its way down towards the forest, parts of it are a little overgrown. Nothing major, but all the regrowth after the fires has made it thicker than the last time we walked this track.
Happily the path becomes much more gradual in incline. Roughly 3.2km into the track you will hit the bottom of the descent and properly enter the Blue Gum Forest.
The Blue Gum Forest is a spectacular place, but following the fires of 2020 it does look quite different to the last time we saw it.
Many of the trees are badly charred and voracious regrowth has occurred, which has lessened the wow factor a little. It’s still lovely, but we were a bit taken aback by how much it had changed.
Although the Perrys Lookdown Track officially ends here, it is very much worth continuing a little further to the best patch of blue gums and to take a dip in the river - it’s all flat from here, so no need to worry about adding to the climb back out!
To Acacia Flats
The next part of the walk is just 600m and takes you along a narrow dirt track through the forest. As mentioned, it is a little overgrown but still an easy path to follow.
You’ll quickly reach a sign for Acacia Flats, which is a pretty campsite if you’d like to spend longer exploring the area.
Just to the right of the sign, at the camping area, there is a good patch of blue gums which have largely escaped the fires unscathed.
It’s very much worth going to have a look before heading back to the sign and taking the trail on the left.
After 150m along the easy path on the left you will reach the Grose River. This is a wonderful place to cool off with some seriously incredible views!
Accessing the water is easy, you can just step straight off the sandy bank. The water is not that deep, for me around waist height, but it’s perfect for lazying around in.
The water was cool, but by no means freezing like some wild swimming holes we’ve been to lately. There were also plenty of those little nibbling fish to give you a free fish pedicure if you stay still for long enough!
Although I usually prefer places where I can have an actual swim, the views from here blew me away, with Mount Banks in one direction and Fortress Ridge in the other.
The climb back up
The climb back up is needless to say where things get a little more challenging. The good news is the first 1km is almost entirely flat.
After that things do get steep and remain so for most of the way to the top. Luckily it’s pretty shady and even though there are no official places to stop, there are always plenty of rocks and steps to sit on when you need to take a break.
It’s definitely a good workout but the view is much better than anything you’d get at the gym!
Getting to Perrys Lookdown
Perrys Lookdown is located just outside Blackheath, around a 1 hour 50 minute drive from Sydney and 25 minutes from Katoomba. The last 3km into the parking area is along a gravel road, the condition of which varies depending on the weather and when it was last regraded.
At time of writing it is heavily potholed and a bumpy ride. You don’t need a 4WD, but expect plenty of bumps and some unavoidable potholes.
Facilities at Perrys Lookdown
There is a campground beside the car park but it’s temporarily closed following storm damage. There is a pit toilet set a few minutes back down the road from the car park, which is open.
There are no facilities whatsoever anywhere along the trail or at Acacia Flats campground. Please take all your rubbish with you and pack light if camping at the bottom - we saw what looked like abandoned camping gear in several places along the track which was disappointing.
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