Blue Mountains Colomatta or Gulumada | |||||||||||||
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 The Three Sisters sandstone rock formation, one of the region's best-known attractions | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:33°43′05″S150°18′38″E / 33.71806°S 150.31056°E /-33.71806; 150.31056[1] | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | New South Wales | ||||||||||||
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| Location |
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| • State electorates | |||||||||||||
| • Federal divisions | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 11,400 km2 (4,400 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 30,049 (UCL2021)[3] | ||||||||||||
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| Blue Mountains Range | |
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| Blue Mountains | |
 The characteristic blue haze, as seen in theJamison Valley | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | unnamed peak, north-east ofLithgow |
| Elevation | 1,189 m (3,901 ft) AHD |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 96 km (60 mi) NW/SE[4] |
| Geography | |
  Blue Mountains Range Location of the Blue Mountains Range inNew South Wales | |
| Country | Australia |
| State | New South Wales |
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TheBlue Mountains (Gundungurra/Dharug: Colomatta or Gulumada)[5][6] are a mountainousregion and amountain range located inNew South Wales,Australia. The region is considered to be part of the western outskirts of theGreater Sydney area. The region borders onSydney's main metropolitan area, its foothills starting about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of centre ofthe state capital, close toPenrith.[7] The public's understanding of the extent of the Blue Mountains is varied, as it forms only part of an extensive mountainous area associated with theGreat Dividing Range.[8] As defined in 1970, the Blue Mountains region is bounded by theNepean andHawkesbury rivers in the east, theCoxs River andLake Burragorang to the west and south, and theWolgan andColo rivers to the north.[9] Geologically, it is situated in the central parts of theSydney Basin.[10]
TheBlue Mountains Range comprises arange of mountains, plateau escarpments extending off the Great Dividing Range about 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) northwest of Wolgan Gap in a generally southeasterly direction for about 96 kilometres (60 mi), terminating atEmu Plains. For about two-thirds of its length it is traversed by theGreat Western Highway, theMain Western railway line and the proposed Blue Mountains tunnel.[11] Several established towns are situated on its heights, includingKatoomba,Blackheath,Mount Victoria, andSpringwood. The range forms the watershed between Coxs River to the south and the Grose and Wolgan rivers to the north.[4] The range contains the Explorer Range and the Bell Range.[12]
Once considered impassable by settlers,the 1813 expedition byBlaxland,Wentworth andLawson opened up the interior to British settlement. Today, the Blue Mountains area includes the local government area of theCity of Blue Mountains. Since the early 2010s, the region's biodiversity and infrastructure has been severely affected by massivebushfires of unprecedented size and impact.[13] In 2018, 8.4 million people visited the Blue Mountains.[14] TheBlue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests is a prominent forest community within the ecoregion.[15]
The original name for the Blue Mountains in the language of theDharug andGundungurra peoples is Colomatta (more accurately pronounced Gulu-mada). The meaning of the name is "koala place" from colo + matta.[5][6]
Following European settlement of the Sydney area, the area was named theCarmarthen and Lansdowne Hills byArthur Phillip in 1788. The Carmarthen Hills were in the north of the region and the Lansdowne Hills were in the south. The nameBlue Mountains, however, was preferred[16] and is derived from the blue tinge the range takes on when viewed from a distance. The tinge is believed to be caused byMie scattering which occurs when incoming light with shorter wavelengths is preferentially scattered by particles within the atmosphere imparting a blue-greyish colour to any distant objects, including mountains and clouds. Volatileterpenoids emitted in large quantities by the abundant eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains may cause Mie scattering and thus the blue haze for which the mountains were named.[17]
A sandstoneplateau dominated by a landscape ofeucalyptus forests, the Blue Mountains are located at the top of a 470-million-year-oldquartzite. In thePermian period, a shallow sea covered the region, when rivers broughtshales,siltstones andmudstones. Then during theMesozoic period, rivers dumped vast amounts ofsand, burying the othersedimentary rocks. By about 1 million years ago during thePliocene era, the Blue Mountains began to form, carving out deepvalleys and steepcliffs, with an elevation of 3,900 feet.[18][19]
The Blue Mountains have been inhabited for millennia by theGundungurra people, now represented by the Gundungurra Tribal Council Aboriginal Corporation based in Katoomba, and, in the lower Blue Mountains, by theDarug people, now represented by the Darug Tribal Aboriginal Corporation.[20][21]
The Gundungurra creation story of the Blue Mountains tells thatDreaming creatures Mirigan and Garangatch, half fish and half reptile, fought an epic battle which scarred the landscape into theJamison Valley.
The Gundungurra Tribal Council is a nonprofit organisation representing the Gundungurratraditional owners, promoting heritage and culture and providing a support for Gundungurra people connecting back to Country.[22][21]
Gundungurra Tribal Council Aboriginal Corporation has a registered Native Title Claim since 1995 over their traditional lands, which include the Blue Mountains and surrounding areas.[23]
Examples of Aboriginal habitation can be found in many places. In the Red Hands Cave, a rock shelter nearGlenbrook, the walls contain hand stencils from adults and children.[24]: 170 On the southern side of Queen Elizabeth Drive, atWentworth Falls, a rocky knoll has a large number of grinding grooves created by rubbing stone implements on the rock to shape and sharpen them.[25] There are also carved images of animal tracks and an occupation cave.[26] The site is known asKings Tableland Aboriginal Place and dates back 22,000 years.[27][28]
Arthur Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales, first glimpsed the extent of the Blue Mountains from a ridge at the site of today's Oakhill College, Castle Hill. He named them the Carmarthen Hills, "some forty to sixty miles distant..." and he reckoned that the ground was "most suitable for government stock". This is the location where Gidley King in 1799 established a prison town for political prisoners from Ireland and Scotland.
The first documented use of the nameBlue Mountains appears inCaptain John Hunter's account of Phillip's 1789 expedition up the Hawkesbury River. Describing the events of about 5 July, Hunter wrote: "We frequently, in some of the reaches which we passed through this day, saw very near us the hills, which we suppose as seen from Port Jackson, and called by the governor the Blue Mountains."[29] During the nineteenth century the name was commonly applied to the portion of the Great Dividing Range from about Goulburn in the south to the Hunter Valley in the north, but in time it came to be associated with a more limited area.[8]
The native Aborigines knew two routes[citation needed] across the mountains: Bilpin Ridge, which is now the location ofBells Line of Road betweenRichmond andBell, and theCoxs River, a tributary of theNepean River. It could be followed upstream to the open plains of the Kanimbla Valley, the type of country that farmers prize.
British settlers initially considered that fertile lands lay beyond the mountains; while in the belief of many convicts China lay beyond. However, there was little fear that the mountains might provide a means of escape since they were considered impassable.[30] This idea was, to some extent, convenient for local authorities. An "insurmountable" barrier would deter convicts from trying to escape in that direction.
A former convict, John Wilson, may have been the first colonist to cross the Blue Mountains. It is also believed thatMatthew Everingham, 1795,[31] may have also been partly successful based on letters he wrote at the time which came to light in the late 1980s. Wilson arrived with the First Fleet in 1788 and was freed in 1792. He settled in the bush, living with the Aborigines and even functioning as an intermediary between them and the settlers. In 1797 he returned to Sydney, claiming to have explored up to a hundred miles in all directions around Sydney, including across the mountains. His descriptions and observations were generally accurate, and it is possible that he had crossed the mountains via the southern aspect at the Coxs River corridor, guided by the Aborigines.[32]: 76–77
Governor Hunter was impressed by Wilson's skills and sent him on an expedition with John Price and others in January 1798. The party crossed the Nepean River and moved southwest towards the present site ofMittagong. There they turned west and found a route along the ridge where today theWombeyan Caves Road is located. In the process they found a way to go west of the mountains, by going around them instead of across them. In March of the same year, Wilson and Price ventured to theCamden area, and then continued further south until they encounteredThirlmere Lakes, finally almost reaching the present site ofGoulburn.
It is possible that the accomplishments of this expedition were suppressed by Hunter, who may not have wanted convicts to know that there was a relatively easy way out of Sydney.[32]: 83 Wilson was killed by Aborigines after abducting an Aboriginal woman "for his personal use",[33] but he had accomplished much as an explorer. He was never recognised as the first person to cross the mountains, possibly because his Coxs River journey could not be verified, while his route west of Mittagong may have been the "long way around" for a colony that had its eyes fixed on the sandstone fortress west of the Nepean.
Between 1798 and 1813, many people explored various parts of the mountains, from the Bilpin Ridge to the southern regions, today the site of theKanangra-Boyd National Park. Still, they did not find a definite route across the mountains.The1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains byGregory Blaxland,William Lawson andWilliam Charles Wentworth is officially credited as the first successful European crossing.[34] Blaxland set out with Lawson and Wentworth on 11 May 1813 and succeeded in crossing the mountains by 31 May. They ventured as far as to what is nowMount Blaxland, just west ofCoxs River.
In November 1813, Macquarie sent the surveyorGeorge Evans on an expedition to confirm the apparent discoveries made by Blaxland and his party. He was also told to see if there existed enough arable land to justify settlement. The issue had become more urgent because the colony was in the grips of a drought.
Evans and his party reached theFish andMacquarie rivers, and the site ofBathurst.[35] On 7 July 1814, construction of a road across the mountains was begun byWilliam Cox. The work was at the behest of Governor Macquarie. 30 convict labourers and 8 guards completed the road on 14 January 1815 after 27 weeks of hard work.[32]: 145
Since the Blue Mountains are rich in coal and shale, mining for these resources began inHartley Vale in 1865. J.B. North ran a shale mine in the Jamison Valley in the 19th century,[24]: 243 and other operations were set up in several places. Locations for mining activities included theJamison Valley, the upperGrose Valley,Newnes,Glen Davis and the Asgard Swamp area outsideMount Victoria. Shale mining failed in the long run because it was not profitable.
In 2000, theGreater Blue Mountains Area, a vast area of wilderness in the Blue Mountains for its exceptional biodiversity, was enlisted byUNESCO and categorized itself as a naturalWorld Heritage Site.
On 18 July 2023, a proposal for a naming board in a dual Aboriginal name was discussed by theGeographical Names Board of New South Wales whether the Blue Mountains would be officially named Gulumada.
The climate varies with elevation. At Katoomba, (1,010 m or 3,314 ft) the summer average maximum temperature is around 22 °C with a few days extending into the 30s (80s–90s °F) although it is quite common to see maximum temperatures stay in the teens when east coast troughs persist. Night-time temperatures are usually in the teens but can drop to single figures at times.
During winter, the temperature is typically around 10 to 11 °C in the daytime with −1 °C or so on clear nights and 3 to 4 °C on cloudy nights. Very occasionally it will get down to −3 °C or slightly lower but usually the coldest air drains into the valleys during calm, clear nights. However, the passing of cold fronts can significantly lower the average temperature during the night and the day. The Blue Mountains is not known for particularly cold mornings compared to other areas on the Central Tablelands, such as Oberon, Bathurst and Orange. There are two to three snowfalls per year.
Annual rainfall is about 1,050 millimetres (41 in) in the Upper Blue Mountains[36] with many misty days.
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The predominant natural vegetation of the higher ridges is eucalyptus forest. Heath-like vegetation is present on plateau edges above cliffs. The sheltered gorges often contain temperaterainforests. There are alsomany hanging swamps with button grass reeds and thick, deep black soil.Wollemia nobilis, the "Wollemi pine", a relict of earlier vegetation ofGondwana, is found in remote and isolated valleys of theWollemi National Park.
The Blue Mountains Range contains smaller mountain ranges: the Bell Range near The Bells Line of Road and north of the Grose River; the Explorer Range, south of the Grose River extending west towards Mount Victoria; the Caley Range, Erskine Range, Mount Hay Range, Paterson Range, and the Woodford Range.[37] The major recorded peaks are:[38]
The Blue Mountains are adissected plateau carved insandstonebedrock.[43] They are now a series of ridge lines separated bygorges up to 760 metres (2,490 ft) deep. The highest point in the Blue Mountains, as it is now defined, is an unnamed point with an elevation of 1,189 m (3,901 ft)AHD, located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north-east ofLithgow. However, the highest point in the broader region that was once considered to be the Blue Mountains isMount Bindo, with an elevation 1,362 m (4,469 ft)AHD.[8] A large part of the Blue Mountains is incorporated into theGreater Blue Mountains AreaWorld Heritage Site, consisting of seven national park areas and a conservation reserve.[44]
The Blue Mountains area is a distinct physiographic section of the larger Hunter-Hawkesbury Sunkland province. This is in turn a part of the largerEast Australian Cordillera physiographic division.
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The main natural disasters to afflict the area are bushfires and severe storms. In recent years[when?] the lower mountains have been subjected to a series of bushfires which have caused great loss of property but relatively little loss of life. The upper mountains had not had a major fire for some decades until December 2002 (the Blackheath Glen Fire) and November 2006 when an extensive blaze in the Grose Valley threatened several communities includingBell andBlackheath (the Lawsons Long Alley Fire). This latest fire burned for almost a month but was extinguished, mainly due to a change in the weather, without loss of human life or property. A program of winter burning seemed to have been successful in reducing fires in the upper mountains.
In recent years, the bushfires have become far more destructive and expansive than before. The region was severely damaged in the2013 New South Wales bushfires. However, even this was dwarfed by the2019–20 Australian bushfire season, during which the entire mountain range was devastated at a scale never seen before. According to preliminary reports, up to 80% of the World Heritage Area has burned as of January 2020, many of these being areas that had never burned in any previously observed bushfires. These destructive blazes have been linked to acceleratingclimate change. There have been fears that the blazes may severely reduce the biodiversity of the area and even wipe out some of the threatened species in the area, such as theregent honeyeater.[13]
The Greater Blue Mountains Area was unanimously listed as a World Heritage Area by UNESCO on 29 November 2000, becoming the fourth area in New South Wales to be listed.[45] The area totals roughly 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi), including the Blue Mountains, Kanangra-Boyd, Wollemi, Gardens of Stone, Yengo, Nattai and Thirlmere Lakes National Parks, plus the Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve.
This site was chosen to be included on the World Heritage list because:
"Criteria (ii) and (iv): Australia's eucalypt vegetation is worthy of recognition as of outstanding universal value, because of its adaptability and evolution in post-Gondwana isolation. The site contains a wide and balanced representation of eucalypt habitats from wet and dry sclerophyll, mallee heathlands, as well as localised swamps, wetlands, and grassland. 90 eucalypti tax (13% of the global total) and representation of all four groups of eucalypts occur. There is also a high level of endemism with 114 endemic taxa found in the area as well as 120 nationally rare and threatened plant taxa. The site hosts several evolutionary relic species (Wollemia,Microstrobos,Acrophyllum) which have persisted in highly restricted micro sites."[46]
The Greater Blue Mountains Area is inhabited by over 400 different forms of animals. Among them are rare mammal species likespotted-tailed quoll, thekoala, theyellow-bellied glider, andlong-nosed potoroo. There are also some rare reptiles, like theBlue Mountain water skink.[47] There are also somedingoes in the area, which form the top predators and hunt forgrey kangaroos.[48]
The Blue Mountains are a popular destination forrock climbers,mountain bikers andhikers as well as canyoning and other adventure sports. These sports are well catered for by guiding companies and equipment stores located mainly in Katoomba.
Popular climbing destinations include the Centennial Glen cliffs nearBlackheath andMount Piddington near the town ofMount Victoria. Climbing is currently banned on The Three Sisters.[56]
Mountain biking takes place mainly on the many fire trails that branch away from the main spine of the Great Western Highway, such as Narrow Neck, Anderson's Fire Trail and others.[57][58]
Likewise many of the fire trails are popular with day hikers, though many dedicated walking trails exist away from the fire roads.[59]
Canyoning in the Blue Mountains is a popular sport and caters for various skill levels. It carries inherent dangers, yet for those with the appropriate skills or those looking to take a guided trip there are many great opportunities to experience a different view of the Blue Mountains.
There are numerous abseiling options available in the Blue Mountains including single and multipitch routes. There are some restrictions though with certain areas being closed for abseiling.[60]
Cricket is a popular sport in the Blue Mountains, with the Blue Mountains Cattle Dogs representing the district in the Western Zone Premier League, Country Plate and Presidents Cup competitions.[61]
At 4 am on 28 January 1931[62] a cliff face known as "the Dog Face Rock" collapsed into the Jamison Valley in the Blue Mountains.[63] A second collapse from the same cliff face occurred on 2 May 1931.[62]
It was reported that "More than 450 incidents resulting in greater than 200 deaths between 1875 and 2021..." have occurred.[64] Every year there are up to 200 people who are lost or injured in the Blue Mountains.[64]
In 2022, two people died and two were injured when they were on a walking track inWentworth Falls, and were hit by debris from a landslide.[65]
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Media related toBlue Mountains, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons
Blue Mountains travel guide from Wikivoyage| International | |
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