The 4 Best Mittagong Walks in the Southern Highlands

SIDE NOTE: Beck and I had originally planned to go to Bungonia National Park but it closed for aerial pest control. We always check the NSW National Parks website before planning and setting out for a trip. But on this occasion, I somehow missed the memo! So with a free day up our sleeves, we decided to check out these Mittagong walks. And we’re glad we did! They were better than we expected.

1. Boxvale Walking Track

 (includes Boxvale Tramway Tunnel and Nattai Gorge Lookout)

• Type: One-way
• Distance: 9km
• Time: 3 hours
• Accumulated elevation gain: 235m
• Difficulty: Easy
• Trailhead: Mount Alexandra Reserve Car Park

Travel Made Me Do It have personally rated this trails in this guide

Alongside the Boxvale Walking Track, you’ll find many side-trails and adjacent management trails in Mount Alexandra Reserve. So when speed hiking your way through to the main attractions of this track – the Boxvale tramway tunnel and Nattai Gorge Lookout, there are a few different trails you can take on the way. So it can get a bit confusing.

But the most simple way is to just follow the Boxvale Walking Track from the very beginning. It weaves its way around Nattai and Kells Creeks, following the old tramway trail, leading you through the epic tunnel, heading towards Nattai River. Otherwise, to save time, it’s possible to use the Nattai Creek Fire Trail initially, before joining the Boxvale Walking Track.

Either way, you’ll start on unsealed and uneven dirt management tracks, so watch your footing when speed hiking. Assuming you’re following the Boxvale Walking Track from the start, you’ll pass Nattai Creek and then Welby Reservoir. From here, the trail becomes more sturdy and stable as leaf-littered floors are created by the dense bushland. The initial sections are calming as you’ll feel remote and removed from the nearby suburbs. But all the same, the scenery is nothing spectacular.

WHAT’S SPEED HIKING? Very simply, it’s hiking at a faster speed than your usual walking speed. Like anything you do at a quicker speed, there can be new challenges in execution, timing and co-ordination. When speed hiking on unsteady surfaces, you have less time to plan where your foot lands and less time to react if you lose your footing. So for those with ”dodgy” ankles, be mindful to slow down if need be, on uneven terrain, when speed hiking.

Tramway Track

At around 1.75km, you’ll arrive at the junction for Forty Foot Falls. It’s totally up to you, in what order you want to do the Mittagong walks. You’re more than welcome to head to the waterfall first. For the purposes of this itinerary, we’ll detail completing the Box Vale Track initially, and then heading to Forty Foot Falls afterwards.

After a largely uninspiring beginning, the Boxvale Tramway Track section really comes to life. You’ll finally feel like you’re truly following the old tramway line. That’s because you’ll hike in between cliff walls, or boulder cuttings, carved for the tramway. Not only is this a fascinating trail, but the scenery and surrounds start to diversify with more lively plants, ferns and trees.

You’ll walk through a few more boulder cuttings with the height of the cliffs either side of you, varying as you progress. Covered mostly in tree roots and bush, portions of the cliff walls are a light brown, even an orange clay complexion. Some of the boulder carved trails are clear, whilst others, require a bit more agility to navigate fallen trees and mildly overgrown areas.

Boxvale Tramway Tunnel

Nearing the end of the trail, you’ll finally catch a glimpse of the long, imposing tramway tunnel. It’s certainly one of the highlights of all of the Mittagong walks. Even before setting foot in the dimly lit tunnel, you’ll be blown away!

It’s about 100 metres in length, with either end creating a picturesque silhouette of the surrounding bushland. Given its enormity, during daylight hours, the tunnel is bright enough to not require a headlamp. Although we brought one just in case. Beck and I tried our hand with photography here, finding the lighting quite challenging.

Camera or no camera, you’ll feel quite adventurous hiking the old rungs of the tramway tunnel. After you make your way through the tunnel, it’s time to head to the final attraction of the Boxvale Walking Track.

Nattai Gorge Lookout

Not too far from the tunnel is the Nattai Gorge Lookout. Up until this point, your views of the surrounding landscape would have been mostly hidden. With the increasingly dense bushland, boulder cuttings and even a tunnel, you’ll feel pretty closed-in for much of the trail. This concealed and covered feeling is one of the trail’s best features, but it actually amplifies and brings a stronger sense of contentment when you finally reach a viewpoint.

With some imposing landforms and bush covered cliff walls in the forefront, you won’t have the most sweeping of views. But the lookout reminds you that you’re truly in the Southern Highlands, even if in a less frequented part of it. With that said, the lookout is a decent way to finish the ”out” part of the out and back Boxvale Walking Track.

The Boxvale Loop Option

Of course, if you intend on completing the Boxvale Walking Track and Forty Foot Falls as a loop, you’ll actually continue the walk down a steep decline (actually called the ”incline”). You’ll then literally follow the creek back down and around to Forty Foot Falls. But don’t expect much in the way of signage, whilst hiking creekside can get quite muddy and boggy.

Plus, given the steepness of the trail, you’ll need to guide yourself down with a series of metal chains. So although the loop is shorter in distance than doing the proposed two out and backs (11km as opposed to 12km), it takes a lot more time to navigate the tricky terrain and chains (5-6 hours as opposed to 4 hours). But it does look fun! Well, maybe next time for us.

2. Forty Foot Falls Track

• Type: One-way
• Distance: 4km
• Time: 1.25 hours
• Accumulated elevation gain: 110m
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Trailhead: Mount Alexandra Reserve Car Park

Whether you do the combined out and backs or loop, it’s time for Forty Foot Falls – arguably one of the best features of all of the Mittagong walks. In terms of the combined out and backs, you’ll remember that there is a turnoff about 1.75km into the Boxvale Walking Track. This yellow Forty Foot Falls Fire Trail sign very clearly marks the turnoff for the waterfall.

If you’re visiting during spring, look out for wildflowers. Even being close to a couple of creeks, most of the bushland here looks arid, dry and harsh. So the mix of vivid colours littered along the somewhat barren trail, in the form of wildflowers, is a bright change of scenery.

The fire trail leading to the waterfall seems mostly flat, and is fairly even, despite the loose rocks. Other than the pretty wildflowers, the trail is nothing extraordinary up until the waterfall. Very clearly marked, is a sign pointing you to the right to access the falls. Even though there is no further signage, there’s an obvious trail that descends to Forty Foot Falls.

After an initial set of steep dusty steps, you’ll arrive at a flat platform, which seems to split into a T-intersection. From here, you should notice a rock overhanging a metal step ladder to your left. Similar to the metal step ladders on the Overcliff-Undercliff Track of the Blue Mountains, they’re fun and add something adventurous to an otherwise tame trail, up to this point. There were plenty of spiders and cobwebs on the ladder and below, so keep an eye out!

Forty Foot Falls

Once you descend the ladder, you’ll find a faint trail leading you towards Nattai Creek where the waterfall is located. The trail initially leads you to the left-hand side of it, where you get your first unimpeded view. It gorgeously drops from, what we assume is, a forty-foot cliff overhang, onto a fallen log, wedged into the creekbed. As you look around, you’ll feel immersed in a bush-covered amphitheatre, where the waterfall gracefully spills and steals the show.

With a bit of agility, you can even navigate over some other fallen trees and overgrowth to walk behind the waterfall. But be careful as it’s mighty slippery. Instead, we backtracked and found a faint side-trail leading down into the creek. By following this trail, you’ll be able to get a front-on view of the waterfall, facing almost directly opposite it. You’ll need to watch your step as you negotiate wet rocks. Again, it’s quite slippery down there so don’t rush.

Of course, Forty Foot Falls isn’t one of the humungous waterfalls of the Southern Highlands. If you’re after the tallest and most voluminous waterfalls, head to Budderoo and Morton National Parks. But, there’s no doubt that Forty Foot Falls is one of the most picturesque, quaint and charming waterfalls of the area. After you’ve hung out with the local duck and skink residents, it’s time to head back out of the naturally created amphitheatre.

Out of all of the Mittagong walks, the hike back to the fire trail from Forty Foot Falls is the toughest. It’s not technically difficult, but physically challenging, as you emerge from the base of the falls and struggle back up the stairs.

3. Sixty Foot Falls Track

• Type: One-way
• Distance: 3.5km
• Time: 1 hour
• Accumulated elevation gain: 200m
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Trailhead: Mount Alexandra Lookout Road

After some lunch at the picnic area of the Mount Alexandra Car Park, it’s time to head over the other side of the Hume Highway for the remaining Mittagong walks, starting with the Sixty Foot Falls Track. Similar to the Boxvale Walking Track, you’ll be hiking via a tunnel. This time, it’s the Coke Tunnel! It’s much smaller, but we’re sure you’ll agree that any tunnel brings its own appeal and intrigue to a trail.

From the car park, a sign labelled ”Green Tramway Track”, signals the beginning of your hike. Almost immediately, you’ll enter dense bushland as you slowly descend towards Coke Tunnel. The tunnel’s ceiling is quite low, so you’ll need to duck or bend forward to get to the end. But it’s only around 5 metres in length, so your awkward shuffle is only short-lived. In the 1870s, the tunnel was used to transport coal from the Nattai Gorge to the local iron works.

Immediately following the tunnel, is some interesting orange cliff overhangs with incredible ripples and patterns in the ceiling. Soak up the beautiful geology, as the next section of the hike is the trickiest.

The trail becomes quite steep and with many a loose rock underfoot, you may find the terrain slippery. This is a good example of a time when speed hiking is inappropriate! Watch your footing and slowly make your way down to the fire trail below. Don’t worry, there’s much flatter and safer trail ahead!

Sixty Foot Falls

Once you’ve reached the bottom and regathered your hiking speed, keep notice of the yellow ”Falls View Fire Trail” to your right. Follow this, and soon enough, you’ll find another yellow sign labelled ”Sixty Foot Fire Trail”, again to your right. These signs are hard to miss and will lead you towards Sixty Foot Falls!

Once you’ve passed a small creek, you’ll then arrive at a fork. Admittedly, Beck and I struggled to find information online about how to proceed further. Assuming you could reach the falls going either direction, we chose to stay left at the fork, following a flat winding trail. By doing so, after 200-300 metres, you’ll arrive at a rock platform and essentially, a river bed, that forms the top of the waterfall.

Your views of the waterfall are minimal from the top, so it’s best to carefully rock scramble your way down to the base of the waterfall. On a dry day, this is safe to do. We don’t recommend attempting this if it’s been, or, is raining, as the rocks would be too slippery. So better save the Sixty Foot Falls Tracks for a nice dry day!

Once you’ve reached the base, you’ll have unimpeded views of this small, but pretty waterfall. There’s a small and seemingly shallow swimming hole where the falls gently plummet, but we didn’t stop for a swim.

Admittedly, we found Forty Foot Falls more mesmerising and charming. Plus, hearing sounds of nearby traffic certainly took away from the ambience and peacefulness at Sixty Foot Falls. You can even see large trucks pass by on the Hume Highway when looking over the top of the falls, above the bushland!

4. Katoomba Lookout

• Type: One-way
• Distance: 1.5km
• Time: 30 minutes
• Accumulated elevation gain: 75m
• Difficulty: Easy
• Trailhead: Mount Alexandra Lookout Road

Once you’ve re-emerged from the base of Sixty Foot Falls, and returned via the Coke Tunnel, there’s one more of the Mittagong walks to complete. From the same car park, you can check out Katoomba Lookout. Admittedly, this small trail is the least exciting and enjoyable of the Mittagong walks. At 750 metres to the lookout, it’s not as if you need to invest a lot of time into the walk. But the mostly ascending and unsealed management trail provides quite a disappointing finish.

Almost completely covered in surrounding bushland is the Katoomba Lookout. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the Aussie bush! But for an actual named lookout, there should be some ongoing maintenance or clearance to make it worthwhile visiting. By doing so, we’re sure this would help promote tourism in the area. Although, having visited after the severe 2019-2020 bushfires, we understand that the local council has bigger fish to fry!

So for a quick smash and grab hike, and decent workout, we can recommend this short trail. Whilst you’re going to be at the trailhead anyway for the Sixty Foot Falls Track. So might as well. But don’t specifically come here for the Katoomba Lookout, expecting, well, a lookout! How foolish. At the very least, you’ll have a calm and quiet hike to finish your day.