Blue Mountains National Park
Blue Mountains National Park NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service | |
---|---|
Website | Blue Mountains National Park |
See also | Protected areas of New South Wales |
The Blue Mountains National Park is a
The national park is one of the eight protected areas that, in 2000, was inscribed to form part of the
History
The genesis of the national park was a proposal by early conservationist
Geography
The Blue Mountains National Park lies on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range. The plateau slopes gently down from west to east from a height of around 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) above sea level near Mount Victoria to less than 200 metres (660 ft) above sea level around Glenbrook. There are four major rivers that have most of their catchment inside the park: the Wollangambe River in the north, the Grose River in the centre, and the Coxs and Wollondilly rivers in the south. The latter two flow into Lake Burragorang, which is located just outside the park and is the site of Warragamba Dam, the major source of drinking water for Sydney. A small section of the Nepean River passes through the park. All of the major rivers flow from west to east.
Geology
Structurally, the Blue Mountains are part of the greater Sydney Basin. The Sydney Basin consists of layers of sedimentary rocks laid down over the past 300 million years. The Blue Mountains and Great Dividing Range were formed about 50 million years ago, when the area was uplifted.[11] More recently, volcanic flows covered large areas of the mountains in basalt. These have largely worn away, leaving only occasional outcrops on the high peaks.
Biodiversity
The park contains a small range of eucalypt species across a variety of habitats including wet and dry
This range of habitats supports a rich variety of fauna, including a third of Australia's bird species, and numerous mammals, reptiles and frogs.
Tourism
The Blue Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in NSW with more than half of domestic visitors originating from Sydney and one of the easiest locations to spot wild kangaroos in Sydney.
The national park is renowned for the Three Sisters rock formation. Both north and south of Blackheath, the cliffs are the most spectacular as the rock faces are several hundreds metres tall.[11] Visitor numbers have increased to 5.2 million in 2016 from 3.6 million in 2008.[5]
Southern Blue Mountains
The
The national park extends south as far as the
An exclusion zone of approximately three kilometres was created around Lake Burragorang to protect Sydney's water supply, but a through-track was allowed from Yerranderie to Balloon Pass, then further east, for the benefit of bushwalkers. This pass was later incorporated into the long-distance Katoomba to Mittagong Trail.
See also
- Blue Mountains (New South Wales)
- Protected areas of New South Wales
- Katoomba Scenic World
References
Notes
- ^ Midday view from Echo Point observatory in Katoomba, New South Wales, looking south towards the "Three Sisters" (left foreground), Jamison Valley (middleground), and Mount Solitary (background). A layer of fog, a common climatic feature of the Blue Mountains, covers the majority of Jamison Valley from view. The distance between Echo Point and Mount Solitary is 5 kilometres (3.1 miles).
Citations
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Blue Mountains National Park (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2016.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Blue Mountains National Park (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2016 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ a b c "Blue Mountains National Park: Park management". Office of Environment & Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
- ^ "Domestic visitation". NSW Environment, Energy and Science. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales). May 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ "Blue Mountains Facts - Blue Mountains Australia Guide". bluemountains-australia.com. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^ "Greater Blue Mountains Area". World Heritage List. UNESCO. 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ "World Heritage Places - Greater Blue Mountains". Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy.
- ^ NSW State Heritage Register. Government of New South Wales. 2 April 1999. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
- ^ "Blue Mountains National Park – History since colonisation". Office of Environment & Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ )
- ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Greater Blue Mountains Area". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^ "Greater Blue Mountains Drives – Why are the Blue Mountains World Heritage?". www.greaterbluemountainsdrive.com.au. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^ "Where can I see Kangaroos in the wild near Sydney Australia?". 26 March 2019.
- ^ Heritage, corporateName=Office of Environment and. "Domestic visitation to NSW national parks". www.environment.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^ "The steepest railways on Earth". December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ^ "Top five funicular railways". December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-9586215-1-9.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 0-86417-079-3
External links
- "Blue Mountains National Park". NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service. Government of New South Wales.
- "Blue Mountains National Park". Office of Environment & Heritage. Government of New South Wales.
- Blue Mountains National Park: Plan of management (PDF) (PDF). ISBN 0-7313-6998-X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2008.)
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help - Aerial video footage of the Blue Mountains National Park (NSW, Australia) around the Jamison Valley
- Activities and Attractions in the Blue Mountains