Giant Stairway and Dardanelles Pass Circuit Walk

Last updated: June 16, 2020

The historic Giant Stairway and Dardanelles Pass circuit walk is an exciting bush trail through Leura Forest and along the cliff edge overlooking Jamison Valley.

This challenging and adventurous walk offers a lot of bushwalking goodness, including scenic waterfalls, panoramic valley views, lush rainforest, and steep climbing.

Since this is a circuit walking track, it can be commenced at various locations. The two most logical starting points are at Echo Point in Katoomba and further north along Cliff Drive closer to Leura.

The map further below gives you an impression of this walking track including these two starting points.

1. Echo Point

Starting at Echo Point means you have to add an extra 500m to the circuit walk, which covers the short stretch between Echo Point and the Three Sisters, otherwise known as the Three Sisters walk.

From the Great Western Highway, take the Katoomba exit via Parks Street. Turn right into Lurline Street and continue onto Echo Point Road. Alternatively, turn into Cliff Drive from Leura Mall and continue until you arrive at Echo Point.

The drawback of starting at Echo Point is that this is a very buy spot and parking is almost always paid.

2. Cliff Drive

An alternative, and perhaps better, starting point is along Cliff Drive at the intersection with Merriwa Street. Check out this map for the exact spot.

From Leura Mall, turn right into Cliff Drive and continue until the intersection with Merriwa Street. This is a quiet spot with lots of free street parking available.

You can start the walk by heading into the bush via the wooden stairs at a sign that says Prince Henry Cliff Walk and Echo Point.

The Giant Stairway and Dardanelles Pass circuit walk is considered a hard track. It’s not a particularly long walk, but it involves a couple of very steep sections.

Clockwise or Anticlockwise?
This circuit walk covers both Leura Forest at the bottom of the valley, and the cliff edge above the valley. This means there is some serious descending and ascending involved.

The famous Giant Stairway at the Three Sisters is an incredible piece of engineering that consist of no less than 900 steps. And it is steep. Very, very steep.

For that reason, it is probably best to do this circuit walk in an anticlockwise manner, so you can descend into the valley via the Giant Stairway rather than having to climb it.

This of course means you will need to climb out of the valley at the other side of the circuit walk, but that’s a more gradual ascend and is therefore somewhat easier.

The below track notes describe the circuit walk in an anticlockwise manner, starting at the Giant Stairway at the Three Sisters.

1. Giant Stairway

Opened to the public in 1932, the 540m long Giant Stairway descends more than 300m into Jamison Valley via a magnificent piece of engineering.

This unique structure consists of over 900 steps as part of several steel staircases as well as steps that are cut from the cliff face.

The idea behind the Giant Stairway was to create a connection between the cliff top at Echo Point and the Federal Pass in the valley below.

Access to Giant Stairway is via an impressive archway structure. Before heading down into the valley, you can cross the so-called Honeymoon Bridge, which connects with a rock overhang which is part of the first of the Three Sisters.

At the bottom of the Giant Stairway is an intersection. The path turning right takes you the Scenic World valley station, along the Federal Pass. The path turning left takes you to Leura Forest, along the Dardanelles Pass.

2. Dardanelles Pass

The Dardanelles Pass is an historic link between the various walking tracks in the Leura area and the bottom of the Giant Stairway in the Katoomba area.

Despite the fact that it’s home to various picnic tables and man-made shelters, Leura Forest really looks and feels like a completely different world, far away from civilization.

With ongoing runoff from the cliffs and shelter from the large trees, water is more abundant in the valley and the forest rarely dries out, resulting in a pleasantly humid and subtropical environment.

3. Waterfalls

Leaving Leura Forest behind, the track continues towards three small but scenic waterfalls on Linda Creek. Lila Falls, Marguerite Cascades and Linda Falls mark the start of the climb out of the valley via the Fern Bower Track.

Fern Bower is a signposted area that is part of the original Federal Pass. It is a beautiful section of the circuit walk, sheltered from the drying winds and the summer heat.

This is where the forest turns lush and green, with tall trees such as Sassafras and Coachwoods providing lots of shade for ferns to thrive on the forest floor. The area is also home to lots of different bird and mammal species.

The ascend via Fern Bower is certainly not as hard as the Giant Stairway, but it also shouldn’t be underestimated.

4. Prince Henry Cliff Walk

When you reach the end of the ascend, the Fern Bower Track connects with the Prince Henry Cliff Walk.

Before heading back towards the Three Sisters and Echo Point along the cliff edge via the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, it’s worth doing a small detour to the Jamieson Lookout. This lookout point provides great views of Jamison Valley and the Kings Tableland plateau.

The section of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk between the Jamieson Lookout and the Three Sisters is relatively easy, and includes a number of scenic lookout points, such as the Banksia Lookout, Honeymoon Point and Lady Carrington Lookout.

You can start this beautiful bushwalk either from Echo Point (marked as 1 in below map), or from Cliff Drive further north (2). It’s recommended to follow the track in an anticlockwise manner so that you can descend into the valley via the Gaint Stairway.

If you start the walk from Echo Point, you will need to include the 500m long Three Sisters Walk (marked in red color) to get to the top of the Giant Stairway.

Click on the map for a larger version.