Blue Mountains City Council

The Blue Mountains is a special place of ancient landscapes, towering golden hued stone escarpments, crashing waterfalls and magnificent eucalypts all set amongst inspiring panoramas, that will take your breath away.

It's so special it is inscribed on the World Heritage list for its outstanding universal values.

Regarded as Australia's 'cradle of conservation', the Blue Mountains area is renowned for its bushwalking and inspiring landscapes and there are many other things to see and do in this unique setting.

The Blue Mountains is home to the Darug and Gundungurra aboriginal peoples who treasure their connections with the land - encapsulated in their stories and art, ceremony and song as well as knowledge of landforms, climate, plants and animal life.

Set within this natural wonderland, Blue Mountains City is the only 'proclaimed' city in the world located in a World Heritage Area. The city is a charming collection of mountain villages and hamlets, home to just 75,000 people, each with its own style and character.

As you travel through the towns and villages you will hardly notice you climb over 1000 metres by the time you reach Katoomba, the region's largest town and home to the world famous Three Sisters rock formation.

World Heritage Area

The Blue Mountains form part of the Greater Blue Mountain World Heritage area. The area was inscribed on the World Heritage list for its outstanding natural universal values on November 29, 2000.

It is a landscape of breathtaking views, sheer cliffs, inaccessible valleys and extends across more than 1.03 million hectares and includes the Blue Mountains, Kanangra-Boyd, Wollemi, Gardens of Stone, Yengo, Nattai and Thirlmere Lakes National Parks, plus the Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve.

Why the Blue Mountains are Blue

The  Blue Mountains provide an ever-changing spectacle of landscapes coloured with blue shades and hues. This blue tone is produced by the interplay of sunlight and the fine droplets of oils released into the air by the eucalypts that cover the tablelands and valleys.

Centenary of Crossing the Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains, with their deep valleys and sheer cliff walls was the barrier to expansion of the colony of NSW in the early 18th century. Three settlers Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth were given the task to find a way across the mountains to seek pastoral land and were successful in 1813.

The bi-centenary of the first European crossing will be commemorated across the mountains in 2013.