Easily accessible as a day trip from Sydney, Katoomba offers some great gravel cycling along the ridge lines of the Blue Mountains. Even better, cycling these routes takes you away from the crowded tourist locations, offering epic views you can have pretty much to yourself. I stayed the weekend and did these rides on two separate mornings, but they easily would be able to be done as a morning and afternoon combo with a lunch break in Leura in between.

Narrow Neck Trail

Narrow Neck Trail is a tremendous route offering amazing valley and cliff views. On a clear day, it is incredibly hard to beat.

The Narrow Neck Trail heads deep into the Blue Mountains National park, and a lot of the route is inaccessible to cars. After exiting Cliff Drive, the first 2.5km is drivable, including a very steep final section leading to the locked gate. After this point (requiring you to lift your bike) the remainder of the route (10km one way) is restricted to cyclists and hikers.

One of the highlights of the route is the views of the trail running along the ridge line (such as the photo at the top of this article) and also the valley views. The contrast between Jamison Valley (inside the National Park to the east, heavily forested) and the Megalong Valley (rural properties, to the west) is also really interesting. Speaking of the properties in the Megalong Valley, it made me pretty determined to cycle down there some time – I’m sure there are amazing views towards the mountains to be found.

From the gate the trail works its way up to a maximum elevation at Bushwalkers Hill. This is pretty easy to spot as there is a fire observatory and also a toilet. From this point to the end of the trail is downhill – some of this is quite steep.

Heading back, the steepest part of the return is heading towards Bushwalkers Hill – a candidate for hike-a-bike for many. On your way back, make sure that you head around Cliff Drive to Eagle Hawk lookout – what one local said was the best view in Katoomba. I don’t want to weigh-in to a firm opinion on that, but it certainly offers a great view of the Three Sisters without the crowds.

Mount Hay Road

Mount Hay Road offers a different type of trip – a nice gravel road that is also used by cars that offers a lovely ride punctuated by some truly awesome viewpoints.

Starting across the highway and the northern parts of Leura, the road quickly heads into the National Park and after 9km the car park for the Fortress Ridge Trail is on the left. It is worth taking this trail – after a short climb the trail runs out to the amazing Fortress Rock lookout (keep left where I made the mistake of heading the wrong direction!). At the end it becomes pretty obvious you’ve reached it, but it is worth leaving your bike and walking down the single track to the viewpoint. Blue Mountains views at their epic best.

Getting back on the road out to Mount Hay, there are some really scenic parts with cliff-face or bushland views. Not of the sort on offer via Narrow Neck, but definitely making for a great cycle. At Mount Hay, the car park can get quite full – from here there are single track walking trails to Mount Hay peak. If you want to head there you will need to be creative in securing your bike. Having said that, the views here are good without having to walk further – though not of the awesomeness of those at Fortress Rock.

Hints and tips

The major question to consider with these rides is what sort of bike is best? The first thing to say is that a gravel bike is fine. And, for Mount Hay, it would be the best kind of bike (even the detour on Fortress Ridge, with the possible exception of the starting climb, is totally ok). For Narrow Neck, bike choice is much more debatable. I passed a number of other cyclists and there was a mix of mountain bikes and gravel bikes in use. I took a mountain bike and on the few super steep ascents and descents I was very grateful to have it – a gravel bike would be under-biked, require more care on the descents and be under-geared on some of the climbs. But don’t let this worry you too much – these stretches are pretty short and if you take a gravel bike and have to hike-a-bike a bit you will still have a great time.

Beyond this:

• I did these rides on two separate mornings, but they would absolutely be rideable in a single day, perhaps broken up with lunch in Leura (I can recommend Red Door Cafe). I stayed in an Airbnb, but have also previously stayed at the Katoomba YHA which is pretty solid.
• If combining the two rides, don’t be too stressed about cycling the road between Katoomba and Leura – Lovel and Megalong streets do carry a bit of traffic (particularly on weekends), but I found them fine for cycling.
• It would be easy to start from Katoomba train station and end at Leura station if you wanted to make this a day trip on the train from Sydney.
• I did this trip in March, and was blessed by clear skies. Whilst the rides can be done in any weather, if you want the views it is worth checking out whether foggy conditions are expected (and that can include warmer months!).
• You will need all your required water on these routes – make sure you fill up in town.