On our February getaway weekend it was not too busy and we had a choice of camping spots, despite arriving fairly late in the day. It’s a great campground partly surrounded by sheer cliffs and can get very busy in peak times (long weekend or the January school holidays). Its liquor licence having been revoked in the late 1980s, it now operates as a kiosk.Ī little further on and across the Wolgan River is the free National Parks camp site – it’s been described as accessible by 4WD only, but with the water level fairly low we had no problems crossing in our 2WD vehicle. Just before the camping ground we pass the historic Newnes Hotel, the last surviving building from the mining era. The impending storm made the landscape and cliffs even more dramatic!Ībout an hour later we arrived at the Newnes Campground, which has 80 free sites in the national park. It’s worth a brief detour for the fantastic views over the western edge of the Blue Mountains and Kanangra Walls to the south. The highest lookout in the Blue Mountains at approximately 1,100m above sea level, Hassans Wall Lookout is accessed by a well-maintained dirt road.

Our first stop en-route to the campground was Hassans Wall Lookout, near Lithgow. The weather forecast was mixed, with the threat of rain as we left Sydney.

Although it can be done as a long day-trip from Sydney, our visit to the Glow Worm Tunnel was part of an overnight camping trip, staying at the Newnes Campground by the Wolgan River.

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