School excursions in the park
All stages: Living Country, Living Culture - Aboriginal Discovery
Understand and appreciate traditional and contemporary Aboriginal culture with Aboriginal Discovery rangers. Learn how the environment is important to Aboriginal people and the roles of men and women through an artefact presentation, dance and/or bushtucker and bush medicine walks.
Where: Wentworth Falls, Katoomba and Blackheath
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 2 hours
Difficulty: easy
Cost: $12 per student including GST
Bookings: Contact the Blue Mountains Discovery Coordinator (02) 4784 7301
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Grand Canyon Blackheath - An Iconic Blue Mountains Walking Track
Discovery rangers will guide you along one of the most spectacular walking tracks in NSW, through lush rainforest ecosystems. Learn about walking track heritage, park management issues and local ecology on this unforgettable Blue Mountains experience. Develop skills in outdoor safety and bushwalking.
Note: there are many stairs; a reasonable level of fitness is required.
Location: Grand Canyon Track
When: Tuesdays- Fridays; duration 4 hrs
Difficulty: hard
Cost: $22 per student including GST
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 1: Logs have life inside
Take a stroll with a Discovery ranger on the easy, wheelchair-accessible Fairfax Heritage Track. Explore the need for shelter in the living world. Investigate both built and natural environments and draw conclusions about different needs in the Australian environment.
Location: Fairfax Heritage Track
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 2 hours
Difficulty: easy
Cost: $12 per student including GST
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 2: Places: Then, Now and Tomorrow
Meet Discovery rangers to explore the local history of this area including changes to the landscape, Aboriginal traditions and the arrival of different cultural groups. Walk through the national park and discover how the landscape has been cared for and impacted upon over thousands of years.
This activity highlights the change in the landscape and the community, cross-cultural understandings, and ecological sustainability.
Locations: Wentworth Falls, Leura Cascades, Katoomba Falls Round walk, Blackheath.
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 2 hours
Difficulty: medium difficulty
Cost: $12 per student including GST
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 2: What is a national park?
Visit Blue Mountains National Park and learn about the plants and animals that live here, the roles of national park workers and the rules that help protect this World Heritage Area. Ranger role play or Mini National Parks activity can be included at Wentworth Falls and Blackheath. Bush Safety video screening available at Blackheath only.
Locations: Blackheath (wheel-chair accessible), Wentworth Falls, Katoomba Falls Round walk or Katoomba Falls-Furber Steps-Scenic Railway (additional charge for Scenic World attractions).
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 2 hours or 2.5 hrs
Difficulty: medium difficulty
Cost: $12.00 per student (2 hrs); $14.50 per student including GST (2.5 hrs) (plus additional $8 per student for Scenic Cableway option)
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 3: Visit to a Real Rainforest
Start your walk in open woodland and descend the cliffs into a temperate rainforest. What is the recipe for a rainforest? Who's habitat is this? Either walk the fabulous Katoomba Falls Round Walk (2 hrs) or take the historic Furber Steps further down the cliffs to Scenic World's 'rainforest boardwalk' before ascending on the Scenic Cableway (2.5 hrs).
Location: Furber Steps-Scenic Railway
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 2 or 2.5 hours
Difficulty: medium difficulty
Cost: $12 per student (2 hrs) or $14.50 per student (2.5 hrs) (plus additional $8 per student for Scenic Cableway option)
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 4: Blue Mountains National Park - part of a World Heritage site
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is Australia's 14th World Heritage Site and comprises 1 million hectares of protected land on Sydney's doorstep. View the Three Sisters, then Discovery rangers will guide you down the escarpment below Echo Point via the famous Giant Stairway. Stroll along the Federal Pass investigating this site, before ascending the cliffs via the Scenic Railway (additional charge for Scenic World Attraction). Alternatively walk up Furbers Steps at Katoomba Falls (allow an extra 30 mins). This activity is easily accessed by local transport options.
Location: Federal Pass
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 3 hrs
Difficulty: medium difficulty
Cost: $17.00 per student including GST (plus Scenic Railway fares)
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 4: Impacts of Tourism Bushwalk
Discuss the World Heritage status and natural and cultural values of the Blue Mountains with Discovery rangers, before heading off for a bushwalk through the diverse ecosystems around Katoomba Falls. Contemplate the positive and negative environmental, economic and social impacts of tourism on the Blue Mountains. How has World Heritage listing benefited tourism and what are the opportunities and challenges? A student report template is available on request.
Locations: Katoomba Rainforest Round walk or Furbers Steps to ascend via the Scenic Railway (additional charge for Scenic World attractions)
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 2.5 hours
Difficulty: medium difficulty
Cost: $14.50 per student including GST (plus Scenic Railway fees where applicable)
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 4: Impacts of Tourism Tour
Investigate the positive and negative environmental, economic and social impacts of tourism on the Blue Mountains. How has World Heritage listing benefited tourism and what are the opportunities and challenges?
Compare and contrast two very different tourism experiences. Investigate the tourism activity, resources, accommodation, signage and attractions in Katoomba then proceed to the National Parks Heritage Centre at Blackheath.
Location: Katoomba and Blackheath.
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 4 hours
Difficulty: easy
Cost: $22 per student inlcuding GST
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 4: Mountain landscapes - Blue Mountains
Discovery rangers will take students into the field to investigate the major geographical processes operating in this uplifted, dissected sandstone plateau. Aboriginal Discovery rangers will discuss how Indigenous groups interact with this environment.
Walk through the rainforest and explore the Katoomba escarpment which encompasses a variety of ecosystems and landforms. You'll focus on the rich biodiversity of this mountain landscape.
Location: Katoomba.
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 3 hours
Difficulty: medium difficulty
Cost: $17 per student including GST
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stage 5: Land & Water Management in the Blue Mountains
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service manages protected areas for biodiversity. The City of the Blue Mountains is an example of ribbon development which borders on a World Heritage Area and is situated within the catchment area for Warragamba Dam, Sydney's main source of drinking water. See these issues firsthand on a guided bushwalk at Wentworth Falls or Katoomba.
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 2.5 hours
Difficulty: medium difficulty
Cost: $14.50 per student including GST
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
Stages 4 - 6 The National Pass Challenge
The National Pass is a unique bushwalking track carved along the claystone layers of the southern escarpment at Wentworth Falls. Discovery rangers will lead your students through diverse ecosystems as they discuss natural and cultural values, reserve management issues and the significance of World Heritage. This challenging and rewarding experience will enhance and develop outdoor safety and bushwalking skills.
Note: there are many stairs - a reasonable level of fitness is required.
Location: National Pass
When: Tuesdays to Fridays; duration 4 hrs
Difficulty: hard
Cost: $22 per student including GST
Contact: School excursion inquiries - Blue Mountains, Phone: 02 4784 7301, or use online inquiry form
