Already a globally recognised landscape, the rugged beauty of the Blue Mountains cliff tops is a step closer to being more accessible to nature lovers through a new iconic walk.

PHOTO: Mark Ley

From its windswept heath clinging to the escarpment, to misty rainforests or soaring eucalypt woodlands, the Blue Mountains is a haven to more than 180 species of Australia’s most beautiful birds.

The Blue Mountains’ koala population is growing and on the move – but you’re more likely to hear them than see them. And that’s where Blue Mountains locals can help.

Continuing a botanical legacy: Blue Mountains Botanic Garden.

Nine years before Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson made their historic trek across the Blue Mountains in 1813, a naturalist named George Caley – curator of the colony’s first botanic gardens at Parramatta – forged a route along the northern rim of the Grose Valley, the first European to penetrate the mountains west of Sydney.

His mission was to collect botanical specimens; and on November 10, 1804, Caley reached a place of great beauty, a summit cloaked in magnificent tree ferns known to the Darug people as Tomah. Several days later, however, Caley’s party aborted their mission at nearby Mount Banks, thwarted by the rugged, seemingly impenetrable terrain.

The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is Australia’s most accessible wilderness.

Stretching over one million hectares, the region is an inspiring and diverse mix of rainforest, blue-hazed valleys, golden sandstone escarpments, canyons, tall forests and windswept heathlands. It is one of Australia’s iconic landscapes and has received National Landscape status in recognition of its world-class experiences of environmental and cultural significance.

The Blue Mountains is one of Australia's natural wonders. It is an inspiring mix of rainforest, canyons, tall forests and heathlands, combining eight individual conservation reserves - Yengo, Wollemi, Gardens of Stone, Blue Mountains, Nattai, Kanangra Boyd, Thirlmere Lakes and Jenolan Caves Karst Reserve.