Megalong Valley is part of the Blue Mountains of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is located west of Katoomba. On its eastern side, the valley is separated from the

Jamison Valley The Jamison Valley forms part of the Coxs River canyon system in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated approximately 100 kilometres west of Sydney, capital of New South Wales, and a few kilometres south of Katoomb ...

by Narrow Neck Plateau. The

Shipley Plateau Shipley Plateau is located south of Blackheath, New South Wales in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Faced with sandstone escarpments, the plateau is accessible by road and some of the land area is planted with fruit orchards. ...

overlooks part of the valley.

Description and history

The name Megalong Valley is said to be derived from an Aboriginal word thought to mean 'Valley Under The Rock'. Megalong Valley is Gundungurra country. The first record of a European coming to the valley was of Thomas Jones, a natural history specimen collector, who followed the course of

Coxs River The Coxs River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands, Blue Mountains, and Macarthur regions of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The Coxs River rises in Gardin ...

from

Hartley, New South Wales Hartley is a historical village in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, within the City of Lithgow local government area, located approximately west of the Sydney central business district. Hartley is located below th ...

to Burragorang in 1818. The first land was taken up in 1838, by settlers who travelled from Burragorang and

Camden, New South Wales Camden is a historic town and suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, located 65 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district. Camden was the administrative centre for the local government area of Camden Council until July/August ...

. Later in the 19th century, an

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitute ...

mine was operated by one J. B. North. He named a nearby glen after his daughter Nellie and it is still known as Nellies Glen today.Sydney and Blue Mountains Bushwalks, Neil Paton (Kangaroo Press) 2004, p. 243 The shale mine operated from 1886 to 1896, until the reserves were exhausted. Shale was mined and taken by a horse-drawn tramway that ran in a tunnel under Narrow Neck. On the other side, it connected with the tramways from nearby coal mines and other oil shale mines at

Ruined Castle The Ruined Castle is a rock formation in the Jamison Valley area of the Blue Mountains, in New South Wales, Australia. Formation The Ruined Castle is an outcrop of large rocky boulders that lies halfway of a ridge that starts from Castle Hea ...

. The shale then went via an

inclined railway Incline, inclined, inclining, or inclination may refer to: *Grade (slope), the tilt, steepness, or angle from horizontal of a topographic feature (hillside, meadow, etc.) or constructed element (road, railway, field, etc.) *Slope, the tilt, steepn ...

at Katoomba. In 1903, the tramway was relaid to allow stockpiled shale to be removed from the old mine site, the last activity at the old mine. There was a village, Megalong, that was associated with the shale mine; it was in ruins by the mid 1930s. Today the valley is still used for farming, but tourism has increased since the historic

Six Foot Track The Six Foot Track was originally a bridle trail from Katoomba (New South Wales, Australia) to the Jenolan Caves, and is now a walking trail of 44.3 kilometers. History The Jenolan Caves are a tourist attraction that first became popular i ...

was restored. This track was marked out in the 19th century as a bridle trail from Katoomba to

Jenolan Caves The Jenolan Caves (Tharawal language, Tharawal: ''Binoomea'', ''Bindo'', ''Binda'') are limestone cave, limestone caves located within the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve in the Central Tablelands region, west of the Blue Mountains (New South ...

. It was called the Six Foot Track because it had to be that wide in order to accommodate two to three riders riding abreast. It fell into disuse eventually but was restored as a walking trail by the Department of Lands in 1984. It begins at the

Explorers Tree The Explorers Tree was a Blue Mountains ash ('' Eucalyptus oreades'') formerly located at Explorers Hill (also described as Pulpit Hill), about 2 km north-west of Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia. History The tree is regarded as ...

at Katoomba, goes down through Nellies Glen, passes the site of the former Megalong village, then continues across Megalong Valley to Coxs River. On the other side of the river, the trail crosses some ranges before reaching

Jenolan Caves Road Jenolan Caves Road is a rural road in New South Wales, Australia, linking Great Western Highway at Hartley to Edith Road at Jenolan. The road is a part of Tourist Drive 1 linking the Blue Mountains to Bathurst via Oberon and Hampton. Route ...

. It then heads south to finish at Jenolan.Sydney and Blue Mountains Bushwalks, pp. 240–245

References

Geography of the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) {{NewSouthWales-geo-stub Oil shale mining towns in New South Wales

Description and history

See also

References