Narrow Neck to Tarros Ladder

Narrow Neck to Tarros Ladder Blue Mountains

Narrow Neck to Tarros Ladder: The Narrow neck walk is spectacular to say the least, a firetrail along a ridge all the way to its end where Tarros Ladder drops down to the valley floor, however this walk is not recommended in inclement weather if Tarros Ladder is an option.

We met at Katoomba Railway station at 09:30 and arranged car pooling to the start of the walk a short drive to the top of Golden Stair case limited parking is available and 2 wheel drive cars may have to park a little before the car park due to the rough state of the road.
18 of us congregated with excitement around the information board at the top of Golden Staircase as I explained our upcoming walk on the map, cloud was dispersing giving way to a glorious blue sky, a gentle breeze blowing and lovely views over the Megalong Valley on one side and Grose Valley on the other spoilt for choice like a kid in a candy store.
We set off down the fire trail walking as a group the fire trail is wide to start & up a steep concreted section which set us off in trepidation at the thought of this being a manmade monstrosity trudging all the way to the end. Fortunately this was only the 1st steep section and soon gave way to real fire trail, levelling out and shade provided by gum trees with native bush growing each side, the smells overloading our senses along with the blue sky and deep greens of the valley below.

Narrow Neck to Tarros Ladder: Sophie seemed more interested in her Iphone than the walk but soon gave way to a chin wag mixing in chatting with everyone, JC, Shelby & Maj Brit striding out in front enjoying the views and conversation to boot, up and down a few gently climbs then on the left a cliff face baring the eroded sandstone and lovely subtle colours of the rock eroded over time, just past the cliff face a short climb and a lower cliff to clamber up on with drop dead gorgeous views over the Megalong Valley all the way out to Mount Solitary & Ruined Castle with Burragorang Lake off in the distance. A constant sound of camera clicks reverberated along this walk which is confirmation the views are outstanding.
The fire trail was intermingled with rocky outcrops, shady forests and native bush all making it an enjoyable fire trail walk, Grass trees in abundance along sections and finally came to the Narrow Neck lookout at the end of ridge, similar views as the previous lookouts to Mount Solitary, Ruined Castle and Lake Burragorang, but on the other side the Grose Valley side a small trail led off into the bush with a sign Kanangra Boyd wilderness area where we paused to view the trails and information before walking around the bush and stopped at the top of a steep gully, to the right a view point, hairy as no fences and a very long drop to the right but a short clamber up onto the rock gave amazing views out to Medlow Bath, Kanangra Boyd all the way across to Kanangra Walls and Thurat Spires!

We climbed down the gully to a set of steel steps/ladder (from this point would be quite slippery and dangerous in wet conditions) before it flattened out and led around to the left, to the right a rough trail steeply down with a red bellied black snake guarding the way. We took the left trail under a large overhang and found a steep path leading down squeezing through rocky outcrops, clambering down rocks until we came to a rocky platform lovely views all around and bathed in sunlight hardly a cloud in the deep blue sky.
This was the top of Tarros Ladder a small gully with a series of iron foot holds driven into the sandstone by Taro himself, yes Taro not Tarro (aka Walter Tarr) as is now called nick named “the duke of clear hill”. This proved to be a challenge more for some than others especially those from Acrophobia sat on top and enjoyed the views, tranquillity and glorious sunshine whilst the rest picked out footholds and held on for dear life & picking foot holds down to the path below, great fun if you love that sort of thing! 5 girls sat at the top in meditation pose, their ohm soon turned to giggles and laughter though but that is also a form of meditation too!

TNarrow Neck to Tarros Ladder: hose at the bottom a quick squiz around before Eric and Kerry took off along the track towards Medlow Bath in the distance camping overnight in the valley, for the rest of us back on the ladder, along the fire trail for a return to Katoomba the walk seemed quicker on the return possibly spurred on by the thought of a beer at Old Bank Hotel Katoomba.
The beer garden at the pub always makes a great place to finish after a walk in the Blue Mountains, a cold schooner of beer over tales of the day and great company in glorious sunshine a great day finished with great company in a great traditional pub!
To top off the perfect day a few of us headed down to Unique Patisserie on Katoomba Street, my favourite Malaysian restaurant for dinner, Nasi Goreng Lemak beef rendang simply gorgeous.

Narrow Neck to Tarros Ladder: Getting there: Katoomba is easily reached from Sydney by train or driving, to get to Golden Staircase drive down Katoomba Street over the roundabout and past the police station on the right take the right turn into Cliff Drive, follow it around past Scenic World then take the left turn into Glenraphael Drive follow this to the end or as far as you can its rough in places. At the end of the drive a car park and information board, if you have a 4wd you can go another 500m to the locked gate. Follow the fire trail to the end of the ridge.

Narrow Neck to Tarros Ladder: Locating Tarros Ladder: At the end of Narrow Neck ridge is a viewpoint given nice views out to the left side on the right side you will see a narrow track leading through the bush with a Kanangra Boyd wilderness area sign follow the track down at the bottom of the steel ladder/steps make sure you take the flattish track to your left under the overhang.

Narrow Neck to Tarros Ladder: Note: Always be prepared when bushwalking, carry enough water, purification and adequate food/snacks for your walk, never go without a map, compass, and personal locator beacon, first aid kit. For more information see the NSW National Parks website about staying safe: http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/safety/bushwalking

Narrow Neck to Tarros Ladder: If you would like to know more about Sydney Explorers visit here: www.meetup.com/sydney-explorers membership is free…