Popular Blue Mountains walking tracks reopens to visitors

After thousands of hours of painstaking work, one of the Blue Mountains most popular walking tracks has reopened to visitors after being damaged in the 2019-20 bushfires.

Minister for Environment, James Griffin, said the picturesque Popes Glen track at Blackheath was rebuilt by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to withstand future challenges.

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"It's taken our team a huge amount of effort to repair this track, laying 631 new stone steps along two kilometres, and delivering more than 700 helicopter loads of material," Mr Griffin explained.

"Where there were wooden bridges and timber steps, we've replaced them with stone to make the track more resilient to the impact of floods and fires in the future.

"The Blue Mountains National Park receives more than eight million visits every year, and we've been working hard to ensure its visitors can enjoy the spectacular walks once more."

Work to repair and upgrade the National Park section of the nearby Govetts Leap to Pulpit Rock Track, also known as the West Rim Track, is expected to also be finished this month.

Another major track-building project, the revitalisation of the 20-kilometre Grand Cliff Top Walk, spanning the escarpment from Wentworth Falls to Katoomba, is due for completion in 2023.

At the Wollemi National Park, a $450,000 NSW Government upgrade has delivered a more accessible campground at the base of spectacular sandstone cliffs in the Capertee Valley.

"The work to refresh the Coorongooba campground has delivered better access and facilities, including dozens more picnic tables, barbecues, more toilets and wastewater disposal," Mr Griffin explained.

"This campground gets booked out during the school holidays, and now those families will be better able to relax and enjoy their World Heritage-listed surrounds next to the river."

The projects are part of the biggest infrastructure investment in NSW national parks history, delivering $450 million of priority works that create jobs to local communities and boost nature-based tourism across the state.

The 2019-20 bushfires wrecked disastrous havoc across NSW, burning an estimated 24-33 million hectares, destroying over 5900 buildings and killed at least 34 people. It was claimed that three billion terrestrial vertebrates (the majority being reptiles) were affected, with some endangered species believed to be driven to extinction.

Check the NPWS website before heading out for the latest alerts: https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au.

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