MOUNT TOMAH BOTANIC GARDEN

Set along historic Bells Line of Road and above Bilpin, Mount Tomah is the cool-climate garden of New South Wales Botanic Gardens Trust. “Cool” because it sits 1000 metres above sea level. “Cool” because the 70-acre garden features plants, trees and flowers of the Southern Hemisphere mountains – botanical life that is simultaneously hardy and colourful.

Footpaths, waterfalls and granite-lined trails endow the gardens with a unified and seamless ambience. Plants and trees from diverse mountain ranges – Japan, China, Chile, Korea and North America – are clustered as “plant communities” (separate gardens) and each has a unique character and quality.

New Jungle Walk Opens

Mount Tomah Botanic Garden Map

A new treat for garden lovers is the (33 hectares) Jungle Walk which opened to the public in March 2009. Pristine rainforest with magnificent sassafras and coachwood trees surrounded by diverse plant and animal life are accessible along half a kilometre of graded paths. Opening the Jungle Walk is the realisation of a long-awaited dream for Mount Tomah.

For kids…
Shiny carp linger in still dark pools, anxious skinks scurry under rocks, terrified of your big feet. Hidden among the rhododendrons, look for a tall, really tall rock of basalt – lava of volcanic origin from perhaps 15 million years ago. Go on a quest for a dinosaur munching among the tallest gum trees or the crunchy green salad (ferns) below. Across the northern ridge of Mount Wilson, see in your mind’s eye a thousand Aboriginal camp fires under a clear starry night. Find a place for a picnic and a spark for your imagination. Hint: take along binoculars and cameras. Bring a jumper as the wind can come up unexpectedly.

We regard Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens as a “village” for it has all the characteristics of one: a restaurant (modern Australian cuisine) with distant views out to Mount Yango and closer ones to Mount Wilson that leave you staring in wonder, picnic and barbeque facilities (free), a gift shop and a gallery for art exhibitions. The newest addition is the Waratah Education Centre for special and unusual classes. People movers allow everyone access to the Botanic Gardens. Throughout the garden, there are several wedding venues: the formal garden is very European with benches, flowered arches and orderly boxwoods – but don’t neglect the manicured grassy lawns or the base of the waterfall cascades overlooking the conifers and the Blue Mountains beyond.

With all the activities available at Mount Tomah, make this an extended holiday. On your return trip, purchase the best of the Hawkesbury produce, jams and juices at fruit and veggie stands in Berambing and Bilpin, have lunch and do a bit of shopping in Kurrajong Village – all along historic Bells Line of Road. Kids will love the wicked curves and bends on the trip home. A number of charming B&Bs, including a health retreat in Bilpin, are nearby if you make this an overnight trip.

Important details
From Sydney via the M2 and the M7, Mount Tomah is situated at the ridge line of the Hawkesbury and is 35 minutes from Richmond, past Kurrajong Heights and Bilpin along Bells Line of Road. If you are planning a lengthy drive and holiday, you’ll want to know more about the Botanists Way and the history of early explorers of this area. Visit www.botanistsway.com.au for accessible trails and short treks just off Bells Line of Road. Many have picnic facilities. For information and detailed maps of the area, visit the Visitor Information Centre at Clarendon (between Windsor and Richmond) or go to www.greaterbluemountainsdrive.com.au.

 
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