Sunset Over Lost City
Lost City
If you love nature and a quiet adventure, hiking at Lost City in Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area is a great choice. The newly installed track between the North and South lookout points offers a chance to wander through the valley floor past towering pagodas, up to the top of unobstructed lookouts to take in the view. Whether you’re a weekend wanderer or a seasoned bushwalker, you’re sure to find plenty to love at Lost City.
Quick details
Length: 6km return
Elevation: 100m
Grade: Easy to Moderate
Best season: Year-round
Suitable for kids: Yes
Starting the Trail
There are several lookout points overlooking Lost City, each offering a unique view of the valley. We began at the North Lost City Lookout. At the time of writing, the fire trail to the South Lost City Lookout is closed, but it is expected to reopen soon. Since the track connects the two lookouts, you can start from either end. After parking the car, we walked down an open, wide trail that led us to a few pagodas.
What is a Pagoda?
Pagodas are natural rock formations that come in two forms: Smooth Pagodas and Platy Pagodas. The latter is considered internationally significant because of how rare they are globally. They form through weathering and erosion carving out sections of softer sandstone between harder layers of ironstone. It's the ironstone banding that makes the Platy Pagodas so distinctive. How lucky we are to have the pagoda heartland right on our doorstep in New South Wales!
Back to the Trail
We stood on the first pagoda to look out at the valley below. While they may be made of stone, it's worth remembering that pagodas can be fragile things so care should be taken for your sake as well as the pagodas. It’s easy to see how this place got its name - with the valley looking like an ancient city of crumbling buildings.
At the base of the pagoda we had just climbed, a short signpost pointed us in the direction of the trail. We headed across the hill on a foot track, and soon we caught sight of a newly cut trail descending to our left. The recent track upgrades installed by NSW NPWS have made this area accessible to families, and it’s already proving popular with plenty of people on the trail.
The trail becomes steeper as we reach the pagodas and the track turns into stairs. It’s not a long descent, in total it’s only around 100m of elevation from the car to the valley floor. Although it’s hot and there’s not a lot of shade (so much for the weather forecast of cool and cloudy) the experience was still well worth it.
As we reach the valley floor the trail turns to follow the creek. It’s an easy track to walk along, giving you plenty of chances to look up at the towering pagodas around you. A low overhang not too far in gave us a chance to stop and catch our breath in the shade.
The trail crosses the creek a few times as it winds its way through the valley. We stopped a couple of times to cool off our feet or to sit on fallen trees across the creek (a very important thing to do whenever possible).
At close to 1.5km into the track you’ll find the track splits in two, with stairs on your right leading back up out of the valley. If you head to the right on the Miners Pass Link Track you’ll still reach the South Lost City Lookout, it’s just a steeper (and shorter) track than the option to the left. Since we weren’t in a rush to leave the valley we continued to the left.
Throughout the valley, you’ll notice relics from the time when Marrangarroo Creek was used to supply water to Lithgow. The two dams that you pass along the way were constructed in the 1920s. The Miners Pass Link Track also takes you past mining relics from the 1940s, such as what’s left of an old building (which isn’t much more than a concrete slab and a fireplace).
We begin the climb out of the valley up to the South Lookout, and while it may be later in the day it doesn’t seem to be cooling off yet. The sandstone block steps wind their way up the hill, bringing us out to an open area with views across the valley. From here the path makes a bit of a “U” shape to bring us to South Lost City Lookout at the top of the hill.
Looking to our left, we could see the wide-open trail where we first started, between the car and the first pagodas. It’s hard to believe it’s so far away, it didn’t feel like we had walked that far. From here, you could either walk back down the same way you just walked up, or you could take the Miners Pass Link Track for a different descent into the valley. We chose to go back along the same track we came up - Mainly because the boys had chosen to stay on the last staircase rather than hike up to the lookout with us, and it would be a little too on-the-nose if we let them get lost in Lost City…
We slowly made our way back across the valley floor, as the late afternoon light cast shadows from the pagodas making everything look different from when we walked through earlier. Even though the boys were tired there were still quite a few finger-points up at the rock formations above. Cries of “Look at that one” and “Do you think that one might break off soon?” served as our soundtrack for the last couple of kilometres. Once we found ourselves back on the open hill area just below the car park, most of the crowd had left and we had the lookout mostly to ourselves.
We had planned to stay at the lookout for sunset, which is why we had left later than normal. It turned out to be a great idea. After making our way to the car, we had dinner and rested while the sun got closer to the horizon. Leaving our bags behind, we wandered back down to the pagodas to find a good seat, and soon, golden-tipped pagodas filled the valley around us.
Looking down from the pagodas we could see parts of the trail through the valley that we had walked on earlier. A staircase here, a dam wall there, it became a game of pointing out all the things we could see in the fading light.
Gardens of Stone Conservation Area
Currently, Gardens of Stone is split into two sections, the State Conservation Area and the National Park. Although there are plans for the SCA to be merged with the National Park that can’t happen until coal mining in the area comes to an end. There are plans to build the next Australian Great Walk through this area, a proposed 70km track with accommodation hubs along the way. Additionally, talks of building an adventure park over Lost City, including activities such as rock climbing, and zip lining, seem to be on hold - at least for now.
A Wide Open Sky of Stars
As the sun set and the last of the cars drove off, we were left with a wide open view of a mostly cloudless evening sky - and a campfire that had been left burning by people who apparently thought putting out their campfire was someone else’s responsibility. We stood by and waited for it to burn down, the memories of this area burning only a few years ago left us shaking our heads at how anyone could be so irresponsible. Some sparklers were found in the back of the car that made the wait a little more bearable for some.
As the coals died down and we were able to extinguish the fire, we looked up to see a night sky filled with stars. I suppose there would be some who would ask if we were afraid to be there, in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, and the silence - and the answer is no. It was actually really peaceful to be laying on the ground, staring up at the stars, pointing out constellations and satellites, and “...is that a UFO or a plane?” Before making our way back to the car for the final time, and driving home.
Getting There
Lost City can be found 5km North of the regional city of Lithgow. To get there from Bells Line, turn at the Zig Zag railway onto Old Bell’s Line of Road. When you get to the T-intersection, turn left onto State Mine Gully Road, then right onto Lost City road for the South Lookout. Alternatively, at the T-intersection, turn right onto State Mine Gully - Glow Worm Tunnel Road, and then turn left at the Bungleboori picnic and camping area for the North lookout.
From Lithgow, find your way onto State Mine Gully Road, then turn left at either Lost City Road, or the North Lookout road. There are road signs out to guide you where to go. At the time of writing, the Lost City Road to the South Lookout was closed, but looks to reopen soon.
Tips and Tricks
We think the North Lookout would offer a better view of the sunset than the South Lookout.
Any Lost City lookout will be a great place to stargaze.
There’s a couple of camping areas nearby, why not make your trip an overnighter.
If you don’t know where you’re going, then don’t stray from the upgraded fire trails on the drive in. This area is littered with fire trails and a wrong turn could see you lost for hours. It’s a good idea to have an offline and up to date map of the area.