UPDATE TUESDAY 2.30PM: All of the Blue Mountains National Park, except for Evans Lookout and Govetts Leap lookout, will be closed from 9am on Wednesday, April 6.
The development is an escalation of track closures in the Blue Mountains National Park which were announced by the National Parks and Wildlife Service earlier today [April 5].
Now only the two lookouts in Blackheath - Evans Lookout and Govetts Leap - will remain open in the national park.
TUESDAY 12.30PM: All walking tracks in the Blue Mountains National Park below the escarpment will be closed from 9am tomorrow [Wednesday, April 6].
The development follows the tragic rockslide that killed two people at Wentworth Falls on Monday and as significant rain is predicted later in the week.
A spokesperson for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) said tracks in the Wentworth Falls precinct of the national park are already closed until further notice.
"The site [at Wentworth Falls] is currently closed and a comprehensive review will be undertaken," said the spokesperson.
The spokesperson did not say how long tomorrow's planned walking track closures will be in operation.
Blue Mountains City Council is also currently working with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in assessing walking tracks in the area.
This co-ordinated approach will determine priorities for track closure in the National Park, as well as council-run walking tracks. Walking tracks will be assessed based on risk.
Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said: "Today [April 5] I have asked council to close any tracks that are in at risk areas.
"Our hearts go out to those affected in this week's landslip, and their families and friends. It is an absolute tragedy."
Council tracks that join the Valley of the Waters, at Charles Darwin Walk, were already closed for restoration works, following flood events in 2020 and 2021.
Council has also temporarily closed the following tracks:
- Terrace Falls Hazelbrook walking track (partial closure due to rockfall). No through access to Bedford Creek from carpark 2; all other tracks to Bedford Creek need to be accessed from carpark 1.
- Lapstone Zig Zag walking track (partial closure due to rockfall). A pedestrian detour is in place.
- South Lawson Waterfall Loop Walk (partial closure due to rockfall and landslip).
- Victory Track, Faulconbridge (partial closure due to a rockfall and landslip). Walkers are advised to plan alternate track routes as there is no physical access in or out of Victory Track via Sir Henrys Parade, Faulconbridge. The remainder of the southern Springwood track network is open, however caution is advised due to changed track conditions as a result of flood damage.
Sections of Prince Henry Cliff Walk Leura have also been partially closed since 2000 and 2001 due to landslip and storm damage.
The walking track where two members of a visiting British family were killed on Monday was inspected by National Parks just days before the tragedy.
A Parks spokesperson said the inspection was done as part of a "routine track assessment program".
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The five family members were walking along the Wentworth Pass track at Wentworth Falls at about 1.40pm on Monday when rocks dislodged from the wall above them.
The landslip killed the father, 49, and a son, nine, at the scene. The mother, 50, and another son, 14, were critically injured.
The family's 15-year-old daughter, in an extremely distressed state, was eventually led out on foot by emergency personnel and treated by ambulance paramedics for shock before being transferred to Westmead Children's Hospital.
