Canyoning (also known as ‘canyoneering’ and ‘gorge walking’) is possibly the ultimate adventure sport. It involves traversing a canyon environment (a narrow gorge or slot between cliffs caved by running water) using a wide variety of techniques. Many canyons can only be traversed by abseiling (i.e. rappelling / descending using a rope) down waterfalls.
Other techniques which may be used to go canyoning include walking (bushwalking/hiking), swimming, wading through water, scrambling (moving over uneven terrain using all of your limbs), climbing (bouldering, roped rock climbing and via ferrata), jumping into pools of water, roped traverses (e.g. tyrolean traverse, zip line or flying fox), and floating down stream using floatation aids such as lilo’s (inflatable air mattresses), PFD’s (sometimes called lifejackets) and even small inflatable boats or packrafts.
Some local canyoners have estimated there are more than 2000 canyons in the Blue Mountains and its surrounds. New canyons are discovered every year. As yet there is no official count or catalogue of the canyons in the region to verify these estimates. Regardless of the exact numbers there is canyon to suit just about everyone’s fitness and experience.
Canyons in the Blue Mountains are very different to those in Europe and the US. Blue Mountains canyons are often highly vegetated (typically they are lined with rainforest vegetation including many species of ferns and tall trees), they are not subject to spring snow melt (we typically have one or two light snow fall events in an average winter – snow rarely settles on the ground for more than a few hours), and water levels are typically stable throughout the year with fairly low flow rates.
Our canyons can be described as rainforest gorges, with narrow sandstone slot sections that have formed over many millions of years. There are other types of rock found in some Blue Mountains canyons including clay-stone, basalt, limestone and quartzite.
They feature beautifully chiselled walls, and remarkable waterfalls. . The canyons we visit are often in remote or wilderness environments and you can expect a walk is required to reach the canyon. Access to these is via rough tracks and in some cases there are no formal tracks.
We provide all the necessary equipment. This includes a harnesses, hardware, ropes, helmets, wetsuits, dry bags, backpacks, and emergency communications equipment. Participants just need to bring comfortable warm clothing to suit the conditions, swimmers, a camera (optional) and any personal medication they require.
Our rates also include lunch and drinks.
How do I choose the right canyon for me?
It can be difficult to choose the right canyon when every canyon is different and the techniques used vary from location to location. Some canyons are quite horizontal and have little or no exposure to heights, while others have numerous large drops and descend hundreds of metres into a gorge.
Some canyoning adventures may be as simple as hiking through with just wet feet, while technical descents may require highly technical rope work, rockclimbing, technical jumps into small pools of water, and white water skills.
If you need help choosing and adventure then let us know what you want from the day?
Tell us about your fitness and previous experience?
Let us know if you have a good head for heights or would you prefer something more chilled out?
Just call or email us with a brief description of what you want from the dventure and we’ll send through specific recommendations to suit your needs.
If you want to work it out for yourself we’ve group our canyons into a few simple categories to help you choose the canyoning tour that suits you best.
Introductory Summer Canyons
Introductory Winter Canyons
Intermediate Summer Canyons
Intermediate Winter Canyons
Advanced Summer Canyons
Advanced Winter Canyons
Multi-Day Canyons
Family Friendly Adventures (suitable for children over 8 years)
If you would like to learn more about canyoning in the Blue Mountains (near Sydney, Australia) please contact us now with your questions.
