The Kings Tableland is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

located in the Blue Mountains in

Wollondilly Shire Wollondilly Shire is a Peri-urbanisation, periurban Local government in Australia, local government area that is located on the far southwest fringe of the Sydney, Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is pa ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Geography

The ridge is an eroded remnant of a

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

layer that is approximately

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

, situated immediately south of

Wentworth Falls Wentworth Falls (Postcodes in Australia, postcode: 2782) is a town in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales), Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, situated approximately west of the Sydney central business district, and about east of Katoo ...

. The Tableland is the major southerly

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

of the main spine of the Blue Mountains Range and forms the beginning of the Southern Escarpment, an unbroken series of tall sandstone cliffs which fringes the Jamison, Megalong, Kanimbla, and Hartley Valleys. Situated to the west of the Blue Labyrinth area, Kings Tableland extends from Bodington Hill south to McMahons Lookout, with views over Lake Burragorang, and further about . The plateau was named by

Governor Macquarie Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB (; ; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, and had a leading role ...

after King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. It extends southwards from

and is the eastern boundary of the

Jamison Valley The Jamison Valley forms part of the Coxs River canyon system in the Blue Mountains (Australia), Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated approximately 100 kilometres west of Sydney, capital of New South Wales, and a few k ...

. There are also views from several points along the ridge, accessed via paths breaking off the main fire trail. The ridgetop fire trail itself is accessible to 4WD and AWD vehicles in good weather conditions, and is used as a mountain biking (MTB) route. Along the way is Battleship Tops, an aboriginal meeting place where ochre paintings could be seen, though these have been damaged by vandalism. A 2007 survey of the area found four rock shelters with paintings and several other sites.

Indigenous significance

A portion of the Kings Tablelands has been gazetted as a camping and meeting place of significance for the Aboriginal

Gandangara people The Gandangara people, also spelled Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gundungurra and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Sh ...

. The conserved area includes a sandstone rock platform with extensive grinding and other grooves, a shelter with rock art that has been recorded as being the oldest Aboriginal site in the Blue Mountains region and containing unique vertically engraved depictions of kangaroo and bird tracks.

Modern developments

A road from Wentworth Falls runs north and south along the plateau to the current lookout area of McMahons Point. Before the construction of Warragamba Dam the track continued down the escarpment along a track all the way to the Cox's River area in the Burragorang Valley. There is a track descending from the western edge down into the Jamison Valley, originally leading to the old (now abandoned) sewerage works below the cliffs at Katoomba. The abandoned Queen Victoria Hospital is also located on Kings Tableland.

Gallery

Aerial View Queen Victoria Sanitorium Wentworth Falls NSW.jpg, Aerial View Queen Victoria Sanitorium Kings Tableland, 2017 KingsTableland1.JPG, Grinding grooves, Aboriginal site, 2009. Allocasuarina Kings Tableland.jpg, '' Allocasuarina nana'', commonly known as the Dwarf She-Oak, found on Kings Tablelands, 2011.

References

Bibliography

External links

Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Aerial video of the Jamison Valley and Kings Tableland. {{New South Wales mountains , state=autocollapse Geography of the Blue Mountains (New South Wales)