005 - Australia

The Grose Valley is a rugged valley in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It has been formed by the Grose River, the headwaters of which are in the Mount Victoria area. The valley is located between the two major routes across the Great Dividing Range, the Great Western Highway and Bells Line of Road. The Grose River has cut a deep gorge through the area as it makes its way east towards the Hawkesbury River. Sheer sandstone cliffs standing hundreds of metres above the river make for spectacular scenery and can be viewed extensively from the Blackheath area, where there are a number of accessible lookouts, the best known being Govetts Leap. The valley can also be viewed from lookouts near Bells Line of Road and points outside Mt Victoria. Charles Darwin described the Grose Valley as "stupendous … magnificent" when he visited in 1836.