The Blue Mountains Lookouts & Waterfalls
Episode 8
First Shown: 13 November, 2020 on YouTube
Minnatonka Falls & Lincoln's Rock
The two locations I selected for this episode are in two adjoining areas. Minnatonka Falls are in Bullaburra just east of Wentworth Falls and Lincoln's Rock is south of Wentworth Falls.
Minnatonka Falls are within Red Gum Park Reserve in Bullaburra. It is a small fall with little water flow and has become rather overgrown possibly due to the lack of visitors going there. A wooden bridge on the track over the Minnatonka Creek from Boronia Road is in disrepair and signs indicate it will not be repaired until 2025. Although, the path is fenced off, access to the fall is still possible from Boronia Road if you must go that way. Other walking tracks from De Quency Road and Cottle Road are available but signage is minimal. There is no sign to the side path to the bottom of the falls. The name Red Gum Park was suggested to council on 21st March 1964, and selected for the red gum trees growing there.
No-one seems to know who named Minnatonka Falls. It’s possibly named after the song “From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water,” composed in 1909 by Charles Wakefield Cadman, and based on a native american love song, that relates to Lake Minnetonka, in Minnesota, USA. The song was first performed in the Sydney Town Hall on the 1st of September 1913, by MADAME NORDICA. Was this performance the inspiration for the waterfall’s name? Sky-Blue also relates to the meaning of Bullaburra, an aboriginal word for blue sky or fine weather. The spelling of the falls and creek is Minnatonka, the American spelling is Minnetonka.
The Daily Telegraph
Sat 30 Aug 1913
TOWN-HALL TO-NIGHT AND SEPT. 1 AND 2.
Farewell concerts by MADAME NORDICA and her brilliant company,
To-night's great programme Madame Nordica will sing:
1. (a) "Omaha Indian Tribal melody" (From the Land of the Sky-blue Water) (Wakefield-Cadman)
(b) "Will 0' the Wisp"... (Spross)
Historically, the original owner of the land between Lawson and Wentworth Falls was Sir Henry Parkes, who I have mentioned in earlier episodes. He named the area, Village of Coleridge. In 1924 the land was purchased, renamed Buena Vista, and subdivided by Sir Arthur Rickard.
Sir Arthur, owned the real estate firm, Sir Arthur Rickard & Company and had become very successful by developing inventive advertising strategies that urged families to buy rather than rent and offered 'Rickard's Easy Terms'. In October 1924 Sir Arthur conferred with the Blue Mountains Shire Council on the general lay-out of a new township called Bullaburra adjacent to the western railway line. He then, persuaded the NSW railway commissioners to authorise a station at Bullaburra to service his estate and had the station platform built with all the modern conveniences.
In June of 1925, Sir Arthur donated an area of nearly 40 acres of his estate, to the Blue Mountains Shire Council, to be used exclusively as a public park and recreation ground. The Council built paths for easy access to and through it, and built a swimming pool just below the most northerly creeks in the area. While I was there I did not look for the swimming pool. It was abandoned and drained in the 1950’s due to pollution.
Lincoln's Rock is located south of Wentworth Falls on the Kings Tableland plateau. For thousands of years, the area that we now know as Kings Tableland was a place of significance to the Aboriginal Gandangara people. The plateau forms the eastern boundary of Jamison Valley, and extends south to McMahons Point lookout and beyond, with views over Lake Burragorang. In addition to the spectacular view of Jamison Valley that changes colour throughout the day, as the sun and clouds move across the sky, the drawcard of Lincoln’s Rock is the impressive optical-illusion photo of you on the rock’s edge. But it would be careless of me to suggest you do that. One person has already fallen as there are no guard rails installed.
This rock appears to have formed through volcanic lava flow many millions of years ago and has weathered better than the softer sandstone underneath creating a cliff face studded with caves and jagged sculptures. The lookout was officially named 'Lincoln’s Rock' in 2013 after Australian mountaineer, Lincoln Hall who lived in Wentworth Falls for twenty years and who died tragically from an asbestos-related illness in 2012. Prior to that this stony outcrop was called Flat Rock, Wedding Rock (for wedding-day photos) and even Honeymoon Rock, a romantic spot to watch the sun go down.
Lincoln's Rock is one of the most impressive lookout points in the greater Blue Mountains region. With sweeping views of Jamison Valley and beyond, Lincoln’s Rock is a unique and historically important sight that is a must-visit.
