Illawarra Escarpment

The Illawarra Escarpment is the dramatic sandstone scarp that defines Wollongong's western skyline, rising nearly 500 metres from the coastal plain to the Southern Highlands plateau within a few kilometres. It gives the city its distinctive compressed geography — beach, city, and escarpment all within walking distance of each other.

Several walking tracks climb the escarpment from the city side, passing through rainforest gullies and out onto exposed sandstone ridges with sweeping coastal views. Bald Hill, at the scarp's northern end near Stanwell Park, is famous for hang-gliding and paragliding — the updrafts off the cliffs are among the most reliable in New South Wales. The Grand Pacific Drive, which connects Sydney to Wollongong, follows the base of the escarpment and offers some of the finest coastal scenery in Australia.

things to do sight
A story
The escarpment was the main obstacle to settlement of the Illawarra plain in the early colonial period — the first road down it, Bulli Pass, was not completed until 1863. Before that, the only practical route was around the northern end. The sandstone cliffs that defeated colonial engineers are now a world-class paragliding launch site.