We’d had Birdwood Gully on our list for a while, but to be honest, it’s such a short walk that we never really prioritised it. That was until I found out that Birdwood Gully contained a night time secret….. glow worms!

Having recently visited the incredible glow worm cave at Hazelbrook, I was sold, and I’m so glad we finally made it! Birdwood Gully is a short, but gorgeous bush walk by day, and an absolutely magical track by night.

Here’s what to expect during both the day and night time.

Birdwood Gully Walk

The stats

Distance: 2.7km
Elevation: 117m
Difficulty: Easy, but rough in places
Type of trail: Circuit

The trail

The trail begins by heading fairly steeply downhill on very uneven stairs. Really watch your feet here because there are lots of bits of metal which poke upwards and I nearly went flying, which wasn’t the best start to the walk!

Other than that, it’s a nice enough beginning as you are immediately immersed in quite dense bushland.

It’s 350m in when the walk starts to get really pretty and you’ll reach a stretch that is absolutely covered in ferns.

If you’ve ever read any of our other posts, you’ll probably have picked up that I’m a bit of a fern fanatic!

The trail is nice and flat along this section and you’ll pass a small cave before you reach a bend in the track as you continue through the forest.

At the 500m mark you’ll be walking alongside a creek and it begins to feel slightly rainforest like. The cliff edges are damp and they have little hanging gardens which is very picturesque.

After another 250m you’ll reach a small waterfall and a bigger cave. Once you’ve gone down the staircase, you’ll see that you can hop over the creek on the small rocks and enter the cave.

You might spot the odd glow worm here in the day time (it’d need to be a pretty dark day), but trust us, you really want to be here at night!

This whole area is beautiful and really comes to life after rain.

You’ll then leave this damp part of the forest and head into a drier area again. It’s still gorgeous: the wattle was out in full force, and there were hundreds, if not thousands of ferns, and even a few really tall tree ferns!

Once you’re 1.5km into the track you’ll begin to climb. It’s mainly on well formed stairs, with the odd rocky section.

There are some huge overhangs along this part of the walk and the bush views continue to be pretty.

As you head further uphill you do begin to get some road noise filtering through which spoils the magic slightly, but that’s being picky!

Towards the very end of the climb it gets a bit steeper, but overall it’s not too bad, and before long you’re at the road.

You then have roughly 400m walking along the road to get back to your car.

Where to go for sunset while you wait for night to fall

If you want to see the gully by day and by night, we’d recommend heading to watch the sunset somewhere nearby by and then returning after dark. We went to Yellow Rock which is a 20 minute drive away and is a gorgeous lookout.

The sun sets to the left of the main view so it’s not a typical ‘sunset spot’, but the soft light filters round to the primary view, which is still good for photos.

The view is of a gorge as well as the Nepean River and Cumberland Plain. We visited in winter, but both agreed that in the warmer months it would make a great place to come for an evening picnic.

It’s a natural lookout with a large rocky platform that is perfect for sitting and relaxing on. It is an unfenced cliff edge though, so it might not suit vertigo sufferers!

Birdwood Gully at night

Birdwood Gully is lovely by day, but by night it is nothing short of magical. On our day time walk we scouted out where we thought the glow worms might live and we were right, but to our surprise they lived in more than just the two caves! Large stretches of the cliff walls on the way to the waterfall cave were covered in them too! It was breath taking!

We’d recommend allowing plenty of time for your night walk, because for each new glow worm spot, you need to turn off all light and let your eyes adjust.

The longer you let them adjust the more you will see.

Also, never shine light at the glow worms or they will just go out and won’t shine their light again for some time. If you do need to move around, shine a dim light at the floor and switch it off when you’re in a comfortable position to view them.

The first cave is 450m down the trail. There are several hundred glow worms here, but as mentioned you will need some time to see them all, I think I saw around 50 to begin with and 10 minutes later I could see them in so many new places, including directly overhead!

Glow Worms in the Blue Mountains - Birdwood Gully

The next cave with the small waterfall is 350m further on, as you near it you will see lots more glow worms along the cliff edge, before arriving at the grand finale!

We were expecting the majority of the glow worms to be in the overhang, and there were quite a few, but the vast majority - hundreds and hundreds of them - were lining both cliff edges close to the cave.

This provided a panoramic glow worm experience! The cliff edge beside the staircase had the highest density and happily there are some rocks there you can sit on and take in the spectacle. We stayed for over an hour and no one else came along, it was such a special experience.

Overall the walk from where you park your car to the furthest glow worm colony is 1.5km return. It’s not too difficult to walk in the dark, the only area to watch is the initial descent on the uneven staircase.

If you’re a bit of a glow worm fanatic like me, we have other hidden spots you can find them in this post.

Fireflies at Birdwood Gully

If you’re lucky enough to be visiting the area during firefly season you will be treated to a truly spectacular display. Many hundreds of fireflies light up the forest as they flit between the trees.

The season generally lasts for 3-4 weeks between late November and mid - late December, but it varies year to year, you can read more here.

It’s an incredible opportunity to see both the fireflies and glow worms at the same time. The fireflies are located between the first and second glow worm caves, close to the creek.

During our visit they came out at 8pm for around 45 minutes in big numbers and a few stragglers remained after that. Timings may vary, but if you arrive at 8pm you may have to wait a little while if it’s later, but at least you won’t miss them!

Where to park for Birdwood Gully

The best place to park is at the intersection between Bednal Road and Lucinda Avenue, which is a residential street with no parking fee or time limit.

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