Rachmartee

Yileen Canyon is another beautiful short canyon on the Southern side of Bells Line of Road. It is a perfect canyon if you only have a half day free or looking for a low water level option.

The views on the hike in are stunning. It can be a bit tricky to follow the walking track but once you reach the start of the canyon and suit up you are right into the thick of it. The canyon from the very beginning is beautiful, sculpted mossy rocks and small waterfalls with crystal clear pools.

One of my favourite parts of this canyon is this beautiful slot channel. The water is so crystal clear it is deceiving how deep the water actually is. This is also a popular jump spot, which just adds to all the fun!

The second last abseil has you abseiling into a crack in the ground with water seemingly magically spilling out of the canyon walls. It is epic. At first you feel a little nervous not sure where you’ll end up but once you surrender yourself to the abseil you find yourself in the most beautiful cavern.

After you walk out of the cavern you end up in this cliff top rocky outcrop, suddenly feeling so much open space around you with beautiful views out into the valleys. This is the start of the final abseil which is an awesome 60m abseil.

I’ve been very fortunate that my first two times through Ylieen Canyon we had fairly decent water flow (as in the abseil wasn’t dry), which I have learnt isn’t standard for this canyon.

The hike out of Yileen is pretty enjoyable compared to most Blue Mountains canyons, in my opinion. You follow the cliff line, follow a vague walking track down to the gully and back up the other side until you meet Pierces Pass Walking Track, which you then follow all the way up to Piecers Pass Picnic area.

You will need to do a car shuffle for this canyon if you don’t want to walk up the grueling Pierces Pass Road, and then another few kms on the side of a busy road.

The picnic area is quite fun to explore itself, or maybe my friends just know how to make fun out of anywhere, and is also where I found out for the second time my dog was going to be expecting puppies!