Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Blaxland's route across Blue Mountains, May 11th to 31st 1813

Blaxland's route across Blue Mountains, May 11th to 31st 1813

1937
M2 812.17p/1937/1
Map

By 1813 Gregory Blaxland had already made two previous expeditions into the foothills of mountains to explore the territory. Based on his knowledge of the terrain, he concluded that it might be possible to cross the Mountains following a ridge running between the Warragamba and Grose Rivers. Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson were successful in their crossing because they followed the ridge lines across the mountains, avoiding the most of the steep, disorientating valleys.

This map was produced in around 1937. It is based on a map in a 1913 edition of Blaxland’s journal edited by Frank Walker, and shows the route taken by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson across the Blue Mountains in 1813. It also includes notes on the journey, and distances travelled each day, alongside what became the Main Western Road which is now the Great Western Highway.

Gregory Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth and William Lawson all kept journals during the 1813 expedition. Of the three explorers, Gregory Blaxland was the only one who had his account of the journey published in 1823.

The 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains took three weeks. The return journey took only six days.