Travelling as a family is an important part of growing up. Whether you’re going to a local beauty spot or heading further afield, time spent together can create lasting memories. Plus, with so many children spending extended time indoors these days, an outdoor adventure is the perfect way to spark an interest in nature and a respect for the world we live in.Fortunately, whether your family thrives on thrilling hikes, scenic drives, or simply soaking up breathtaking views, the Blue Mountains offer something for everyone. From majestic waterfalls and ancient forests to the charming wildlife that calls this place home this is an outdoor paradise that promises to captivate the minds and hearts of both the young and old.

Just off the Great Western Highway near the village of Leura, where the World Heritage-listed national park meets the community, east meets the oldest continuous culture on earth in a yin and yang of harmony, kinship and respect.A former school on 12ha of natural Australian bushland within the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park, Sinofield Edu-Retreat is a gem hidden in plain sight.

Already a globally recognised landscape, the rugged beauty of the Blue Mountains cliff tops is a step closer to being more accessible to nature lovers through a new iconic walk.

PHOTO: Mark LeyFrom its windswept heath clinging to the escarpment, to misty rainforests or soaring eucalypt woodlands, the Blue Mountains is a haven to more than 180 species of Australia’s most beautiful birds.

The Blue Mountains’ koala population is growing and on the move – but you’re more likely to hear them than see them. And that’s where Blue Mountains locals can help.By Julie Miller

Continuing a botanical legacy: Blue Mountains Botanic Garden.Nine years before Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson made their historic trek across the Blue Mountains in 1813, a naturalist named George Caley – curator of the colony’s first botanic gardens at Parramatta – forged a route along the northern rim of the Grose Valley, the first European to penetrate the mountains west of Sydney.His mission was to collect botanical specimens; and on November 10, 1804, Caley reached a place of great beauty, a summit cloaked in magnificent tree ferns known to the Darug people as Tomah. Several days later, however, Caley’s party aborted their mission at nearby Mount Banks, thwarted by the rugged, seemingly impenetrable terrain.