Landslide Lookout - NSW

The Apsley gorge continues to be eroded by the forces of nature, especially water erosion. The raw orange surface you can see on the right side of the gorge is a scar from a landslide in October 1987 when a large slice of the wall collapsed. Months before the wall actually collapsed a major crack developed, warning of the unstable nature of the wall. The thousands of tonnes of rock and soil that fell dammed the river. The water eventually topped this barrier of rocky debris and swept away all but the largest boulders which are still visible along the gorge floor. When water levels are low the Apsley River disappears under this debris of rock. The river reappears downstream around the next bend. In 2005 there was another minor landslip along the same section of wall. These landslips are the latest in the continuing process of gorge formation, a process which is millions of years old.