Bells Line of Road crosses the Blue Mountains from Richmond to Lithgow, and it is the quieter, more charming alternative to the Great Western Highway. It is named after Archibald Bell, who found the route over the mountains in 1823, a tougher and less direct way than the one used by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth ten years earlier. Today it is a good two-lane road, running along a high ridge between sandstone gorges, with eucalyptus forest and fruit orchards, and the traffic is a fraction of that on the highway.
The road begins on the Cumberland Plain and climbs steeply at Kurrajong Heights, with views back across the flat land toward Sydney on a clear day. It then follows a ridge, and its corners are broad and easy, with a few tighter ones on the climbs. The surface is usually good, and the speed limits are strictly enforced, with police patrols common on weekends. Bilpin, in the apple country, is the place for roadside stalls selling apples, cider, pies and fresh juice, especially in autumn. Mount Tomah Botanic Garden, a high-altitude annex of the Royal Botanic Garden, grows cool-climate plants, with rhododendrons, rare conifers and a beautiful display in spring.
The scenery is the Blue Mountains at its grandest. To the south lies the Grose Valley, a vast gorge, and to the north the wild country of Wollemi National Park. This is where the Wollemi pine, a tree thought to be extinct until it was found in a hidden canyon in 1994, still grows. The blue haze that gives the mountains their name comes from oil droplets released by eucalyptus trees, which scatter blue light in the air.
Weather here changes quickly. Winters are cold, with frost and occasionally snow at the highest points, and fog can shroud the road in the mornings. In summer, bushfires can close the road, and the fires of 2019 and 2020 burned much of the surrounding bush. Check traffic and fire alerts before setting off.
Fuel is available at Richmond and Lithgow, and in some of the villages along the way, but opening hours vary, so fill up at either end. Cafes are scattered along the road, and tend to be crowded on weekends. A weekday morning, in autumn or spring, is the best time to take the road.