The Abandoned Catalina Park Raceway in Katoomba

Despite living only 15 minutes away for the last four years, today I finally went for a walk around the remains of the old Catalina Park Raceway in Katoomba (Sydney Blue Mountains).

The racktrack opened in 1961 and was used for all sorts of racing including touring cars, open-wheelers and motorcycles throughout the 1960s.

In the 1970s the circuit was used for Rallycross, and by the 1980s and 1990s the track was only used for lap dashes. The circuit closed in 2001.

It's 2.1 km long and the lap record is 53.4 seconds set in a Matich SR3 (Group A Sports Car) -- an average speed of 141 km/h.

The track is now in a state of decay and the area is now known as The Gully. Much of the track remains, including the bitumen, and the Armco and wooden barriers.

It's only a short walk from the Katoomba town centre, and you can walk the entire circuit in about 30 minutes or so. You can enter from Wariga Street, where there is a carpark.