Medlow Bath is an Australian

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 small town located near the highest point of the Blue Mountains, between Katoomba

Katoomba, New South Wales

Katoomba is the chief town of the City of Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia and the administrative headquarters of Blue Mountains City Council. It is on the Great Western Highway 110 kilometres west of Sydney and 39 kilometres south-east of Lithgow. Katoomba railway station is on the...

 and Blackheath

Blackheath, New South Wales

Blackheath is a small town located near the top of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia, 120 kilometres west north west of Sydney and 11 kilometres northwest of Katoomba. In 2006, Blackheath had a population of 4,177 people...

. It has an approximate altitude of 1050m and is located approximately 115 kilometres west north west of Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 and 5 kilometres north west of Katoomba. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Medlow Bath had a population of 461 people.

Description

Medlow Bath is set in a rural area which includes fire-prone eucalypt forest, and has been subject to bushfire threats many times during its history. One of these fires, in summer 2003, came within metres of destroying the Hydro Majestic Hotel

Hydro Majestic Hotel

The Hydro Majestic Hotel is located in Medlow Bath, New South Wales, Australia. The hotel is located on a clifftop overlooking the Megalong Valley on the western side of the Great Western Highway....

, the town's main commercial development.

The Hydro Majestic Hotel is the site of an elaborate network of walking tracks, which were developed in the bushland between the hotel and the escarpment of the Megalong Valley. The tracks offer scope for many fine bushwalks and views of the Megalong Valley, but in more recent years have deteriorated due to lack of maintenance. Other tracks in the area include Bruce's Walk

Bruce's Walk

Bruce's Walk is a bush track in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 100 kilometres west of Sydney, the capital of New South Wales.-Description and history:...

, an old track that was upgraded by bushwalkers and other volunteers in the 1980s. Bruce's Walk is located a few kilometres east of Medlow Bath, on the fringes of the Blue Mountains National Park

Blue Mountains National Park

The Blue Mountains National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 81 km west of Sydney, and located in the Blue Mountains region of the Great Dividing Range. The park covers 268,987 hectares. The boundary of the park is quite irregular as it is broken up by roads, urban areas...

, a huge park that is now a World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

. Katoomba Airfield is also located a few kilometres east of Medlow Bath.

Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton

Edmund Barton

Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....

, died at the Hydro Majestic Hotel.

The town is served by a railway station of the same name located on the Blue Mountains railway line; the station is immediately adjacent to the hotel.