Hampton (tourist information) is a small village with a school and two commercial ventures: The Hampton Roadhouse and The Hampton Halfway House.

Hampton to Lithgow    27.4km - 376m climb - 527m descent - sealed - map
This route follows Caves Road (can be busy on weekends/holidays with tourist traffic to Jenolan Caves, but has a small shoulder), McKanes Falls Road (quieter, with a descent to the Coxs River and ascent up the other side) and the Great Western Highway (good shoulder) into Lithgow. There are great views of the Kanimbla Valley from Caves Road near Lowther. For a quieter but longer route, take the Rydal-Hampton Road (sealed but patchy) for about 15km before turning right into Magpie Hollow Road, which leads to Lithgow.

Hampton to Mt Victoria    37.4km - 521m climb - 551m descent - 2km unsealed - map
This route follows Caves Road (can be busy on weekends/holidays with tourist traffic to Jenolan Caves, but has a small shoulder), the Great Western Highway for 2.5kms (good shoulder) and some quiet rural roads through Hartley (unsealed sections), before climbing up the escarpment to reach Mt Victoria. There are great views of the Kanimbla Valley from Caves Road near Lowther, and more views of the Hartley Valley near the top of the final climb. In between, one captures regular glimpses of the rugged Blue Mountains escarpment. Camping and cottage accommodation is available by the Coxs River at historic Glenroy, some 17km from Hampton. About 1km further (and before the highway), I found a good spot to camp for free by the River Lett, whose waters are purer than Coxs but should still be boiled. On the way through Hartley, look out for the historic Coxs Road on the right, which was the first European road over the Blue Mountains. Coxs Road is not suitable for cycle touring - read this account of a mountain biker's journey up this road.

A variation on this route, which avoids the much of the busier Caves Road and passes through the village of Little Hartley, is mapped here. It is slightly longer, passes over more difficult terrain and includes an extra 3.5km of unsealed road. I cycled this route (in the opposite direction) in 2000 and found the climb up to Lowther from Coxs River to be quite steep.

Oberon to Hampton    29.4km - 514m climb - 538m descent - sealed - map
This generally undulating road is interrupted in the middle by a descent to the Duckmaloi River and a climb out the other side. At the intersection with Jenolan Caves Road, some 25km from Oberon, lies Millionth Acre Picnic Area, a rest area among the pine trees with picnic tables, bins, toilets and water.

Jenolan Caves to Hampton    25.7km - 675m climb - 431m descent - sealed - map
From Jenolan Caves it is a long but steady climb out of the Jenolan River Gorge to the top of the range. Avoid cycling this road on weekend and public holiday afternoons (or mornings, if heading in the opposite direction), when tourist traffic peaks. About 10km from the Caves, there is a campground in Jenolan State Forest. About 13km from the Caves, one reaches the intersection with Black Range Road (unsealed). The Black Range Camping Area is located about half a kilometre down Black Range Road and is popular with hikers walking the Six Foot Track. This well-maintained campsite has table, shelter, toilets, rainwater tank (treat water before use) and information boards. For more privacy, one could find a secluded tent site almost much anywhere in the state forest (stretching 8km to 23km from Jenolan Caves) - provided that it has not be logged recently. At the intersection with Duckmaloi Road (21km from the caves) lies Millionth Acre Picnic Area, a rest area among the pine trees with picnic tables, bins, toilets and water.