Hartley, Little Hartley and Hartley Vale (Wikipedia entry, tourism website, second tourism website, SMH travel guide) form a trio of historic rural villages in the picturesque Hartley Valley. Little Hartley (situated on the Great Western Highway around its junction with Coxs River Road) is the valley's commercial centre with a teahouse, restaurant, fruit vendor and a number of galleries. Accommodation is scattered across the valley and often housed in historic buildings. A caravan park (ph: 6355 2106) is located just off the highway at Browns Rd. For an incomplete list of services, see here.

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.

Mount Victoria to Lithgow    26.1km - 455m climb - 570m descent - 7km unsealed - map
This is a challenging ride with spectacular escarpment and valley views (especially at Hassans Walls) along quiet roads. For a less demanding but busier route, cycle along The Causeway and then take Bells Line of Road into Lithgow, passing the Zig Zag Railway along the way.