<P> The Blue Mountains Range comprises a range of mountains, plateaux and escarpments extending off the Great Dividing Range about 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) northwest of Wolgan Gap in a generally southeasternly direction for about 96 kilometres (60 mi), terminating at Emu Plains . For about two thirds of its length it is traversed by the Great Western Highway and the Main Western railway line . Several established towns are situated on its heights, including Katoomba, Blackheath, Mount Victoria, and Springwood . The range forms the watershed between Coxs River to the south and the Grose and Wolgan rivers to the north . The range contains the Explorer Range and the Bell Range . </P> <P> The Blue Mountains area includes the local government areas of the City of Blue Mountains, the City of Hawkesbury, the City of Lithgow and Oberon Shire . </P> <P> Following European settlement of the Sydney area, the area was named the Carmarthen and Lansdowne Hills by Arthur Phillip in 1788 . The Carmarthen Hills were in the north of the region and the Lansdowne Hills were in the south . The name Blue Mountains, however, was preferred and is derived from the blue tinge the range takes on when viewed from a distance . The tinge is believed to be caused by Mie scattering which occurs when incoming light with shorter wavelengths is preferentially scattered by particles within the atmosphere creating a blue - greyish colour to any distant objects, including mountains and clouds . Volatile terpenoids emitted in large quantities by the abundant eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains may cause Mie scattering and thus the blue haze for which the mountains were named . </P> <P> When Europeans arrived in Australia, the Blue Mountains had already been inhabited for several millennia by the Gundungurra people, now represented by the Gundungurra Tribal Council Aboriginal Corporation based in Katoomba, and, in the lower Blue Mountains, by the Darug people, now represented by the Darug Tribal Aboriginal Corporation . </P>

Where did the blue mountains get its name from