Teen’s body found after going missing on camping trip with friend in Mt Hay, NSW Blue Mountains

The two teenagers had hiked about 42kms when disaster struck.

Tragedy has struck a teenager’s three-day camping adventure when one of the boys went missing in the bushland of the NSW’s Blue Mountains only to be found dead in a creek a day later.

Police were told two boys, aged 16 and 17, travelled from Emu Plains to Leura Train Station before walking to Mt Hay for a three-day camping trip on Tuesday.

By Wednesday afternoon, they were close to the Acacia Flat campgrounds, but exhausted and dehydrated.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Tragedy after teen hiker found dead.

That’s when the 16-year-old boy vanished.

“They’re just going for a hike and they’d run out of water, they’d dropped something and he’d just run into the bushes,” another camper Alexander Mudri told 7NEWS.

“A few hundred metres down the track, he found his pack, but he couldn’t find them anywhere,” Matilda Johnson added.

The 17-year-old boy spent four hours searching through the rugged terrain for his mate, recruiting other campers to help.

“He had done about 42kms, so he must have been pretty exhausted,” Mudri said.

But when the 16-year-old still could not be located, he activated his personal locator beacon for help.

Emergency services started a land and air search where the 17-year-old boy was winched from Acacia Flats camping ground.

“Tonnes of helicopters coming through, lots of emergency personnel walking through the bushes,” Mudri said.

But his 16-year-old friend could not be found.

Police continued searching with members of the rescue squad, PolAir, NSW Ambulance paramedics and the TOLL Rescue helicopter.

In a tragic turn of events, the missing boy’s body was found in a creek in the Blue Gum Forest on Thursday afternoon.

Fellow campers have told 7NEWS despite the boys being well prepared for the hike, conditions out in the bushland were tough, with temperatures hitting the mid-30C.

“Just really sad for the (17-year-old) kid and worried about him,” Johnson said.

Police confirmed a post-mortem examination will be carried out to determine the cause of death.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.