Aussie Bloggers

One of my favourite places around Sydney and Canberra is Jenolan Caves.  These are probably the most famous, and best, tourist caves in Australia.  Of the several hundred caves in the area, there are 10 cave tours you can go on.  There is also, as of about a year ago, a self-guided tour where you get an audio guide which plays commentary as you follow the path.

The caves were discovered by Europeans in the 1840’s.  They became a popular tourist destination from about the 1880’s, with tours being done by candlelight, and requiring visitors to use ropes and ladders in some cases.  Development of the caves, and the surrounding area, began and in 1887 electrical lighting was installed.  More caves were discovered and opened as show caves in the early 1900’s.

Jenolan is the most popular tourist destination in country NSW, with over 250,000 visitors annually.

I’ve been there several times, as a kid with my parents and also I’ve taken my children there.  Its quite handy to Canberra, roughly 3 hours drive up through Goulburn and Oberon. From memory, its a similar driving time from Sydney.

In my opinion, the best of the caves is the River Cave.  It features the Minaret formation pictured at the left, which is widely used in Jenolan Caves advertising and promotional materials.  Be warned though, you need to be reasonably fit to do this tour, its got 1298 steps, including a few iron ladders, and is nearly 1.3 km long.  But it is well and truly worth the effort for what you get to see.

Another good cave is the Temple of Baal, which is essentially a single large dome shaped chamber, with beautiful decorations, and great acoustics.  On a tour of this cave the guide will play some recorded music to demonstrate this.

All these caves are full of formations, stalactites, stalagmites, columns, shawls, flowstones and helictites.  No matter which caves you go through, you won’t be disappointed with what you see.

Something which is very unique about Jenolan is that (if coming from Sydney) you actually have to drive through a cave to get there.  The main road from Sydney passes through the Grand Arch, which is 127 m long and 24 m high.

Jenolan Caves is on the far side from Sydney of the Blue Mountains, so there is plenty to see and do in the general area.  You can easily spend a few days in the mountains, visit Jenolan and do other things.   You can stay and eat at Jenolan, although I think the choices are limited and overpriced for the standard.  I think you’re better off staying in the Blue Mountains or Oberon, or even Bathurst, all within 30-60 minutes drive.