Nepean Basin Falls: Jenolan Creek

March 18, 2019

Nepean Basin Falls: Jenolan Creek

Jenolan Creek falls through the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve before threading its way to the Coxs River and, eventually, the Burrogorang and the Nepean River.

I will tell you our story again, one last time, as you lay on this old bed. Stay with me. Stop it twisting away from me. (Jenolan, Looking for Spring)

My Great Grandparents rode down the cliffs on horse. My grandparents followed a decade later. After exploring the caves, they left the horses behind and trekked to the Blue Lake, past the pump house and then to the cascades to swim under the waterfall.

In years gone by, this once a place people looked forward to coming to, at least once in their life times. My Great Aunt once brought my mother here for an adventure. Today, there are too many excuses for not coming, too many distractions. But, I have come too. It could not be any other way.

A trek along the Jenolan River below the caves and Blue Lake will take you along a series of cascades. Above this pool is a disused stone diving board.

Modern times have not caught up to this part of the wilderness. The Cave House above still exudes the elegance of the Grand Budapest Hotel and it is run with the same iron efficiency. Even a little afield, here on the edge of the wild, one is probably underdressed without a smoking jacket and a pipe.

This is a great place to write. In the old Cave House is a huge dining room that looks like it has not changed in 100 years. I was sitting in the dining room of the cave house, and a story of the place hit me like a train. It is very old place, and the service is ancient although the food is good. I imagined sitting next to two young brothers and one of the men's fiancee, just before they were to head off to war. A last week of adventure before they had to leave on the troop ship for Cairo. For a moment I became lost in the story - and it was a little hard to pull myself out of it into the gentle laughter of the present. Everything around me felt like it belonged back in 1917.

It is so hard for people to get down there. Still, there are other treasures for those who do, There are waterfalls of another dimension, formed over the eons in the caves of the Karst. If you enjoy exploring caves - Jenolan is magnificent. Many of the places i go exploring waterfalls have cave systems closely associated with them. Some have been home to the first people for time immemorial and have artwork on the walls.

This cascade is really pretty... mind, there is the small matter of the dragons along the path.

You would enjoy walking here in the rainforests surrounded by caves and waterfalls. There is a lot of wildlife - birds, echidnas, kangaroos and wallabies. This is the terminus of the six foot track - a three day hike that takes you back to Katoomba - and something to do when the weather warms up a little.