Jenolan Caves

Name: Jenolan Caves
Address: 4655 Jenolan Caves Road, Jenolan, NSW, 2790, AU
Telephone: +611300763311
Price range: $$
Rating: 4.6

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Jenolan, NSW
Jenolan Caves

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Jenolan Caves are located approx. 3 hours West of Sydney, in the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
(4290)

One of the world’s oldest and most famous cave systems – Jenolan is a world of its own. Jenolan Caves are Australia's most spectacular caves and the largest that are open to the public. Jenolan Caves are also the world's oldest show caves at 340 million years old. We offer fantastic guided cave tours. Stay overnight in the magnificent heritage-listed Caves House or one of our more modern motel roo

ms. Dine in our historic Chisolm's Restaurant one of the last two Grand Dining Rooms in Australia. We have 52 rooms available at the property and daily tours of the caves. Visit our gift shop for a keepsake of your visit. We can cater for private group bookings, corporate functions, weddings and other large events.

06/09/2026

It's National Biodiversity Month!

What is biodiversity? It’s the astounding variety of life on earth: plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms, and the ecosystems that are their homes.

Biodiversity Month comes around every September – spring in this part of the world – and is a great time to pause, reset and think about ways we can protect, conserve and appreciate our diverse plants, animals and ecosystems.

There are almost 600,000 native species of plants, animals and fungi in Australia, many of which are found nowhere else on earth, and some of which have only just been discovered. Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve, part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, is home to hundreds of native species, some rare, some endangered, some new to science, and all precious.

What can you do to protect biodiversity where you live?

🌱 Create a natural habitat for wildlife in your yard using plants native to your area

⛏ Get cracking on weeds now, before the warm weather sets in!

🔬 Help look after the biodiversity in your area by joining a local conservation or citizen science group

🐈 Be a responsible pet owner, keeping cats indoors and dogs on leashes

♻ Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Image 1: Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata)
Image 2: Bracket Fungus (Trametes species)
Image 3: Rock Orchid (Dendrobium speciosum)
Image 4: Halfband Hoverfly (Genus Melangyna)

Photos: Anne/JenolanCaves

05/09/2026

💙 Happy Father’s Day! 💙

Today, we’re celebrating a family-oriented dad, the Cunningham’s Skink (Egernia cunninghami).

These chunky skinks take family life seriously:

🦎 They form strong pair bonds and most dad skinks only father a single litter, ranging from 1 to 11 skinklets.

🏡 Families share the same rocky crevice for years, alongside other members of their family.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Juvenile skinks often stay in the 'family crevice' until they're around five years old.

☀️ They practise cooperative living, keeping watch for predators, sharing basking spots and helping younger skinks learn the ropes.

👃 Cunningham’s Skinks even recognise family members by scent and choose mates from outside their family group.

It's a reminder that home (or crevice) isn't just a place, it's the people (or skinks!) you share it with. 💙

From our wildlife families to yours, we’re sending love this Father’s Day. 💞

Photo: Anne/JenolanCaves

04/09/2026

Flora Friday! 🌸

One of the wildflowers that appears as the days grow longer is the Western Boobialla (Myoporum montanum), also known as the Waterbush.

It’s native to Australia, New Guinea and Timor, and can be found growing from winter to summer in a range of habitats – for us, it appears in late winter/early spring, particularly on Lucas Rocks and other limestone areas.

Let us know if you’ve seen it flowering anywhere else!

Photo: Laura/JenolanCaves

02/09/2026

Wildlife Wednesday! 🦔

Spring is here and the weather couldn’t be nicer! Water dragons, skinks and butterflies have all been seen over the past few glorious days as winter departs for another year.

One of our echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) was spotted out and about, looking for tasty ants and termites on a gorgeous sunny day. If you look closely, you can see its lightning-fast tongue darting in and out to catch its dinner of ants (the name ‘Tachyglossus’ means ‘fast tongue’!). 😋

Video: Anne/JenolanCaves

01/09/2026

Spring has arrived and it’s National Wattle Day! 🌼

These amazing flowers welcome the warmer days and are a symbol of Australia, with amazing diversity (there are more than 1,075 described species) and resilience, as one of the first plants to regenerate after bushfires.

Jenolan is home to approximately 16 species and several are flowering now, including the Hedgehog Wattle (Acacia echinula), the Hickory Wattle (Acacia melanoxylon – pictured) and the Myrtle Wattle (Acacia myrtifolia).

Which wattles have you spotted flowering today?

Photo: Laura/JenolanCaves

30/08/2026

Meet the Research Team 👋

Research into Jenolan’s platypuses dates from 2020, led by Jenolan Caves, University of NSW and DCCEEW. A platypus monitoring study began through post-flood cleanup (desedimentation) at the Blue Lake and Hydro Weir, with the aim to protect both platypuses and their habitat. Their monitoring has already resulted in two peer-reviewed research papers and valuable insights into platypus behaviour and movements.

Today, the project has expanded with new team members from Western Sydney University and Charles Sturt University. Researchers are capturing, assessing and microchipping platypuses, while also studying water quality and aquatic life to better understand the health of Jenolan's platypuses and their habitat.

Dr Anne Musser
Jenolan local for 17+ years, Research Associate with the Australian Museum, and monotreme expert studying platypuses, echidnas and their extinct relatives.

Dr Tom Grant
A retired platypus researcher with a continuing interest in the species, especially its ecology and conservation.

Dr Eren Turak
Principal Scientist with DCCEEW and biodiversity monitoring specialist who helps monitor the Jenolan River ecosystem.

Dr Michelle Ryan
Freshwater ecologist and leader of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Platypus Project, dedicated to protecting platypus populations and habitats.

Dr Katherine "Kat" Warwick
Postdoctoral researcher studying platypuses, aquatic ecosystems and the impacts of environmental contaminants.

Dr Joanne Connolly
Veterinarian and researcher specialising in platypus and wildlife health.

Dr Geoff Dutton
Veterinary and conservation scientist, wildlife rescuer and co-founder of Wildlife Rescue and Research.

💙 Together, this team is helping us better understand and protect one of Australia's most unique mammals.

Image 1: Dr Anne Musser 📸 JenolanCaves
Image 2: Dr Tom Grant 📸 Gina Grant
Image 3: Dr Eren Turak 📸 Anne/JenolanCaves
Image 4: Dr Michelle Ryan 📸 Josh Newman
Image 5: Dr Katherine Warwick 📸 Anne/JenolanCaves
Image 6: Dr Joanne Connolly 📸 John Coles
Image 7: Dr Geoff Dutton 📸 Joanne Connolly

28/08/2026

Flora Friday! 🪻

Spring is definitely in the air – we can smell the Narcissus and Hyacinths in bloom as we walk past the gardens.

We have several different colours of Hyacinth in the gardens – ‘Aiolos’ (a creamy white), ‘Pink Surprise’ (a light pink), ‘Purple Star’ (a light purple) and ‘Woodstock’ (a deep purple – pictured).

The bulbs contain chemicals that can cause ‘hyacinth itch’, so our horticulturalist is always careful to wear gloves when she plants them.

Spring is waking up the gardens one bloom at a time. Which flower are you most excited to see this season? 🌼

Photo: Laura/JenolanCaves

27/08/2026

💧 World Lake Day! 💧

Today is World Lake Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly to raise awareness about the vital ecological value of lakes, and to promote their sustainable management in an era of climate change and instability. World Lake Day 2026 is only the second anniversary of this special day; the first World Lake Day was held just last year, in 2025.

Jenolan’s Blue Lake, although a man-made lake, is one of our most important aquatic habitats; even man-made lakes can be important habitat worthy of management, care and restoration.

The Blue Lake is home not just to our iconic platypuses, but to butterflies and other insects that rely on waterside vegetation, birds that may build their nests by the lake, reptiles like water dragons that bask in the sun, and mammals like the endangered Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies that head down to the lake for a drink at dusk.

Image 1: Eastern Water Dragon
Image 2: Satin Flycatcher
Image 3: Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby
Image 4: Ringed Xenica

Photos: Anne/JenolanCaves

26/08/2026

Wildlife Wednesday! 💦

Our Platypus Research Team has established an ongoing program to capture, microchip and assess the health of Jenolan’s platypus population, which will help us better understand how our platypuses are faring. Once a platypus has been assessed and microchipped, it’s ready to be released back to the wild.

A platypus release is our favourite time of night, when we get to watch our platypus head back down the bank and slip back into the water. Strategically placed cameras, including ones that work underwater, catch the action. These are great records for us as well as a bit of fun, so we thought we’d share one of our videos with you! 🎥

Video: Jenolan Platypus Research Team

23/08/2026

🛎Checking into Jenolan's tiniest hotel! 🛎

The Blue Lake must be periodically cleaned to remove rocks and gravels brought in by floods. This can also remove waterbugs, the platypuses’ only source of food.

How to bring waterbugs back to the Blue Lake? Waterbug numbers in undisturbed parts of the Jenolan River are high, so a plan was hatched to collect some of these little bugs by constructing ‘waterbug hotels’, which are made of brick and mesh and that waterbugs will colonise. 🏨

How to make the perfect 'waterbug hotel’?

🪡 Build the ‘hotels’ using house bricks for structure and ballast, fine mesh for waterbugs to cling to, larger mesh (gutter guard) to package it up, and fishing line to tie it all together.

💦 Drop the finished ‘hotel’ into the river downstream where waterbugs are likely to live, perhaps under banks or in slow-moving parts of the river.

🍽 Once the ‘hotels’ puts up their ‘no vacancy’ sign (a process taking a couple of months) take the hotels with their waterbug ‘tenants’ to the Blue Lake to provide a good supply of tucker for our resident platypuses.

It's a great reminder that healthy ecosystems depend on even the tiniest creatures!
💙

Photos: Anne/JenolanCaves

Address

4655 Jenolan Caves Road
Jenolan, NSW
2790

Telephone

+611300763311

Website

http://www.jenolancaves.org.au/

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