Trips Page
Last Update:
Sat 26 Aug 2023

Wombeyan Caves

If you haven’t been to Wombeyan Caves before, there is a lot you need to know. It’s a very beautiful area even if you don’t go caving with a club or even get underground. There is bush walking, swimming in Mares Forest Creek, star gazing at night and tourist caves to do.

The drive to Wombeyan

The drive takes about 2.5 hours from Cambelltown. The Wombeyan Caves area is known for kangaroos and plenty of them so keep your speeds low to give yourself time to stop. There are also wombats, goats and cows so keep a close watch for wildlife. There is about 5kms of dirt road before you reach the descent into the valley. The decent is sealed, narrow and windy so take care and drive cautiously.

Note: Access via Wombeyan Caves Road from Mittagong is no longer passable. Google Maps will direct you via Goulbourn unless you are coming from the upper Blue Mountains.

Wildlife

The Wombeyan Caves area is known for having a lot of Kangaroos. So when you drive there, be on the watch for any on the road and keep your speed down. There are also wombats, they are slow, but can still cause a lot of damage to a car.

Phone reception

Phone reception drops out once you hit the dirt section on Wombeyan Caves Road. There is reception most of the way until after leaving Taralga. There is reception at Wombeyan Caves if you are on the Telstra network. There is also a public phone outside the kiosk..

Fuel locations

Last reliable fuel is at Goulbourn, although Taralga does have a limited hours service service station that is currently open from 7:30am till 5:30pm weekdays and Saturday morning from 7:30am till 12:00pm. Their is NO fuel available at Wombeyan Caves.

Food supplies

Best to bring all the food you need, but if you need food on the way Mittagong and Goulburn have major shopping centres.
Bring cash to Wombeyan as there is no EFTPOS. The Wombeyan Parks office has limited food such as pies, chips, sausage rolls, drinks, ice creams etc.

Climate

Summer can be very hot, 40 degree days are not uncommon during summer. There are plenty of shady trees around so it’s easy to find a camping spot that has shade for most of the day.
Winter temperatures can drop below zero at night so bring warm clothes for those cold nights.

Best times to visit

On normal weekends there is always people around, but on long weekends for either NSW or Canberra it is very, very busy. During the week however it is very quiet and you won’t see many people around if any other than the National Parks staff.

Camping

Accommodation is available in cabins, but most people camp. There are free public toilets, showers, a camp kitchen and a dining hall with an open fireplace.

Bookings are required for camping and are booked online at the National Parks website. Rates will vary depending on if you need a powered site or not. Camp fires are permitted in the supplied fire pits, but firewood is very scarce at the campground so bring your own firewood.

Caving

There are 5 tourist caves that can be explored. Tokens are required for some self-guided caves, which are purchased from the Parks office. There are also guided tours into Wombeyan’s best show caves.
If caving with SSS, we head into the more remote caves in the area, which often require some bush walking. Some of these caves require ropes and SRT gear due to vertical drops in the cave.
If you intend on coming along to any SSS trip please make sure you contact the trip leader prior to the trip to advise your attendance this will ensure you have any last minute changes to the trip and to find out any specific requirements for that particular trip.