Mermaids Cave
Mermaids Cave
A short hike into a cool, fern-filled hollow where a small waterfall trickles over the edge of a wide sandstone overhang. It’s an easy track to overlook on the way into the Megalong Valley, but worth the stop. A great walk for young kids — short, sweet, and when the sunlight filters through the trees, just a little bit magical. This is Mermaids Cave.
Quick Details
Length: 250m
Elevation: 25m
Grade: Easy
Best season: After recent rain
Suitable for kids: Yes
Starting the Trail
Summer seems to have started early this year — the day was hot and sunny, so we decided to hike the short track to the shady Mermaids Cave in Blackheath. The Little Adventurers were with us, our friend Logan joined in, and just to make things even livelier, we decided to bring Jess’ dog along too.
After parking the cars, we crossed the road and headed down the hill on an old trail. The forest is dry at first, with an easy-to-follow path and a few stair sections cut straight into the rock. They’re well worn and old — a clear sign this has been a loved Blue Mountains trail for a long time.
The track gets a little steep in places, but it’s very short, making it ideal for small children. Only a few minutes down the hill we reached a handrail, and from there the trail turned sharply left.
A rough, rocky staircase between two large rock walls leads down the rest of the hill. It’s instantly shady and feels so much cooler than where we were walking just moments ago. The boys ran ahead with their dog — eager to reach our destination at the bottom of the staircase.
Mermaids Cave
All up, it took us less than ten minutes to walk from the car to Mermaids Cave — it really is that easy. The sandstone wall curves around the small, tree-filled glen, and we could hear the sound of water gently dripping from where the waterfall would have been if we’d visited after rain. Like many 'caves' in the Blue Mountains, it’s really just a large sandstone overhang.
There are tracks and stairs all around, making it a great place for kids to run and explore. We’d barely made it to the bottom of the stairs before the boys and the dog were halfway up a wall.
Crack in the Earth
In the 1980s movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Mermaids Cave was used as the filming location for the “Crack in the Earth” — a hidden oasis where a tribe of lost children had taken refuge. We’ve never seen the movie — all we know is it’s the one where Tina Turner appears in chain mail.
It’s easy to see why they chose it as a filming location — it would make a great hideout. We suggested to the boys that they could stay and start their own society, but they weren’t having it — rolling their eyes and sprinting off before we could say Welcome to Thunderdome.
Back to Mermaids Cave
The waterfall isn’t the most spectacular in the Blue Mountains, and without a significant amount of recent rain it’s unlikely to be anything more than a thin stream of water. On our visit it was almost non-existent — but somehow that didn’t make it disappointing.
Sunlight flickered through the trees, bright one moment and gone the next, as if the branches above us couldn’t decide between shade or shine. Moss covered every rock and tree trunk, crystal clear water ran over coloured pebbles, and the roots of the trees slumped over boulders like they’d melted on a hot day.
Above our heads was a sunny rock ledge that looked like a good place to explore. The boys and the dog scrambled up the wall with the agility of mountain goats. I took the long way around by following the creek downstream and heading up the hill to the left, where I found a small side track that led out to where they were waiting.
From the ledge we could see the whole scene — the curve of sandstone covered in ferns, the trees reaching still higher, and the rocky staircase between the walls. It was a nice chance to just sit and take it all in.
We headed back down to ground level by the track instead of trying to slide down the steep wall on our bums. The boys found a couple of books stashed away on a natural stone shelf. No idea why someone left them there — maybe they just thought it was a good place to sit and read.
As we reached the creek again, the boys ran back to Mermaids Cave while Jess and I followed the water downstream, where the trees grew bigger and greener. A short set of steps on the other side of the creek leads up to the Megalong Road — we’d almost forgotten that the rest of the world was just beyond the trees.
This was a beautiful section of the trail, and it’s well worth exploring beyond Mermaids cave to find little places like this. It wasn’t long before we could hear the sounds of the boys’ laughter drifting through the trees — with the occasional banging noise…
We headed back up the track to find out what the boys were up to and found Logan entertaining them by skipping rocks in the water — as there wasn’t a lot of water though the rocks were bouncing off the stone wall at the base of the falls. Thanks for that one, Logan — I’m sure that won’t come up again on the next hike…
The boys rated this hike a 7 out of 10 — although we’re fairly sure that score had more to do with Logan’s rock-skipping antics than the trail itself. Even still, it’s a great little walk for kids and makes a lovely spot for a picnic.
We packed up our stuff and made our way back up the staircase towards the car — turning one last time to look over such a magical little corner of the Blue Mountains.
Getting There
Mermaids Cave can be found just outside of Blackheath on Megalong Road.
From Blackheath turn onto Bundarra Street (opposite Govetts Leap Road). Cross the train tracks, turn left on Shipley Road, then left again on Megalong Road. The small car park is about 1km from the start of Megalong Road, on the inside of a hairpin turn — so be cautious if you’re driving in from Blackheath as you’ll need to turn right and it’s hard to see oncoming cars.
Tips and Tricks
Visit soon after a decent amount of rain to see the waterfall at anything more than a trickle.
Take the time to explore around — the tracks are beautiful and it’s a lovely section of forest.
Be sure to follow Logan on Instagram
As Mermaids Cave sits outside of the National Park, this trail is dog friendly.
