Pool of Diana - The Secluded Oasis
Pool of Diana
The Pool of Diana offers a place to escape, recharge, and enjoy the great outdoors with your little adventurers—or quietly by yourself. It’s an easy, short hike that gives you plenty of time to relax and enjoy the day in a beautiful oasis. It's one of those magical spots you'll find yourself returning to again and again.
This won’t be a long post, because it’s such a short and easily accessible hike!
Quick Details
Length: 2km return
Elevation: 120m
Grade: Easy
Best season: Year-round, but best enjoyed when the weather is hot enough to swim
Suitable for kids: Yes
Starting the Trail
There’s no official trailhead for this hike, but there is a small clearing that fits a couple of cars. From the clearing, walk a few metres down the fire trail and turn left onto a wide track. It’s a bit rough in places, but otherwise unremarkable and easy to follow.
About half way down the hill the track sort of fades out. From here you turn left and continue down the hill. There’s a bit of a foot track there, under the fallen branches and leaves - At the bottom of the hill, you’ll reach a creek and a stone wall. Turn right at the wall and from here you basically just follow the wall. There’s a worn foot track close to the wall, it’s a bit overgrown in places but it’s definitely there.
As you’re making your way through, pushing aside branches, and stepping over fallen trees, you might look out to the grassy and scrubby area to your left and think “It’d be easier to walk out there”. Let us assure you, it’s not! It’s actually really soft boggy ground (as we once found out for ourselves, when Sam tried to walk out there and sank up to her thighs in mud). We thought the area may actually be a swampy meadow, because it looks like a good place for one to form. But as we’re not wetland scientists (and we didn’t have waders with us) we didn’t investigate further.
On our last visit, the scrub to the left was pretty high, so we wouldn’t have been able to walk out that way even if we wanted to. We've also been here when it was just low grasses and a few shrubs, so it may change with the seasons.
Reaching the Pool
As you near the entrance to the pool you’ll be faced with a short rocky incline, and you’ll likely hear the waterfall by now. Scramble over the rocks - or walk around them if you spot an easier path- and you’ll walk down to the sandy beach under a low overhang, right in front of the Pool of Diana. It really does feel like an oasis, with the fern covered walls and the water tumbling into the small, dark, tranquil pool.
The sandy base drops away fairly quickly, giving you deep enough water to swim in near the waterfall. There's a narrow ledge around the pool's walls just below the surface that widens behind the falls—perfect for walking behind the waterfall and taking in the view of the valley. It’s also a great spot for a jump into the cool water!
This is a great hike for little adventurers. The overgrown track gives it that wild and remote feeling, but it’s still a short and manageable walk. From the car, it only took us fifteen minutes to reach the pool. If it’s your first time, it might take twenty or so.
We’re surprised this hike isn’t more popular, and at the same time we’re grateful that it’s not. You’re likely to get the place to yourself for long periods, if not all day, when you visit. While it may be tempting to explore the valley further for other hidden gems, be warned that care should be taken for such an adventure. As people with far more experience than us said of this area -
“...(here) walking progress is measured in metres per hour, not kilometres per hour”
- The Bushexplorers, Yuri Bolotin, Michael Keates, Brian Fox.
Returning to the Car
As this is an out-and-back trail, once you’ve had enough of relaxing in paradise, simply retrace your steps. The uphill return is steep in places which can be difficult on hot days. It may have only taken us 15 minutes to walk down there, but it took us 25 minutes to walk back.
Getting There
The Pool of Diana can be found in the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area, on the border with Wollemi National Park. Three hours west of Sydney, or about half an hour from Lithgow via the Newnes Plateau area.
This section of the Newnes Plateau is littered with fire trails and a wrong turn may see you lost for hours. There’s little to no phone reception, so we would recommend having an offline and up to date map of the area. As at the time of writing this, all directions are 2WD accessible but please drive to the conditions, if it looks like your car won’t make it up a fire trail, then park and walk the rest of the way.
From Bells Line of Road, turn onto Old Bells Line Road at Zig Zag railway, then turn right onto Glow Worm Tunnel Road at the T-intersection. From Lithgow, use State Mine Gully Road which merges into Glow Worm Tunnel Road as you enter the Newnes Plateau. Then turn right on Waratah Ridge Road (there’s a yellow sign at the turnoff)
Take the third left hand turn on Two Trees Road - which is not signposted and there’s a hell of a lot more than just two trees there…. Then we normally take the third right, or just continue on the same track because the two rejoin on the other side of the hill anyway. Here’s a map to make it a little less confusing.
(Map image from mapcarta.com)
Tips and Tricks
While the track may be short, it is overgrown, so wear long pants and sturdy boots.
You’ll likely have the Pool to yourself on any visit, even on weekends, so be sure to tell someone where you are.
Why not check out some other short and easy to moderate hikes in the area, like Dry Canyon, or Lost City.