Ultimate Slot Canyon and The Grotto
Ultimate Slot Canyon and The Grotto
Hidden away in a wild stretch of pagoda country are two stone corridors — nearly neighbours but completely opposite in nature. One is filled with warm light, soft ferns, and layered rock that curves and folds around you. The other, with walls higher than a cathedral, is a place that feels impossible and extraordinary all at once. This is the Ultimate Slot Canyon and The Grotto.
Quick Details
Length: 1.1km (of the 3km circuit)
Elevation: -30m (this part is all downhill)
Grade: Easy hike, Moderate for track finding
Best season: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Suitable for kids: Yes if they’re comfortable with off track hiking
Starting the Trail
One thing Mugii Murum-ban doesn’t do is ease you in gently. “See those cliffs up there? That’s where we have to drive to,” said Jess as we pulled in from the main road — sandstone cliffs towering far above us. If you’ve ever read anything about this place before, you’ll know that the drive in is steep, rough, and 4WD only. Pictures don’t really do it justice.
Thankfully we were able to drive up the hill — none of us were keen on walking up that road. We were also feeling pretty lucky that no one else was driving down, because it’s quite narrow in places. The higher up we drove, the steeper the road felt. Pagodas began to appear in the trees and the road passed through rock corridors. Finally, after one last steep rocky slope, we reached the top.
Time to Start Hiking
The heat hit us the moment we stepped out of the cars — one of those dry, inland NSW days where the heat feels inescapable. Dust stuck to sunscreen, flies stuck to everything else — and that warm northerly felt like a hairdryer. But out here, that’s just part of the adventure — and we were chasing shade. We headed off down the dry and dusty fire trail to hike the circuit clockwise.
There aren’t any signs on this trail, and the turn-offs to Ultimate Slot and The Grotto aren’t obvious at a glance. From the 4WD car park area at the top of the hill we walked about 300 metres to the first turn off on the right. It’s not until you stand at the edge of the fire trail that you can see the faint foot track leading into the trees.
The further in we went, the more obvious the track became. The air was still hot, despite the added shade. The few places we walked through that did feel cooler were crowded with swarms of flying bugs so we walked through the cold patches as quickly as we could. If it’s a choice between standing in the middle of a bug tornado or heat — we’ll take the heat.
Around 150 metres from the fire trail, the dry forest changed to ferns — some of them as tall as trees. Stone walls rose up higher and higher beside us, guiding us into the entrance of Ultimate Slot Canyon.
Ultimate Slot Canyon
Measuring around 50 metres long, and 80 metres high, this corridor through the stone can be as narrow as 50cm wide. Okay, we didn’t have a tape measure with us, but we did have to turn sideways to slip through the gap in the walls to reach the deeper chamber.
The entrance is the tightest part — a short, narrow corridor that funnels the wind straight through. We could feel it ripping past us on the way in, but once we stepped into the wider chamber beyond, the air was completely still. We tested it out — stepping between the two, and the only place we felt the wind was the entrance. I left Jess and Logan there to set up their camera gear while I wandered to the back of the chamber.
The narrow entrance had been cold (really cold), but the deeper chamber was somehow warm. I arched my neck back as far as I could to catch sight of the sky above, following the narrow sliver of light across the floor. The canyon ends at a solid wall of stone. High up, where the sunlight can reach, ferns cover the rock — defying all laws of gravity and botany.
The thing I found strangest though, were these patches on the wall where the stone felt different. They weren’t smooth stone like the rest of the wall — they were textured and kind of soft… I wondered if maybe they were places where water might seep out, but I’m not a geologist so I can’t say for sure.
There was something about Ultimate Slot Canyon that just made it feel impossible and incredible at the same time. We ended up staying in the canyon for ages — partly because it just felt like such a special place, partly because none of us were keen on going back out to the heat. But our hike had barely begun, so it was time to move on.
Back to the Trail
We followed the narrow foot track back through the forest (and the bugs) to the fire trail. We’re presuming that the bugs are just a seasonal thing and aren’t around all the time. We hit the fire trail, took all of about twelve steps, and turned off the trail again — this time to our left to head into The Grotto.
The Grotto
The first section is a short canyon — dry on our visit, but it looks like water might run through after heavy rain. Old rusted railings are bolted onto the stone — they didn’t look too stable, so I didn’t want to lean on them too much. Then I almost fell over in fright when a Lyre bird jumped out of the bushes and took off like it was impersonating the Road Runner, and it was the railing that saved me.
It’s a little tricky at first, because you have to walk along the edge of the stone with quite a steep drop on one side. There are footholds worn into the stone though so you just need to pay attention to where you’re placing your feet and you can scramble down to the sandy bottom. We really liked this section. It’s short, but incredibly beautiful with the twisted sandstone walls that shone bright yellow in the sunlight.
This isn’t The Grotto… At least we don’t think it is. As the path curves around it seems to end at a weeping stone wall. We scrambled up the side of it and found a faint foot track leading to another, larger, weeping wall which is what we presume is actually The Grotto. On our visit there wasn’t much water, and the water that was there was kind of stagnant and gross. So we headed back to where it was nicer.
We made our way out to rejoin the fire trail and continued down the hill. The last slope we walked down was pretty slippery with loose gravel — which became quite the challenge to get down without falling over....
Logan took the old-man-shuffle approach without lifting his feet off the ground and still almost fell over. I crouched down, held on to any branches I could near the track and took it slow — still almost fell over. Jess, seeing both of us struggle, did the smart thing and sat down to slide down on her butt. It wasn’t until we were at the bottom, on flat ground, that we realised we’d missed the turn off to Valley of the Dinosaurs, and had to climb back up…
Getting There
The turn off to Mugii Muram-ban is around 8km outside of Capertee on the Glen Alice Road. 2WDs will need to park at the bottom of the hill as the road up to the top is steep and rough, and 4WDs are recommended to reach it.
Tips and Tricks
There are no signs to mark the turn-offs to either Ultimate Slot Canyon or The Grotto. If you’re not used to hiking unmarked trails, bring an offline map you can follow.
You’re unlikely to find drinkable water on the trail, so be sure to carry all that you’ll need with you.