Yarrangobilly Caves
Located within Kosciuszko National Park, 6.5km off the Snowy Mountains Highway, 77km from Tumut and 109km from Cooma, Yarrangobilly Caves are one of Australia’s premier tourist caving destinations. Access to the National Park is ticketed, which can be paid at the Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre. Tours of the caves run several times each day and can either be booked online or at the Visitor Centre.
When we visited in March 2025, the scars from the 2019-20 bushfires were still evident. Although regrowth has occurred, dead trees still cover the sides of the mountains. It will take time, but the alpine forest is slowly regrowing.
The Yarrangobilly Caves are in a 12-kilometre-long karst region along the Yarrangobilly River valley in the north of Kosciuszko National Park. This limestone formation was laid down around 440 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. There are over 600 caves in the area, of which three have installed lighting and are open to the public (Jillabene, Jersey and South Glory). Their ages range from a few million to several hundred thousand years old.
We chose to tour Jillabene and Jersey Caves, but not the South Glory Cave because we decided that two caves in one day was enough. However, there is time in the day to do all three.
Jersey Cave
The Jersey Cave is one of the most popular guided tours at Yarrangobilly and if you only see one cave, this is the one to visit. The cave is 135 metres long and has 217 steps and tours usually last about 90 minutes. Jersey Cave has several interesting features: Cleopatra’s Needle stalagmite and black flowstone. The cave is around 745,000 years old and for the last 400 thousand years, black soot staining the flowstone has recorded bushfires in the area.
Jillabene Cave
The Jillabenan Cave is only 73 metres long with 20 steps. Despite its size it is beautiful with flowstone shawls, cave coral, helictites, straw stalactites and stalagmites. There is wheelchair access, but you need a special wheelchair which can be booked by contacting the National Parks. It has been estimated to be 2 million years old which makes it one of the oldest caves at Yarrangobilly.
Remember to come prepared and wear sturdy, enclosed shoes and bring a jacket as the caves are cold, even in summer.
Our photos are available for purchase on
To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
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