The Beautiful Jenolan Caves – A Must when Traveling to the Blue Mountains

2) The Lucus Cave: Probably the most popular cave because it is the best general cave, offering the highest and widest chambers as well as a glimpse of the underground river. It is home to the famous Broken Column and boasts a wide range of the beautiful cave formations. The highest chamber is the Cathedral (54 meters/177 feet) This cave is also the scene of many weddings and Concerts as the Cathedral Chamber has arguably the best acoustics of any performance space in the world. The acoustical properties of this massive chamber have been utilized by The Vienna Boys Choir and Dame Joan Sutherland. You will need to walk several flights of stairs to get to the Lucas cave but less strenuous inside.

Duration: 1½ hours

Steps: 910

Fitness level: Average

Note: You walk several flights of stairs to get to the Lucas cave but once you are inside, the walk becomes less strenuous.

3) The Orient Cave (Show Cave): The Orient Cave is said by many to be the most beautiful cave in the world. As you move through one breathtaking chamber to one even more highly decorated, you will be awestruck. Recently the Orient Cave was fitted out with the latest lighting technology enabling you to see areas and dimensions as you have never seen them before. The system uses minimal power and also minimizes heat output thus conserving the sensitive cave environment.

Duration: 1½ hours

Steps: 358

Fitness level: Average

4) The Temple of Baal (Show Cave): A beautiful caves, recently transformed with a state-of-the-art light and sound show highlighting the cave's features while eliminating environment damage to the caves fragile structure. The cave reveals two massive chambers, one 42 metres high (45 ft) and is filled with breathtaking formations such as the 9 meter (10 foot) long Angel's Wing shawl - one of the largest in the world with arguably one of the best displays of gravity-defying helictites (have a curving or angular form that looks as if they were grown in zero gravity)

Duration: 1½ hours

Fitness level: Average

Steps: 288

Minimum Age: 6 years

5) River Cave – An Underworld Labyrinth: This exciting cave rewards you with a sense of achievement as its many astonishing formations and features make the effort worthwhile. The underground Styx River, which appears as pools of clear blue water, also includes the ‘Pool of Reflections’ , this is a deep, illuminated underground lake, whose almost motionless surface produces spectacular reflections. You will see the massive 'Queen Esther's Chamber', the magnificent shawls such as the ‘Giant Shawl’, and many famous formations, including the ‘Minaret’ (a spectacular stalagmite), ‘Grand Column’ (biggest column in the system) and the ‘Queen's Canopy’.

Fitness level: Strenuous

Steps:1298

Duration: 2 Hours

6) Mammoth Adventure - An Adrenalin Experience: Mammoth Cave is the most extensive in Jenolan complex and you will be underground for 6 hours and it involves extensive climbing, crawling, squeezes scrambling, and cave ladder work. Muddy, wet and slippery are the keywords but the beautiful large caverns and the underground Lower River make it worthwhile. This Adventure is about leaving commercial well lit show cave route and following your experienced guide to the depths of the earth. These wild, untouched areas will enhance your understanding of this magnificence of this ancient environment. Absolute breathtaking beauty is the reward because concealed deep underground is a labyrinth of caverns decorated in beautiful calcite crystals - stalactites, stalagmites, columns and shawls, underground river system. You will be blown away.

Age: Minimum age - 16 years.

Fitness: Very and requires flexibility, agility, and previous caving experience.

Note: Not suitable for claustrophobics.

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