Exploring Walls Cave & Hidden Slot Canyon in Blackheath

Check the National Parks website for updates on any temporary trail closures before setting out on this walk.

Walls Cave and the small slot canyon on Greaves Creek are a surprising hidden gem in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. The canyon and the cave are reached by a short (1km each way) trail with many switchback sections and a series of steps. It’s a bit of an effort on the way back up, but it’s nothing compared to the nearby Grand Canyon track.

Walls Cave is a striking sandstone rock shelter – one of the biggest in the Blue Mountains. In the past, it was used by Darug women as a gathering place and as a place of special significance to the Darug people. The cave is protected by a viewing platform, which lets you experience it without directly accessing the shelter itself.

I’ve visited the Walls Cave several times, most recently during my 3-day escape into a cabin in the woods at the nearby Possum’s Hideaway. This lovely property is nestled in the bush on the edge of the escarpment above the Walls Cave. And the trail to the cave starts behind the property.

In this post

Track at a glance

Distance: 1.8 – 2 km return
Time: 1 hr
Grade: Moderate

Walls Cave Walk

switchback on walls cave trail in blackheath

The walk starts at the car park on Walls Cave Road, which is just off Evans Lookout Road in Blackheath. From the car park, you see a gate with a small turning gate on the side. Only walkers are allowed past this point.

Once you walk through the gate, you’ll see an information board that explains a few things. First of all, the Walls Cave trail is adjacent to a restricted area managed by Sydney Water. So it’s a good idea to stick to the trail unless you are keen to risk an $11,000 fine. In any case, the Walls Cave trail is by far the most interesting feature in the area.

From the information board, the Walls Cave walk is well signposted. The trail winds down along a series of steps all the way down to Greaves Creek – the same creek that flows through the Grand Canyon further up Evans Lookout Road. The descent is quite gentle, but it will be harder on the way up.

For the first couple of hundred meters, the walk goes through eucalypt woodland. There is an impressive termite mound on the left side of the trail and a few burned-out eucalypt trunks. It never ceases to amaze me how, during a bushfire, eucalypts can literally explode from the inside yet remain living if the conditions after the fire are good enough.

Soon, the trail opens up, vegetation changes to heath, and you get your first view of Walls Cave, gaping like an open mouth on the side of a forested mountain.

As you keep walking towards the cave, you soon come to a fork in the trail, at around the 500-meter mark. Take the trail going to the right, towards the cave that you can see from the trail. Here, the trail becomes narrower and the descent steeper, with a few switchback sections.

After the rain, some of the steps fill with water, and these puddles are deeper than they look. So if you are not wearing waterproof hiking shoes, you’ll want to watch where you place your feet.

At about the 900-meter mark, just before you reach the bottom of the canyon, there is another fork in the trail. This time, follow the more defined trail that goes straight, the one with the steps. I explored the other trail on the way back and will describe this little gem below.

The Canyon

You enter the canyon via a small bridge, and the view from this bridge is the most interesting sight on the walk, in my opinion. On your right, you are looking into a slot canyon through a tunnel formed by the canyon walls. The walls and the ferns growing inside the slot canyon are reflected in the creek, creating a very photogenic scene.

It’s a tricky scene to photograph because of the high dynamic range created by the sun, but your eyes do a much better job than the camera. To the naked eye, the canyon looks superb.

Walls Cave - Greaves Creek — Creaves Creek

The rest of the walk along Grieves Creek is very picturesque. There are a couple of areas where you walk over the creek on stepping stones before rejoining the path for a short walk to Walls Cave.

On weekdays, you are likely to have the canyon to yourself. Even on weekends, this walk is never busy. It seems to remain off the tourist radar. Possibly overshadowed by the famous Grand Canyon track.

Walls Cave

The cave is very impressive, similar to the Blackfellows Hand cave near Wolgan Valley, but not as large.

The trail ends at a fenced-off viewing area in the middle of the cave. Washed out by Greaves Creek over the eons, the cave is more of a massive rock overhang than a cave, like most caves in the Blue Mountains.

In the past, the creek ran through the cave, which would’ve been an incredible sight. A few thousand years ago, a natural landslide altered the course of the creek, and it now runs below the cave. It’s quite fascinating to see geology in the making. The creek carved the cave and then changed course and carved a different path that now lies lower than the cave.

As the sign at the start of the walk explains, Walls Cave has been historically occupied by the Aboriginal people. The most recent hearth remains date to about 3,500 years ago.

But deeper below the surface, there are remnants of a much earlier hearth, one that was used well before the landslide.

It is easy to see the appeal of this site to forest-dwelling communities – easy access to drinking water and shelter provided by the rock overhang.

The first European to see the cave was Mr Walls, who owned the land on which the cave is located in the 1890s.

Slot Canyon Side Trail

slot canyon on walls cave walk — Looking towards the bridge

If you feel like a little adventure and don’t mind a bit of scrambling in the bush, on your way back, follow the trail that forked off the main trail just above the canyon. It isn’t much of a trail, more of a bush bashing and rock scrambling exercise, and it can feel like it’s going nowhere, but it takes you inside a section of the slot canyon that you were looking into from the bridge.

There is a short ledge here that you can walk on, and from that ledge, you are looking into the same tunnel with a bridge visible through the gap. It’s quite an interesting little spot surrounded by the canyon walls on all sides.

Slot canyon on Walls Cave track — Inside the slot canyon

I never managed to photograph this baby canyon well. Have a look at this stunning image by the Blue Mountains photographer, Gary Hayes, to see what the canyon looks like on a better day for photography.

Walls Cave as seen from the trail — View of the cave from the trail

The walk back follows the same trail, and walking up the steps is slower going than walking down. Allow yourself plenty of time for the return walk and use the opportunities to have another look at the cave from the trail to catch your breath.

How to get to the Walls Cave trail

Driving: From Blackheath, follow Evans Lookout Road for about 2 km and turn right on Walls Cave Road. Parking is available at the end of this short road, and the start of the walk is well signposted.

Train: The easiest way to get to Walls Cave trail by public transport is to catch a train to Katoomba and then take the 698 bus (check the schedule here). Get off the bus either at St Andrew’s Ave or at the next stop on Evans Lookout Rd. From here, it’s only a 10-minute walk (800 meters) to the start of the trail.