The Cox’s Cave Circuit Walk in the Mount Victoria area of the Blue Mountains is a stunning walking trail that leads to a beautifully hidden cave.
This moderately challenging bushwalking adventure navigates through beautiful forest scenery, with a small waterfall and large cave as the highlights.
In this article, we will share how to get there, where to park your car, and how to find these highlights with detailed track notes.
| Cox’s Cave Circuit | |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 1.6 km (loop) |
| Duration: | 1.5 hours |
| Grade: | Moderate (steep sections) |
| Dogs: | On a lead |
Getting There
The trailhead for the Cox’s Cave Circuit is at the end of Mount Piddington Road in Mount Victoria, with easy access from the Great Western Highway.
Mount Piddington Road loops around the peak of Mount Victoria with a couple of car parks. The first (small) car park is just north of the loop road, but that’s not where the walk starts.
Continue driving on the loop road until you see a turn-off going up to the Mount Piddington Lookout. That’s the best place to park your car for this walk, as there’s a good amount of space, and the trailhead is nearby.
Map
In the map below (not to scale), we have marked the two parking areas and the two highlights along the trail.
Keep reading below for the track notes.
- Grotto
- Cox’s Cave
Track Notes
The Cox’s Cave Circuit is approximately 1.6 km long and moderately challenging. The path is overgrown in some sections, and if you’d like to go inside the cave, you’ll have to do a bit of climbing.
We strongly recommend wearing decent hiking shoes for this walking track to better negotiate the path and all its obstacles.
There are also quite a few intersections where you’ll need to pay attention to stay on the right track. In general, if you keep following signs for “Cox’s Cave”, you should be fine!
The Start
Once you’ve located the trailhead, you’ll quickly see signage for the circuit walk, like in the below picture.
At one of the next intersections, you can choose between turning left or right to do the circuit. Turn left to do the circuit in a clockwise manner, or turn right to go anti-clockwise.
If you’re only interested in visiting Cox’s Cave, it’s best to turn right at that intersection, as that is the quickest way to get to the cave.
However, we recommend turning left at that intersection to do the whole circuit and visit the grotto before going to the cave. The scenery is beautiful, and you wouldn’t want to miss it!
Grotto
Turning left at that intersection, the landscape quickly evolves into a rainforest-like environment with a narrow walking path surrounded by lush vegetation.
The grotto isn’t too far away and is a lovely spot for a short break. Compared to the path getting there, the grotto is quite a spacious area, with an old picnic table and a lovely little waterfall.
Like most waterfalls, this small grotto waterfall is at its best after some rainfall. Otherwise, you likely won’t see much water flowing. We were lucky, as it had been raining for a couple of days when we were there.
From the grotto, the walking trail continues through more stunning scenery for a little while before arriving at the famous Coxs Cave ladder.
One thing we need to mention is that the path, at some point, arrives at a junction with a little footbridge. To continue on the trail to the cave, turn right at that junction, ignoring the bridge.
Cox’s Cave
You may have already seen the ladder that goes into the cave on social media, but it really is quite tall and steep.
But don’t worry; the ladder is made of metal and is attached to the cliff wall, so it’s very safe. However, you do need to be careful because the steps can be a bit slippery, especially when it’s been raining. Keep both hands on the ladder, and you’ll be fine.
Once you’ve climbed the ladder, you still have a bit to go. The walking path continues quite steeply uphill, with various steps carved into the rocks to make the climb a bit easier.
When it’s muddy, this short climb is quite challenging because you’ll have less grip. Going down is even harder as it can feel steep and slippery.
But the effort is worth it.
The cave looks absolutely beautiful from the inside and is perfectly shaped as a rounded arch. The ferns growing inside add to the scenery.
While slippery, it’s worth exploring the right side of the cave, where you can walk along a narrow ledge. The views from there are pretty surreal.
The Return
Once you’ve safely returned to the bottom of the ladder, continue on the main walking trail, rapidly climbing out of the valley via sections with stone steps.
The path zigzags its way through the forest until it arrives at the same intersection where we had turned left to start the circuit walk.
Once you’ve reached that milestone, it’s only a short stroll back to Mount Piddington Road to complete the walk!
While you’re in the area, it’s worth exploring the Mount Piddington Lookout on top of the hill and taking in the views. There are also various other walks in the area, with one leading to the incredible Bushrangers Cave.
For another beautiful cave nearby, try the Walls Cave in Blackheath. It’s only a short walk to get there, and the scenery is fantastic.
