After visiting the fabulous Coxs Cave, and having our expectations far exceeded, we couldn’t resist checking out a few more nearby caves. If we had known just how great this walk was going to be we would actually have picked another day because we ended up losing the light.
Before that happened though we managed to squeeze in two epic caves and two spectacular viewpoints. The jewel in the crown being the final destination, Bushrangers Cave.
One day we’ll be back to explore further but in the meantime, here’s what to expect on what surprisingly became one of our favourite walks in the Blue Mountains!
The Bushrangers Cave Walk
The stats
Distance: 4.9km (returning via road) - 6.8km (both ways through the bush)
Elevation: 266m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
The Bushrangers Cave walk is fairly easy, but the track can be rough in parts and accessing the cave requires a bit of a scramble up some large rocks. There is a little bit of uphill to do, but again nothing overly strenuous.
You can take a shorter route, if you’re interest is in the cave only, which will be just over 1km and starts at Pulpit Rock Lookout. We’d definitely recommend the longer walk if you have time though.
Starting the trail
The trail begins from the Mount Piddington car park, on the opposite side to the one that leads to Coxs Cave.
You won’t see Bushrangers Cave signposted at first, but you will see Witches Glen and Pulpit Rock and that’s where you’ll be heading first.
The trail takes you straight into the bush as you begin descending on a narrow dirt path. The vegetation is dry to begin with and then starts to get wetter as you head downhill, with lots of ferns and several damp overhangs.
The descent is relatively gradual and whilst there are some rocky sections, it isn’t really steep.
Arriving at Witches Glen
After 440m you come to a signpost for Witches Glen. We didn’t know what it was, and had no expectations whatsoever, but it turned out to be a really interesting spot.
You climb up a couple of stone steps and onto the ledge beneath the overhang.
As you head left you’ll immediately be greeted with the promise of a great view a little further along the ledge, but more surprisingly a campfire and some random very old looking pots and pans and even an old lentils tin!
It turns out this is sometimes used as a camping shelter for rock climbers, but some of the stuff there looks far more ancient, as if you’ve stumbled upon a campsite of yesteryear.
It’s a really fun spot and it’s lovely to see that people respect this area and leave everything as they found it.
Continuing along round the ledge you come to a partial view over the Kanimbla Valley. It’s partly obscured by trees, but there are open views further along the trail.
Onto an un-named viewpoint
Once you’re down from the overhang and back on the main trail you’ll round the corner and come to a much more open view of the valley.
It’s so beautiful, and you’ll get to enjoy it from several different angles as you continue further along the trail.
The path is briefly flat and then you have a section of undulating track. There’s one section with a bit of loose gravel but it’s not too slippery.
Approximately 500m after leaving Witches Glen you’ll come to a junction with Ross Cave. We really wanted to stop by the cave, but we didn’t know how far it was and we were losing the light. Next time we’ll definitely check it out.
Another 150m along the main trail and you’ll come to another junction. There’s an un-signposted path to the left and then one to the right heading along the overhang towards Pulpit Rock.
The path to the left takes you to another great viewpoint of the valley. It’s just under 150m long (one way) but does involve a short rocky descent - not difficult but definitely not a smooth path. It’s well worth it though, it was one of our favourite views along the trail.
Onto Pulpit Rock
Back at the junction and you begin following the signpost for Pulpit Rock, up on to the overhang. During the 400m walk between the junction and Pulpit Rock, you get some more fabulous views out to the valley from between the trees.
The path begins ascending as you get closer to the official viewpoint. Occasionally it looks like there are paths branching off to the left, but the main path continues heading uphill and just before Pulpit Rock, branches slightly right.
Once you get to the large rocky plateau you have reached Pulpit Rock. To get a clearer view you need to climb up on to the knobbly rock, the Pulpit. It’s a gorgeous and expansive view, but in my opinion not quite as good as some of the other views you get along the trail.
Onto Bushrangers Cave
The walk between Pulpit Rock and Bushrangers Cave is just over 500m. It’s a well maintained gravel path that zig zags down the cliff with the odd view out to the valley in-between the trees. If you wanted to visit the cave only you can actually park just beside this part of the track, making the walk to get there just 1km return.
You’ll soon see the signpost for the cave but you can’t see the entrance at first. We started by climbing up the rocky path to the left but that’s not the way in, you do get a semi good view though!
The actual entrance is down the rocks to the right. It only takes a couple of minutes to descend, and then to the left, you’ll see a big pile of rocks leading up into the cave.
It’s a little bit of a scramble, but not too difficult, and then you’re in!
Inside Bushrangers Cave
My favourite thing about the cave is the usual shape of the entrance which makes a wonderful frame for the view out to the mountains.
It’s incredibly picturesque and as we were here at sunset, it looked particularly special.
The smallish entrance does restrict most of the light, so you’ll need a torch to explore the cave.
You can walk right to the back, which doesn’t take long, and then there is also a foot stool and a ladder which can take you up to the the top of the cave. It’s a little rustic but doesn’t wobble too much.
I’ll admit that given it was already almost dark outside I didn’t really explore up there but did take a quick peek. I’d like to give it a go one time but it’s does look quite dark and narrow, so I’m not sure how far I’d actually get!
Completing the walk
There are two options for finishing the walk. Both options walk back up towards Pulpit Rock before the diverge. The first is returning the way you came, which if you walk back directly is going to be just over 2.5km (from the cave to the car park). This would have been our preferred option, but for the fact that it was already dark.
Now we don’t mind nighttime bushwalking when there are glow worms involved, but without the promise of worms we went for the shorter, easier option.
The easier option is 2km (from the cave to the car park) and takes you along the road. It’s relatively flat, and it’s mainly residential and very quiet. We didn’t see a single car and it took less than 20 minutes to walk the road section.
Overall, this walk was absolutely fantastic, the only thing I didn’t like was how rushed we were. We normally like to explore all the little side trails but we’ll have to save that for next time.
I’m sure you’ll find some more hidden gems along the walk! We’d love to hear if you do.
Getting to Bushrangers Cave
Bushrangers Cave is located at Mount Piddington in Mount Victoria, in the Blue Mountains. The car park is free and there are no time limits.
Can you bring your dog on the Bushrangers Cave walk?
As this part of the Blue Mountains is not in the national park, you are allowed to bring your dog with you! There are plenty of other dog friendly walks in the Blue Mountains in this post too.
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