Mermaid Pool is absolutely breathtaking - there’s no denying it. But it’s not a safe place to swim. There’s no need to be disappointed though, because there are dozens of other wonderfully wild swimming spots in the gorge which are spectacular, and safe.

There’s also a terrific gorge walk with scenery that will blow you away, and it’s highly unlikely you’ll be sharing it with anyone else. In this post we’re sharing all the best swimming spots as well as details on the walk to Mermaid Pool and the full gorge circuit hike.

Here’s everything you need to know about Mermaid Pool and the Tahmoor Gorge Circuit Walk.

Before you go

Whilst Mermaid Pool is well signposted with spray paint on the rocks and signs, it’s worth knowing that there are a few different trails and things to see in the area. The first stop of note is See Thru Pool - a beautiful wild swimming spot where you can swim under a small waterfall.

Further on is Mermaid Pool, before you then have the option of doing the Tahmoor Gorge Walk - something we highly recommend doing.

We’ve created a map (see further down the post) and you can photograph another detailed map below. There should be a copy in the lockbox too, but it’s worth being safe as there is no phone signal in the gorge itself.

Mermaid Pool

The walk to Mermaid Pool - 3.7km return, easy grade

We’re going to start with Mermaid Pool, because we know most people choose only to visit this spot. We hope this article will put some other equally incredible, safe swimming spots on your list though!

Mermaid Pool and Tahmoor Gorge are not under the maintenance of the National Park Service, so signage is a little different here!

You won’t be following metal signposts, but instead yellow splashes and the odd pink ribbon tied to trees. They were created and maintained by Robert Sloss and Rosie, and they do a wonderful job. We even bumped into Robert and his dog on the trail!

To reach Mermaid Pool, head under the bridge from the car park and you’ll quickly pick up the yellow painted arrows on the rocks guiding you to the pool.

After 350m you’ll reach a junction where turning left will take you to the pool via a rough more difficult path and right will take you on the easy route. We took the easy route.

You’ll have a small amount of rocky uphill track before it flattens and it’s a nice smooth path to follow most of the way to the pool.

We first visited See Thru Pool which we'll mention next, but if you’re visiting Mermaid only you follow the main track until the sign indicates you need to turn left.

The last little bit of track down to the top of the pool is rocky and uneven but it’s not difficult. You’ll then reach a rocky platform which you follow for a few minutes to your right, before you’ll come to the top of the pool.

The view is utterly spectacular, a giant waterhole surrounded by tall gorge walls and a pretty waterfall running into it.

There’s a big sign telling you that there is no safe way in or out of the pool. The only way in is to jump and as there are submerged rocks in the water this can lead to severe injury and even death.

Climbing out using the rope swing looks incredibly difficult too in our opinion. Mermaid Pool is also a sacred Aboriginal site for women and is believed to be protected by the river spirit, Migadan - yet another reason men in particular should not swim here.

Regardless of this, it’s a lovely spot to sit and relax and there are plenty of other swimming spots nearby, so it is very much worth the visit despite the fact you can’t swim.

If you want to get a good view of the whole Mermaid Pool it’s worth heading back on to the main trail and following it for 800m when you’ll come to Mermaids Lookdown Viewpoint - from here you can really see why it’s one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Southern Highlands.

See Thru Pool - the closest safe swimming spot to the car park

The walk to See Thru Pool - 3km return, easy grade

If you want to go for a swim and don’t want to walk too far, your best bet is See Thru Pool. It’s a gorgeous swimming spot with easy access into and out of the water.

To exit the pool you can either use the rope to pull yourself back out or just swim over to the rocks by the shallow end of the pool and walk out from there.

The pool is nice and deep, although there are some submerged rocks which you bump into occasionally when swimming.

The walk to get there is 1.5km each way and it’s just 750m from Mermaid Pool (before you reach Mermaid Pool). It’s an easy smooth walk until the last little bit when you need to walk down over some rocks to get to the pool.

To get to the pool follow the yellow splashes on the rocks for 1.1km and when you reach the tree with the yellow markings, you take the path marked as ‘ST’.

You then follow the path downhill for 400m, over some rocks and then you’ll see it.

To continue onto Mermaid Pool, retrace your steps for 200m and take the path on the left which is marked by white paint and heads uphill.

You might need to grab a stick to clear the webs away. It’s just 50m before you rejoin the main trail to Mermaid Pool, but this shortcut saves you 400m of backtracking.

The full Tahmoor Gorge Circuit

The stats

Distance: 10.3 km
Elevation: 342m
Difficulty: Moderate - hard

The overview

The Tahmoor Gorge walk is spectacular. I can’t tell you how many times I had to just stop and admire the incredible scenery from within the gorge. And as for the number of sublime swimming holes, I’d say it has to be one of the best trails in NSW!

However, this isn’t a quick 10km walk, as a lot of the trail is rough. It took us 3.5 hours to do the whole thing including Mermaid and See Thru Pool - we’re not the quickest hikers, but not the slowest either.

The full Tahmoor Gorge Circuit takes the route to Mermaid Pool and then continues down into the gorge, which you’ll then traverse before climbing back out and re-joining the trail that took you to Mermaid Pool - it’s basically a lollipop loop.

You can see a map of the trail below.

The stats we have given above cover See Thru Pool, Mermaid Pool and the full gorge loop. If you don’t want to visit See Thru Pool you can knock off around 1km.

The gorge circuit starts getting rough just beyond Mermaid Pool, with lots of climbing up and down rocks. No single part of the track is difficult, but it’s a bit of a workout due to the terrain.

The route is easy to follow for the most part, with ribbons and splashes of paint being extremely regular throughout the whole walk.

We only lost the ribbons twice, and both times it took a minute to go back to the last one and notice where we went wrong.

In terms of route finding it was so much easier than I was expecting due to how thoroughly people have marked the track.

The trail - to Mermaid Lookdown and the lock box

The Tahmoor Gorge Circuit begins just after Mermaid Pool. As mentioned above, finding See Thru and Mermaid Pools is easy, you just follow the yellow splashes of paint.

If you visit both you’ll rejoin the main trail again after Mermaid Pool having walked 2.5km. This first 2.5km is an easy bushwalk with just a small amount of rocky terrain when getting down to both pools.

After you’ve re-joined the main trail the path is flat and easy for the next 400m which takes you to Mermaid Lookdown.

This viewpoint offers an incredible view of the pool with the waterfall tumbling into it, and the elevation shows off the gorgeous bush setting too.

Just 10m beyond the lookout you’ll find a lockbox and this marks the official start of the Tahmoor Circuit.

Inside the box there is a map which you can photograph, as well as a visitor book and some details on the history of the trail.

Onto Jacks Pass and the secret waterfall pool

The notes inside the box for Jacks Pass make it sound a bit scary with talk about a steep boulder descent. The reality is very different.

You descend towards the gorge on rocks, but there are chains to hold onto if you need - and you probably won’t because the rocks are not that uneven. In just 250m you’ll be past the rocky descent and at a junction.

Take the path to the left which takes just a couple of minutes and delivers you to yet another incredible swimming spot!

The pool is at the base of another waterfall, much like See Thru Pool, but its location feels more secluded.

I wish I’d known ahead of time just how many wonderful swimming holes there would be, as we’d only left ourselves enough time for one swim!

After this pool, you’ll then head back onto the main trail and into the gorge.

Through the gorge

After just 100m on the main trail you’ll reach some small boulders to hop along and then cross over the river on a cute little bridge.

The next part of the walk traverses the gorge, following the many ribbons. You’ll walk along rocky ledges (not narrow), dirt track and over the smooth rock of the gorge floor and all the while, the scenery is out of this world.

The gorge walls tower over you and at points there is even dense rainforest climbing up the cliffs. The emerald green river which flows through the middle has a multitude of cascades and small waterfalls, with the majority being easy to access for a dip.

One of our favourites is roughly 1km into this section (from leaving the small bridge) and is well worth saving some time to swim at.

Roughly 200m beyond this waterfall is one of the (two) times we went wrong on this track.

You need to cross the creek here. It is marked with white paint and is obvious when you know where to look, but your natural inclination is to continue straight rather than look for paint beside the creek.

Traversing the gorge is a truly fabulous part of the walk, but for one downside: the webs. I mean the most prolific and biggest webs we’ve seen on any trail so far.

The giants are even down in the gorge (as opposed to just in the bushy sections) and you can hardly believe that they cover such a vast area.

Even keeping an eye out for them and with Joe waving a stick, we still took several to the face! It’s definitely not something that would stop me doing the walk, even as an arachnophobe, but I couldn’t write about this trail and not mention it!

There are a couple of little downhill sections in this part of the walk that have ropes beside them. As with the earlier chained section they are lovely to have for reassurance, but you don’t need to use them, as the paths are no rockier than many parts of the Great North Walk and others that don’t have anything to help.

Unless there has been a lot of rainfall you won’t get wet in the gorge apart from potentially one spot. It’s at the 5km mark when the bridge has broken. It’s easy to walk through the water and if you have ankle height boots you won’t get wet, but in my lower trainer style ones it did flood my boots.

No biggie, but if you have higher boots they will be ideal for this walk, particularly as some of the rough terrain would be easy ankle rolling territory.

After the broken bridge you spend most of your time walking along a narrow path in the forest. It’s predominantly flat but continues to be a bit rocky in places.

Exiting the gorge

At the 6km mark you’ll emerge from the forest and begin the climb out of the gorge. It’s on a steep zig zag path which has both rope and chain running along the whole length of the climb.

The path is rocky but not difficult and it’s just 300m before you reach the top of the first (and longest) climb.

The views looking back over the gorge are great and it would be a perfect rest point but for the mossies.

This is the only part of the walk we got bitten and we wished we hadn’t stopped! From here you have 2.2km of track to go before you reach the lockbox again.

At this point I thought the uphill was finished and was looking forward to some leisurely walking through the bush. After a short flat stretch, you do have one more hill to climb, but it’s small and doesn’t take long. After that, the track is both largely flat and also smooth and relaxing.

You’ll be walking through shady forest before coming to Squatters Lookout which offers a nice view over the gorge and beyond.

It’s an easy part of the walk and it doesn’t feel like any time at all before you’re back at the start of the loop again.

Completing the walk

The last part of the walk from the lockbox retraces your steps along the main trail again. It’s quicker this time though because you don’t make a detour to visit Mermaid or See Thru Pool. It’s only 2.1km before you’re back at the car park again.

The only thing of note on the return is that coming from this direction we noticed another great view of Mermaid Pool which was more open than the one at Mermaid Lookdown. It’s just before you reach Mermaid Lookdown and also offers a fantastic view to the right into the gorge.

We were here at sunset which offered the most beautiful light.

Overall this walk is an absolute delight. The terrain might be rough but the scenery is fabulous, the swimming spots magical and the path easy to follow. If you love wild swimming it’s an absolute must.

Getting to Mermaid Pool and Tahmoor Gorge

Mermaid Pool and Tahmoor Gorge are located close to Bargo, roughly 100km and a 1 hour 15 minute drive from Sydney. It’s 57km and around 45 minutes from Wollongong.

The last 500m of the road is unsealed. The closest part of the car park to the trailhead is very potholed, but you can avoid that bit by parking one minute further away.

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