One of the spectacular formations inside the Figtree Cave at Wombeyan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve.

Although it's not as adventurous as the various nearby wild cave systems such as those at Tuglow and Bungonia, it's a top spot for camping, wildlife watching and for learning about the geology and history of these remote and magnificent caves.

The caves had been a special place to the local Gundungurra people for hundreds of generations, but there is little evidence they used the caves themselves for shelter.

Europeans first discovered Wombeyan Caves in 1828 when explorer John Oxley and pioneering grazier John Macarthur explored the areas between Berrima and Oberon looking for grazing land. They stumbled upon the massive entrance to the Figtree Cave, the Victoria Arch, at the end of a cleared box canyon.

In 1868 the area was set aside by the colonial NSW government as a reserve and was staffed by a caretaker, Mr Charles Chalker. Chalker explored the area extensively and discovered many of the dozens of caves in the Wombeyan system.

The area became very popular with tourists and geologists alike, and in 1900 a road was opened, linking Wombeyan Caves to Mittagong in the east. An account of this newly-pushed-through road is found in one of my favourite books, "Landlopers" by John Le Gay Brereton, published in 1899.

I have read newspaper letters to the editor from the 1910s where the writers bitterly whinge about the state of the Wombeyan Caves Road between the Caves and Mittagong. Over 100 years later, people are still whingeing about it haha. I call it The Road Of Doom and it's a picturesque drive which is even a little adventurous at times.

The Wombeyan Caves themselves were popular throughout the first half of the 20th Century and the Figtree Cave in the photo was opened to the public as a guided show cave in 1968 and it's been inspiring visitors ever since.

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