Yarrangobilly Caves House: East and West wings

Yarrangobilly area in Kosciuszko National Park

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Overview

Stay in the cosy Yarrangobilly Caves House East and West wings—self contained heritage accommodation (circa 1901) set in a secluded section of Kosciuszko National Park. You’ll find scenic walking, skiing, fishing and a thermal pool right at your doorstep.

Accommodation Details
Accommodation type House
Where 51 Yarrangobilly Caves Road, Yarrangobilly, NSW, 2720 - in Yarrangobilly area
Bedrooms 9
Maximum guests 14
Facilities Barbecue facilities, cafe/kiosk, carpark, drinking water, public phone, showers, toilets, electric power
What to bring Food supplies
Entry fees Park entry fees apply
Group bookings School groups and commercial tour operators can submit a group booking enquiry form.
Please note
  • Check in 3pm to 5pm. Check out 10am. Contact Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre to arrange late check in. 
  • Keys can be collected from Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre. Fees may apply for lost keys.
  • Yarrangobilly Caves House has an east wing and a west wing. The east wing has 7 bedrooms and a maximum occupancy of 8 guests. The west wing has 2 bedrooms and a maximum occupancy of 6 guests.
  • Yarrangobilly Caves House is in a remote location. Please bring all your supplies, including food and fuel. The nearest towns are Tumut and Adaminaby, a 1 hour drive.
  • There's no mobile phone reception here.
  • For a luxury experience next door, see Yarrangobilly Caves House guest rooms.

For a weekend away from it all, head for Yarrangobilly Caves House East and West wings in the picturesque Yarrangobilly Valley. Escape from the crowds and revel in the wonder of a bygone era in this heritage building—built in 1901. It's the perfect place to relax in your own homely, lovingly restored and self contained wing. 

Perfect for conferences, family gatherings and special interest groups, Yarrangobilly Caves House East and West wings are a lovely spot for enjoying the splendour of all four seasons. Yarrangobilly Caves offers bushwalking, self guided and guided cave tours, and fishing in the clear mountain streams. It’s only a short drive to the Selwyn Snowfields to enjoy a day of skiing the slopes. 

After a hard day of adventuring, dive into the naturally heated thermal swimming pool. Round it off with a relaxing drink on the verandah, gazing across at scenic views of the limestone bluffs.

In 2015 and 2016, Yarrangobilly Caves House won commendations for the Unique Accommodation category in the Canberra Region Tourism Awards.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Map


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Current alerts in this area

There are no current alerts in this area.

Local alerts

For the latest updates on fires, closures and other alerts in this area, see https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/camping-and-accommodation/accommodation/yarrangobilly-caves-house-wings/local-alerts

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Visitor info

All the practical information you need to know about Yarrangobilly Caves House: East and West wings.

Getting there and parking

Yarrangobilly Caves House is in the northern precinct of Kosciuszko National Park.

From the Monaro Highway: 

  • At Cooma, take the Snowy Mountains Highway and continue for around 110km.
  • Turn left onto Yarrangobilly Caves Entrance Road.
  • Follow the unsealed road for around 6km to Yarrangobilly Caves House. 

From the Hume Highway: 

  • At Gundagai, take the Tumut exit and follow Gocup Road to Tumut.
  • Continue on Snowy Mountains Highway south for around 90km.
  • Turn right onto Yarrangobilly Caves Entrance Road.
  • Follow the unsealed road for around 6km to Yarrangobilly Caves House. 

The closest service stations are in Talbingo and Adaminaby. 24-hour fuel is only available in Gundagai or Cooma. Cabramurra also has a 24/7 card-only service.

Road quality

  • Yarrangobilly Caves entrance and exit roads are graded gravel. They're suitable for 2WD and 4WD vehicles up to 12.5m in length, however the Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) advise that the roads are unsuitable for caravans.
  • RMS recommends snow chains are carried by all vehicles driving in the park in winter, including 4WD and AWD, in case of extreme weather. Visit the Live Traffic website for road conditions.

  • Unsealed roads

Vehicle access

  • 2WD vehicles

Weather restrictions

  • Snow chains required after snow

Parking

Parking is available at Yarrangobilly Caves House. Bus parking is available – contact Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre for access.

Facilities

  • East wing bed configuration: 1 king bedroom and 6 single rooms. 2 bathrooms with shower, toilet and bath.
  • West wing bed configuration: 2 bedrooms with 1 king and 1 single bed each. 1 bathroom with toilet and shower. King beds can be split into 2 singles.
  • Each wing has a dining room, family/lounge room, fully equipped kitchen, bathroom, verandah and outdoor barbecue area.
  • The kitchen has a stove, cook top, microwave, slow cooker and a full range of baking pans and utensils.
  • There are heaters in the bedrooms.
  • Washing machine and drying room available.
  • There's no DVD player, television or stereo.
  • Please leave the accommodation clean and tidy, with all dishes washed up and put away. Any unreasonable cleaning will be charged a cleaning fee.
  • A function room is available for hire. For more information, contact Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre.

Toilets

  • Flush toilets

Barbecue facilities

  • Gas/electric barbecues (free)

Cafe/kiosk

Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre has a limited range of snacks, soft drinks and ice cream, personal items and basic supplies.

Carpark

Drinking water

UV-treated on site

Public phone

Calls paid for at the visitor centre on check out.

Showers

  • Hot showers

Electric power

Hydro and diesel.

Maps and downloads

Fees and passes

Please note there is a $4 site fee (valid for 24hrs) for vehicles without a day pass or annual pass.

  • All Parks Pass - For all parks in NSW (including Kosciuszko NP) $190 (1 year) / $335 (2 years)

Safety messages

Alpine safety

Alpine areas present special safety issues. Conditions can be extreme and may change rapidly, particularly in winter. It’s important to be prepared and find out how to stay safe in alpine areas.

Mobile safety

Dial Triple Zero (000) in an emergency. Download the Emergency Plus app before you visit, it helps emergency services locate you using your smartphone's GPS. Please note there is limited mobile phone reception in this park and you’ll need mobile reception to call Triple Zero (000).

Accessibility

Disability access level - hard

Wheelchairs can access this area with some difficulty

Permitted

  • Cavers must be part of a registered caving association and have a Cave Permit for all recreational caving activities 
  • A current NSW recreational fishing licence is required when fishing in all waters

Prohibited

Camp fires and solid fuel burners

Camping

Drones

Flying a drone for recreational purposes is prohibited in this area. Drones may affect public enjoyment, safety and privacy, interfere with park operations, or pose a threat to wildlife. See the Drones in Parks policy.

This area may be a declared Drone Exclusion Zone, or may be subject to Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) rules for flying near airports, aerodromes and helicopter landing sites. See CASA's Drone Flyer Rules.

Commercial filming and photography

Commercial filming or photography is prohibited without prior consent. You must apply for permission and contact the local office.

Gathering firewood

Pets

Pets and domestic animals (other than certified assistance animals) are not permitted. Find out which regional parks allow dog walking and see the pets in parks policy for more information.


Smoking

NSW national parks are no smoking areas.

Visitor centre

Learn more

Yarrangobilly Caves House: East and West wings is in Yarrangobilly area. Here are just some of the reasons why this park is special:

Unique landscapes

Jersey Cave decorations, at Yarrangobilly Caves in Kosciuszko National Park. Photo: E Sheargold/OEH

Yarrangobilly’s karst landscapes were created from a belt of limestone laid down about 440 million years ago. Almost all cave formations can be seen here, from stalactites and stalagmites, hollow straws and delicate helictites, to shawls, cave coral, and massive flowstones. Karst environments are nature’s time capsules, preserving evidence of climate change, floods, droughts, fires, animal and human activity. Over the years, Yarrangobilly's caves have hosted researchers from universities, nuclear science organisations and the Snowy Hydro. You can now visit Harrie Wood Cave, which was closed from 2006-2016, to learn how stalagmites have growth rings, and find out about about climate change monitoring.

  • Jersey Cave Step back in time on a guided tour of Jersey Cave. You’ll be awed by some of the most colourful and diverse decorations at Yarrangobilly Caves in Kosciuszko National Park.
  • Jillabenan Cave Take a fascinating guided tour of Jillabenan Cave. It's the smallest and most accessible of the Yarrangobilly Caves in Kosciuszko National Park, but it's packed with incredibly delicate formations.
  • North Glory Cave Explore North Glory Cave by guided tour to glimpse a rarely seen underworld in Kosciuszko National Park.
  • South Glory Cave Take a leisurely self-guided tour through the lofty chambers of South Glory Cave at Yarrangobilly, near Tumut. It never fails to astonish. 

Explore above and below ground

Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre, Kosciuszko National Park. Photo: Elinor Sheargold/OEH

No visit to Yarrangobilly is complete without a visit to its marvellous caves, so stop by the Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre to get your tickets and tour times. The largest, South Glory Cave, allows you to explore at your own pace on a self-guided tour. Jersey and Jillabenan Caves offer guided tours that run 3 or 4 times daily - Jillabenan even boasts wheelchair-access. The visitor centre can also help with tours of other caves, meetings, weddings, custom tours for groups or students from 10 to 100 people. With caves, tours, walks, and the natural mineral waters of the thermal pool to tempt you, you’ll need to stay a few days. Book your own lovingly restored wing or a great-value room at Caves House. Enjoy the creature comforts of Lyrebird Cottage, or set up camp at Yarrangobilly Village campground, just off the Snowy Mountains Highway.

  • Yarrangobilly Caves thermal pool walk Take the short Yarrangobilly Caves thermal pool walk and enjoy a swim in the spring-fed natural pool. It's easily combined with a picnic, bushwalk or cave tour in the Yarrangobilly area of Kosciuszko National Park.
  • Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre is your one stop destination for information on cave tours and tickets, and top tips on where to stay and what to do in the Yarrangobilly and northern areas of Kosciuszko National Park.

A wonderland for wildlife

The endangered smoky mouse. Photo: Linda Broome/OEH

Karst environments are complex ecosystems containing highly specialised plants, animals and micro-organisms. The dense shrubs around Yarrangobilly River provide protection for the endangered smoky mouse, as well as being great for bird watching. At night you might be lucky to see a possum or sugar glider, forest bats, tawny frogmouth owl or even an endangered sooty owl. Don’t be put off if you see algae or even springtime tadpoles in the thermal pool. Algae and weed provide a breeding site for eastern banjo frogs, aka pobblebonks, because of their banjo-like ‘plonk’ or ‘bonk’, meaning the water is clean and healthy. School students can learn more about Kosciuszko National Park’s ecosystems and important biodiversity on a school excursion.

Discover Aboriginal culture

Learning about Aboriginal culture from NPWS rangers, Birrimal Waga Amphitheatre, Tumut. Photo: Murray Vanderveer/NPWS

Yarrangobilly is the perfect place to experience the rich Aboriginal culture of the Wolgalu People. Join a NPWS Aboriginal ranger to see the tools and techniques of the Traditional Owners of this unique landscape. Take part in hands-on activities like string making, or learn how to start a fire without matches. Wolgalu culture tours run on select dates during school holidays, and start from the picnic area near Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor Centre (bookings essential).

Plants and animals protected in this park

Animals

  • Bare-nosed wombat. Photo: Keith Gillett

    Bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus)

    A large, squat marsupial, the Australian bare-nosed wombat is a burrowing mammal found in coastal forests and mountain ranges across NSW and Victoria. The only other remaining species of wombat in NSW, the endangered southern hairy-nosed wombat, was considered extinct until relatively recently.

  • Eastern water dragon. Photo: Rosie Nicolai

    Eastern water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii)

    The eastern water dragon is a subaquatic lizard found in healthy waterways along eastern NSW, from Nowra to halfway up the Cape York Pensinsula. It’s believed to be one of the oldest of Australian reptiles, remaining virtually unchanged for over 20 million years.

  • A juvenile platypus saved by National Parks and Wildlife staff. Photo: M Bannerman/OEH

    Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)

    One of the most fascinating and unusual Australian animals, the duck-billed platypus, along with the echidna, are the only known monotremes, or egg-laying mammals, in existence. The platypus is generally found in permanent river systems and lakes in southern and eastern NSW and east and west of the Great Dividing Range.

  • Superb fairy wren. Photo: Rosie Nicolai

    Superb fairy wren (Malurus cyaneus)

    The striking blue and black plumage of the adult male superb fairy wren makes for colourful bird watching across south-eastern Australia. The sociable superb fairy wrens, or blue wrens, are Australian birds living in groups consisting of a dominant male, mouse-brown female ‘jenny wrens’ and several tawny-brown juveniles.

  •  Superb lyrebird, Minnamurra Rainforest, Budderoo National Park. Photo: David Finnegan

    Superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae)

    With a complex mimicking call and an elaborate courtship dance to match, the superb lyrebird is one of the most spectacular Australian animals. A bird watching must-see, the superb lyrebird can be found in rainforests and wet woodlands across eastern NSW and Victoria.

  • Swamp wallaby in Murramarang National Park. Photo: David Finnegan

    Swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)

    The swamp wallaby, also known as the black wallaby or black pademelon, lives in the dense understorey of rainforests, woodlands and dry sclerophyll forest along eastern Australia. This unique Australian macropod has a dark black-grey coat with a distinctive light-coloured cheek stripe.

Plants

  • Billy Button flowers at Peery Lake picnic area. Photo: Dinitee Haskard OEH

    Billy buttons (Craspedia spp. )

    Billy buttons are attractive Australian native plants that are widespread throughout eastern NSW in dry forest, grassland and alpine regions such as Kosciuszko National Park. The golden-yellow globe-shaped flowers are also known as woollyheads. Related to the daisy, billy buttons are an erect herb growing to a height of 50cm.

Environments in this area

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