Red Hands Cave in Glenbrook where many Aboriginal Hand Stencils and Prints could be found is considered to be one of the best-preserved sites of Aboriginal rock art in the Blue Mountains area. We love hiking in the beautiful Blue Mountains National Park and the track leading to something as important as Red Hands Cave was an added bonus.
The track has multiple starting points and you could make the walk as short 20 minutes or as longs as 4+ hours depending on where you decide to park. The closest car park is the Red Hands Cave car park and a brief ten minute walk will get you to the cave. If you park at the Campfire Creek car park and take the longer loop track via Red Hands Cave car park, the walk would be around 8.3 km. However, If you turn back from the Red Hand Cave and trace the steps back, you could get away with about 6 km of walking.
As we wanted to visit Blue Pool, Jellybean Pool and the Red Hands Cave, we parked at the NPWS information centre and followed the Oaks Trail towards Glenbrook Causeway. This adds around 700 meters one way to the Red Hands Cave track. Oaks Trail is a popular mountain bike track that goes downhill from the visitor centre which meant way back was going to be a demanding climb uphill.
Below is the path we followed.
We crossed the Glenbrook Creek via the causeway and then turned right towards the signage for Campfire Creek track.
 |
| Glenbrook Causeway |
 |
Start of the Red Hands Cave track
|
The track was winding through boulders, rock overhangs, fallen trees and log bridges while keeping the Campfire Creek to the right. The water was crystal clear and we were lucky to spot a few yabbies.
 |
Track through the boulders
|
 |
| Can you spot the yabby? |
We followed the track until we came to an unmarked intersection. We turned left and were reassured by the signpost that we took the correct turn.
A bit further on, we came to the signposted Link track and Red Hands Cave track intersection. This is the start of the circuit track and you could go either way. We decided to turn right.
Soon after the intersection, the track crossed the creek and came to a clearing and passed through beautiful moss-laden rock platforms before passing through another log bridge.
The track then climbed uphill before reaching the Red Hands Cave.
Despite the name, all handprints in Red Hands Cave are not red as there are red, orange and white prints and stencils made either from blowing a mixture of ochre, water and animal fat over the hand or making a print after dipping the entire hand in the mixture. This site is considered to be a ceremonial cave used for the initiation of young warriors. There are 45 handprints and some belong to children. |
| Handprints on the cave wall |
Red Hands cave car park and picnic area are a short 10 minute walk from the cave. The small picnic area has a few wooden platforms used as both tables and seats. Toilet facilities are also available here. After recharging ourselves by having a bit of rest, snacks and coffee we followed the Link Track via the Campfire Creek Signage.
About 25 minutes of walking brought us to a creek crossing with the signage directing towards Glenbrook Causeway.
We followed the track keeping Campfire Creek to the left and arrived at a sandstone platform which has grooves made over many years by the Aboriginal Darug people during the process of sharpening their stone hatchets.
 |
| Axe grinding grooves on the sandstone |
 |
| How beautiful is this moss-laden rock? |
I was enjoying the views when I suddenly fell face down. I think I knocked my leg on a rock that was poking out from the track and was lucky to get away with just a few minor cuts. I made a mental note to watch the track a bit more carefully without getting carried away by the beauty of the surrounding and to carry at least some basic first aid in case of emergencies.
After passing the axe-grinding grooves, we soon arrived at the Link track and Red Hands Cave track intersection that we passed earlier. This is where the circuit track ends. From here we followed the signage towards the car park (Campfire Creek car park) and traced our steps back to the Glenbrook Causeway.
We were a bit exhausted and climbing Oaks Trail uphill was a challenge as expected. However, we still wanted to visit both the Blue Pool and the Jellybean Pool.
After dragging ourselves for about 10 minutes uphill, we could see the Blue Pool trail just as the Oaks Trail bends sharply to the right. This is not signposted. If you miss this turn, you could still connect to the track through the signposted Blue Pool car park. The track descended downhill and we were at the Blue Pool in less than 10 minutes. Blue Pool is said to be named after the blue colour of the water which is caused by clay particles in the water that refracts light. However, when we visited, the water was not blue at all. I am not sure whether this was because we got there past 3pm on a cloudy WInter day.
 |
| Track to Blue Pool |
 |
| The Blue Pool |
We traced our steps back and joined the Oaks Trail through the Blue Pool car park. After turning to Jellybean Pool road, we continued for a few minutes before turning right to the Jellybean track. Another 10 minute walk got us to the Jellybean Pool. |
| Jellybean Pool named after its jellybean shape |
Jellybean pool with its reasonable sized sandy beach and the surrounding rock platforms which provided enough natural seating made it an ideal place to finish off our leftover coffee. After leaving the Jellybean pool we traced the steps back until the crossing on the Jellybean Pool road, then continued the track from the other side of the road towards the NPWS car park. This is one of the longest walks so far which took us a bit more than 5 hrs to complete.
Comments