Red Hands Cave in Glenbrook

The Red Hands Cave in Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains is one of the most well-preserved and accessible Aboriginal rock art sites in the area: it is one of the few Aboriginal sites in the Blue Mountains to which tourist visitation is encouraged. The shelter has been described as a “ceremonial cave for the initiation of young warriors”.

The back wall of the long shelter has many red, yellow and white hand stencils, as well as some outlined and infilled motifs drawn in red ochre. The stencils are thought to be have been created between 500 and 1600 years ago.

Clifton Towle, a founding member of The Anthropological Society of New South Wales in 1928, recorded the Red Hands Cave in 1933. He divided the artwork into four groups:

1. The hand stencils, of which he recorded 45 “both left and right. Some of them are the hand markings of children. In many instances a part of the forerm is also shown, and in one instance the entire forearm… there are no instances of mutilated or abnormal fingers”. The number of hand stencils was later revised to 70.
2. Four outlines in red of circles or ovals, which on the lower sides meet two parallel lines. (Eugene Stockton later described these as possibly being womb-like motifs, depicting fertility symbols, or a plan of a nearby bora or initation site.)
3. A fish or banana-shaped red drawing. (Stockton described these as possibly relating to phallic stones; a standing river stone similar to the drawing of this symbol was found on a nearby ridge by a ranger.)
4. Two dancing human (male) figures outlined very lightly in white; “the two figures have the buttocks greatly exaggerated on the one side of the body, and the sex organs on the other”.

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Although the site has been vandalised, it’s now protected by a steel mesh. While a necessary measure to protect the art, it also detracts from the experience: as Jon Rhodes describes in his thought-provoking book Cage of Ghosts, “the painted red hand in its perspex cage has become impenetrable to vandals and viewers alike”. Jim Smith, a local bushwalker and historian, held a similar view: “I personally find Red Hands Cave itself a depressing place because of the ugly fence to protect the aboriginal hand stencils. It destroys the atmosphere of the place and may be a form of desecration equal to that of the vandalism it was designed to protect”.

History of Red Hands Cave

The shelter is believed to have been “discovered” in August 1913 by James (Jim) Colquhoun Dunn while searching for a young girl who had wandered off from her Glenbrook home to collect flowers and got lost. This discovery was kept very quiet for many years to prevent it being vandalised, with only a few private visits, and in 1926 the Blue Mountains Shire Council dedicated a reserve around the area. It was not until the early 1930s that there was any track to the Red Hands Cave, as information started appearing in the media about the cave (Sydney Morning Herald on 20 January 1933 and Nepean Times on 4 February 1933).

Four miles south-west of Glenbrook, hidden in the Blue Mountains, is a ceremonial cave, once used by the aboriginals. The few authorities on aboriginal lore who have seen the Red Hand Cave, say that it is the most striking example of its kind known in Australia. Few people know of its existence, and fewer still can find their way there.

Red Hand Cave in Nepean Times, 4 Feb 1933

It was not long after these newspaper articles that the Red Hands Cave began to be promoted as a tourist attraction. While a fence was also constructed to protect the site by the mid 1930s, it was not successful in preventing some vandalism. By 1943, the cave wall was covered in initials, with the damage so extreme that a request was made to the Blue Mountains council to remove the site from the list of tourist attractions. A proposal was also sent to Council on how to remove the graffiti. The original wire screen was replaced by a more substantial viewing platform and steel mesh in 1987.

Getting to the Red Hands Cave

The easiest way to reach the Red Hands Cave is from the end of the Red Hands Firetrail, which is accessed from The Oaks Firetrail (an unsealed road suitable for all vehicles – but it crosses a causeway near the start which may be impassable after heavy rain). From the parking area at the end of the Red Hands Firetrail, it’s a fairly easy 1km return walk along a well-formed path. You can return the same way, or do a 4km loop walk (which also passes some Aboriginal axe grinding gooves).

You can also access the cave on foot from near the start of The Oaks Firetrail via the Campfire Creek Trail. This is about an 8.2km return bushwalk.

More information

• National Parks (NPWS) – Red Hands Cave
• Korowal School – Red Hands Cave [PDF]