It’s a fairly long bushwalk (or mountain bike ride and bushwalk) to this swimming hole on the Grose River, which is reached from the Faulconbridge Ridge firetrail. The deep swimming hole is surrounded by large boulders, and offers plenty of shade.
Downstream, the Grose River narrows as it passes a shallow and narrow section.
The pool extends a fair way, and if you follow the Grose River upstream there are a couple more deep pools you can visit.
The water quality in the Grose River, which is contained almost entirely within a World Heritage Area, is now relatively good: “While sewage pollution in the area has been addressed, pollution at damaging levels continues from a disused coal mine, closed in 1997”. Two drainage shafts were constructed by the Canyon Colliery in the late 1970s which discharge into Dalpura Creek, a tributary of the Grose River. While the mine has been closed for over 15 years, there are still very high levels of zinc being discharged.
A small creek that flows into the Grose Valley originates should be safe for drinking, if you need to fill up a water bottle.
Getting to the Grose River swimming hole
Getting to this swimming hole involves a 6.1km walk or bike ride down the Faulconbridge Ridge firetrail, and then a 1.6km descent, which is steep in places, down a bushwalking track. The start of the firetrail is at the end of Grose Road, which is off the Great Western Highway at Faulconbridge. You can drive a short way along the unsealed Faulconbridge Ridge firetrail before you reach a locked gate. (You could also walk from Faulconbridge railway station, but that would add 4.8km each way.)
More information
- ScienceDirect: Environmental protection and management: A water pollution case study within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Australia
- Department of Environment and Climate Change – Grose River Blue Mountains National Park Wild River Assessment 2008 [PDF]
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