Reached by the Hermits Track which descends from the end of the Buxton Plateau Trail to the Little River, Dobsons Cave is the unofficial name for a pristine waterhole and intermittent waterfall in the Southern Highlands. The swimming hole and waterfall is at the bottom of Rain Trap Creek, just before it flows into Little River.
Dobsons Cave is named after a local stonemason who “discovered” it in 1917, and the overhang was occupied by a hermit in the 1990s (hence the name of the track down to the shelter). As the headwaters of Rain Trap Creek are in Nattai National Park, the water is very clean (cleaner than Little River which has some agricultural run-off), but being a small catchment the creek stops flowing in dry periods and is often just a trickle.
Getting to Dobsons Cave
There is a rough track to Dobsons Cave, which starts at a locked gate just before the end of the Buxton Plateau Trail and initially follows a service trail for the high voltage powerlines.
From the base of the last electricity pylon, the Hermits Track descends through the bush (look for a yellow arrow on a tree).
A combination of arrows (on the trees and scratched into the sandstone), tape and the occasional rock cairn mark the track.
Just before it reaches the Little River, the Hermits Track crosses Rain Trap Creek before dropping steeply down to Dobsons Cave.
You can return the same way, making it a 3.2km return walk… or continue along Little River to create a very enjoyable 12km loop walk, which passes many more spectacular swimming holes, including the Aqua Pool.
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