Jenolan Caves

Devil's Coach House


Useful Information

photography
Devil's Coach House, Lucien Henry, Jenolan Caves, Australia. Public Domain.
photography
Devil's Coach House, Jenolan Caves, Australia. Public Domain.
Location: 4655 Jenolan Caves Road, Jenolan Caves NSW 2790.
182 km west of Sydney
(-33.8190019, 150.0236179)
Open: All year daily.
[2023]
Fee: Included with any other tour.
[2023]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave GeologyNatural Bridge
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours: self-guided
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Jenolan Caves, 4655 Jenolan Caves Road, Jenolan Caves NSW 2790, Tel: +61-2-6359-3911, Tel: 1300-76-33-11. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1838 discovered.

Description

The Devil's Coach House is something between a cave ruin, a through-cave and a natural bridge. A lot of the cave has collapsed and is now more or less a roofless cave or valley. The entrance from Blue Lake is a huge portal with a small cave river, and it has numerous karstfensters in the ceiling. This part of the gigantic structure does not need any artificial light it is sufficiently illuminated by daylight. The coachouse part of the name is easy to explain, just by the size of this entrance, the rest is normally said to be the result of a vision of an early visitor. He hallucinated the devil himself driving through the arch in a horse-drawn coach. However, in a local newspaper from the late 19th century is the following explanation. It's actually a letter to the editor by a reader.

James Whalan is the real discoverer of Jenolan Caves. It was after he captured the bushranger McEwen, who robbed his team of the bullock bows and chains at a place known as Coogie Flat, near Gingkin. Mr. James Whalan, with the assistance of a police officer and Jerh Beale, tracked McEwen to the top of the range above his camp, when they saw the smoke of his fire. They camped for the night; the descent was made in the morning, when they captured McEwen, whom they secured and handed over to the authorities. James Whalan returned to his camp to try and find some of his property, which included bullock bows and chains, horses, and a steel mill which were used at that time to grind wheat for the Government men told off to James Whalan to serve their time. When he got to the hut where they had taken him he followed the valley down to within about ¾ of a mile of the caves. He left his horse and walked down, it being impossible to get his horse with him. He then went through the archways; finding he could not get down the river further he went about the daylight caves and returned to his horse, and could not get any of his property. When it was reported McEwen was taken, a stockman at Lowther got a blackfellow to take him to McEwen's camp, and he took the steel mill away between the time Whalan had taken McEwen and when he returned to look for his stolen property. Whalan heard of the mill being taken and went and identified it by a No. 8 on one of the bolts. When McEwen robbed Whalan he always packed what he took on Whalan's horses. When he got near his camp he killed the horses so that they would not track the horses back and find him. I was told this by Whalan's stockman, James Campbell, after-wards in 1855; so that James Whalan was the real discoverer of Jenolan Caves, in 1841, and the first man to enter them. When he returned he told people that he had been at the end of the world in the Devil's Coach-house, so that is how it got its name. Jerh Beale, who tracked McEwen, told me all they had done from starting to track. They did not see the caves until after the capture of McEwen. Mr. J. Whalan searched several times for his bullock harness and his horses. When I heard that McEwen took the bullock bows and chains I did not believe he carried them so far, but when exploring about fourteen years ago I found the bullock bows, six bows, two pairs of iron hinges, and two harrow pins, planted in a cave. There are scores of people who have seen them in the cave since I discovered it. This is the true account of the discovery of Jenolan Caves, and as I have been exploring them since 1855, I have collected the particulars from eye witnesses as to James Whalan's work and the robbery at his house by McEwen. I have taken a great delight in the exploring of the caves and everything in connection with their discovery, etc., before my time here.

Actually the name is just a name, and who actually hallucinated the coach is not really important. Quite important is the question of how to get there. This is not a show cave, it is actually freely accessible. There is an almost horizontal short trail from the road, opposite the Blue Lake on the eastern side of the Grand Arch, which leads directly to the arch. Unfortunately, it is now closed for some years due to rockfall. It is unclear if and when it will be reopened. For the time being the Devil's Coach House is reached from the Carlotta Arch trail. Its also posible to get there through ShowcaveNettle Cave which seems to be freely accessible as well. However, the official website, though quite informative on many aspects of the caves, does not mention this rather important detail, so we guess you haveto ask when you arrive.