Koonalda Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Koonalda Cave Road. From A1 Eyre Higway turn north on Koonalda Homestead Road, cross Old Eyre Highway. (-31.4043460, 129.8382583)
Open:	closed. [2026]
Fee:	closed. [2026]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Keryn Walshe (2015): Koonalda Cave, Nullarbor Plain, South Australia – Issues In Optical And Radiometric Dating Of Deep Karst Caves, Conference Proceedings of the 4th Asia Pacific Luminescence and Electron Spin Resonance Dating Conference Nov 23rd-25th, 2015, Adelaide, Australia. pdf
Address:	Koonalda Cave, Tel: +61-.
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

1956	Dr Alexander Gallus dated the archaeological remains and finger markings at Koonalda to 22,000 year ago.
1980s	cave closed to the public and gated.
15-OCT-2014	inscribed on National Heritage List.
2022	30,000-year-old cave art destroyed by vbandals.

Description

Koonalda Cave is a wild cave, which means it is not developed, like most caves in the Nullarbor Plain, a desert at the border between South Australia and Western Australia, along the southern coast. It is of outstanding heritage value with 22,000-year-old finger markings and remains of flint mining. The cave is actually not accessible to the public, nevertheless it is published widely and unfortunately the correct GPS coordinates are give. As a result the cave was vandalized in 2022 and unique Australian cave art was destroyed by carving spooky graffiti on top. The cave was protected by a steel gate installed in the 1980s, but the vandals dug under it to break in. As a result a $400,000 heritage grant from the federal government financed a management plan which included the installation of video surveillance.

We can now talk about this cave with confidence, as it is as secure as Fort Knox. The reality for visitor is, that it is quite unsatisfactory to go there, the site is closed. On the other hand, along the road to the cave there are actually about half a dozen huge sinkholes, which are definitely worth a visit. But it’s the same here: if there is a cave do not entre, for your safety and for the safety of the cave. The outlook from the rim is actually the most spectacular part anyway.