Jenolan Caves

Temple of Baal Cave

Useful Information

Clear helictites in front of the red cave wall.

Clear blue helictites in front of red speleothems. huge patches of the cave wall are covered with this speleothems.

photography — Temple of Baal Cave, Jenolan Caves, Australia. Public Domain.

Location:	4655 Jenolan Caves Road, Jenolan Caves NSW 2790. 182 km west of Sydney (-33.8194780, 150.0222708)
Open:	See mandatory online booking. [2023]
Fee:	Adults AUD 60, Children (6-15) AUD 42, Family (2+2) AUD 184. [2023]
Classification:	Karst Cave The Most Expensive Show Cave
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=20,000 m, VR=200 m, A=790 m asl, T=16 °C. L=150 m.
Guided tours:	D=90 min, L=365 m, St=288, MinAge=6.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
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

1904	discovered by J. Wilburd and J. Edwards.
1909	opened as a show cave.
1954	Binoomea Cut built.
2006	state-of-the-art light and sound show inaugurated.

Description

Temple of Baal Cave is a rather small cave, but it shows extraordinary helictites. Those strange speleothems are growing into all directions defying gravity. Helictites are found in this cave in both, great number and extraordinary size. Another highlight is the Angel's Wing, the largest shawl at Jenolan. Many speleothems in this cave are white, transparent, even blueish, which contrasts with the red iron-oxide rich clay which is found on all walls. It looks like pure, unspoilt crystals have grown out of the dirt.

The cave was named Temple of Baal Cave because of its overwhelming speleothems. Baal was a Canaanite fertility deity, worshiped between 3,000 and 2,000 BP. In the Bible, Baal was the Devil, and his priests were killed and his temples destroyed.

The tour has a unique highlight as the Temple of Baal, one of the largest chambers at Jenolan, is used for a sort of concert. During the tour music is played, while the visitors walk along and stop at five different points to see the cavern with the central Angel's Wing from various angles. Other names of formations are ‘Red Altar’, White Altar, Gabriel’s Wing, Golden Fleece, Sword of St Michael, Frozen Waterfall, and finally Baal himself. Generally we do not repeat fantastic names of speleothems, as this is quite futile. In this case we made an exception, because we were impressed by the creativity of the names.

The cave is entered through an artificial entrance tunnel named Binoomea Cut. Binoomea is a word of the local aborigines meaning dark hole in the ground. The tunnel was built in 1954 to make Orient Cave easier accessible. So visitors actually first reach Orient Cave, before they descend the Dragon’s Throat to Temple of Baal Cave. This shaft is full of red flowstone all the way down to Moloch’s Grotto.