Lovetts Pools is a gorgeous wild swimming spot in Ku-ring-gai National Park and the perfect place to cool down on a hot day. The walk to get there is easy, yet the fact it’s not signposted keeps it blissfully crowd free.
The swimming hole is wonderfully secluded and is right beside a fantastic viewpoint over Lovetts Bay. There are also some pretty well preserved Aboriginal engravings along the way and the combination of all three makes this short trail a must do.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Lovetts Pools.
The walk to Lovetts Pools
The stats
Distance: 3.2km return (including the side trail)
Elevation: 60m
Difficulty: Easy
Starting the trail: to the Aboriginal engravings
The walk begins at the car park for the Elvina Track and you head along a wide fire trail. You won’t see the pools signposted at any point, but there aren’t too many turns to make and we’ll note each one.
After 100m along the flat trail you’ll see a path off to the right. It’s not signposted but it leads to a set of Aboriginal engravings.
The park service have been cleaning them up a little so several are quite easy to see and it’s worth the very short detour.
The engraving didn’t show up on the phots but you’ll see it pretty clearly when you visit
You’ll find two wallaby engravings after 70m and several much larger engravings just 20m further along, on the big rock platform.
We could make out a large emu and possibly the creator spirit Baiame, but it was less clear so we could be wrong on that!
After the 180m return detour you then head back to the main track.
Onto Lovetts Pools
Once back on the main trail you walk for another 150m before you’ll see a path on your left. Again it’s not marked, but it’s very obvious and you couldn’t miss it.
It’s a narrow stony path which heads gradually downhill - you probably won’t even notice you’re descending on the way. The track is stony and a little eroded in parts but still easy to walk on.
If you’re visiting after heavy rain as we were the first half becomes heavily waterlogged - I wish I’d worn my hiking boots as my shoes got totally soaked! In dry conditions it would be absolutely fine.
The path is surrounded by lots of bushland and though it’s definitely not a wow, it’s a pleasant bush track. Once you’ve been walking for 1.3km the forest gets a bit denser and the path completely flattens.
Roughly 100m later you’ll come to a junction. You need to head left.
From here it’s an flat 200m stroll through a pretty stretch of bush to the top of the pools.
Swimming at Lovetts Pools
From the top of the pool you follow the little bush track to the right and within a minute you’re at the pool, there are one or two rocks to walk over but nothing difficult.
It’s such a gorgeous spot and feels so serene with the cascades and surrounding trees.
The pool is not huge and the water is fairly shallow, so it’s not one where you can actually swim, but it’s perfect for lazing around in the water and soaking up the tranquility.
Just watch out for all the yabbies! I thought I saw a lot at Numantia Falls, but it’s got nothing on how many there are at Lovetts Pools.
Maybe it was a bumper breeding year but I saw dozens. They are the small kind, so easy to share the pool with, the only danger was accidentally squishing one - which thankfully didn’t happen!
The sheer number of them is evidence of how clean the water is, which is always nice to know!
Lovetts Bay Viewpoint
From the pool you can walk back into the bush for a few seconds and follow the obvious path left. You’ll see some stone steps cut into the rock, and then if there’s been recent rain, a small waterfall.
From here you can continue along the creek to the lookout.
We crossed the creek and used the little bush track as the water level in the creek was high, but I imagine usually you could probably just stroll over the rock shelf.
From the top of the falls to the viewpoint is just 150m.
The uninterrupted view over Lovetts Bay is stunning. It’s off track location makes it feel like a little hidden gem and I can’t imagine you ever really have to share it with anyone else.
The rock platform makes for a great place to sit and watch all the bobbing boats and would also make a nice picnic spot.
From the edge of the rocks you can see the waterfall continues down the cliffside. You might be able to get down but we didn’t try on this occasion!
Heading back
To get back to the car park you return the way you came. You could extend the walk by doing the Elvina Bay Circuit, which is a trail we have on our list for next time.
The path heads very gently uphill but it’s definitely nothing strenuous and only took 25 minutes at a leisurely pace.
Getting to Lovetts Pools
The walk begins at the Elvina trailhead on West Head Road. It’s just under a 40 minute drive from Sydney CBD.
The car park is quite small but we’ve never seen it full or even close to. There are no facilities (not even toilets) here so please plan accordingly and as always take all rubbish with you.
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