The National Parks and Wildlife Services NSW would prefer that you do not visit the infinity pool as it is off track and an unfenced cliff edge. The trail that it is located on has been closed frequently in recent times, so make sure you check the Parks Alerts for the Amphitheatre Track if you still choose to visit.
The secret infinity pool in the Blue Mountains became a social media sensation and it’s easy to see why. It’s incredibly photogenic, with a small swimming hole sitting on top of a huge waterfall that’s surrounded by towering canyon walls. We were expecting it to be one of those spots that is massively hyped up, but it really is beautiful. We visited on the most dreary of days, it was pouring with rain, windy as anything and yet it still looked gorgeous.
The track that leads to the pool had been closed for several years, so despite being asked where it is multiple times a day - even more than we were asked about Gerringong Falls and that Woy Woy Waterfall - we weren’t able to write about it… Until now.
So here’s exactly how to find the pool and what to expect when you do.
Safety warning
Although the trail to get to the pool is not difficult, you are walking to an unfenced cliff edge with a giant drop and a slip here could be catastrophic. Stay away from the edge at all times.
The most important way to stay safe is to follow the correct trail. If you follow our instructions, you will find it short and relatively straight-forward, without any precarious cliff edge climbs or nasty drops.
There are a couple of misleading side trails, which are much more challenging (and possibly dangerous) than the ‘correct route’.
The rocks surrounding the pool can be slippery whether dry or wet, so you need to tread carefully. The pool also becomes much more turbulent in times of high rainfall.
Other than that, the one bit which might unnerve some people is a short scramble just before the pool which is aided by a rope - we’ll go into more detail on that later in the post.
The area surrounding the pool is small, so we wouldn’t recommend visiting in the middle of the day on a weekend until the hype dies down.
Try and come early in the morning or even better, on a weekday as this is a place you ideally want to experience with as few people as possible.
How to find the secret infinity pool
The stats
Distance: 2km return from the Leura Cascades picnic area
Elevation gain: 150m
Difficulty: Moderate
The walk to the pool is on a formed track until the last 90m. The walk is all downhill on the way and then you’ll have a bit of a climb on the way back up. The final 90m is off track but the path is easy to follow - providing you use the right one. There is another more challenging route to get to the pool which is precarious and not recommended.
On the right route the only real challenge is the scramble, if you’re used to scrambling it won’t present any issues, but it could be unnerving if you’ve never scrambled before. It took us 20 minutes to walk from the Leura Cascades car park all the way to the infinity pool.
How to find the secret infinity pool in the Blue Mountains
Starting the trail at Leura Cascades
The walk begins at Leura Cascades, I won’t go into too much detail here because we have a whole blog post dedicated to the the walk right up until 90m before the pool.
Follow the Leura Cascades Track to the Amphitheatre Track, which will take you to the base of Bridal Veil Falls.
It’s all on well maintained paths and it’s almost all downhill. You’ll pass some gorgeous lookouts and then begin descending more steeply into the rainforest.
There are several steep metal staircases which make quick work of the descent. It’s all very ferny and beautiful, and feels like you’ve left the hustle and bustle of the outside world far behind.
At the bottom of the stairs you’ll reach the base of Bridal Veil Falls.
The falls are quite unusual, like a giant weeping rock, and especially spectacular after rain. Just watch out when walking around the rocks as certain sections are slippery.
Heading off track to the pool
From the base of Bridal Veil, continue along the trail and you’ll almost immediately come to a little bridge.
Walk to the far end of the metal bridge and climb through the railing on the left side. From here it is downhill all the way to the pool, don’t be tempted by the stairs after the bridge or any dirt trail that goes uphill.
The bridge at Weeping Rock
Also, make sure you keep the creek on your left (stay on the western side of the river) until you reach the pool - you won’t need to cross until the very end.
After squeezing through the rail, you’ll see Weeping Rock behind you. This is a fabulous spot in its own right and worth walking the few steps down to reach it if you haven’t seen it before.
The trail by the bridge
Weeping Rock
The trail to the pool does not actually go to Weeping Rock, it continues downstream just above it and along the very obvious dirt path. After a minute (about 10-20 metres) you will see a trail heading down towards the creek.
You will soon meet a path with stone steps and a sort of barrel type structure with a hole in the top - you can see it in the photo and you really can’t miss it in real life (this is the marker to let you know you’re on the correct path).
From here follow the rock shelf, which is easy, but can be a little slippery if wet, so take it slow.
It’s very pretty as you’ll be walking beside lots of cascades.
You will reach the scramble after 40m. There is currently a big sturdy rope which coupled with the tree on the right makes the descent a lot easier.
As mentioned if you’re used to scrambling it won’t phase you at all, but if not it might be more of a challenge.
There are plenty of footholds, but it is a little slippery when wet; the moral of the story is to try and go when it’s dry really as you’ll have a much easier ride all round.
From the bottom of the rope you just need to step over the cascade and follow the rock shelf to the pool. Again this is all much nicer when the water level is lower than you can see in our pictures, the rock will be so much grippier.
It takes just a minute to reach the pool from the end of the rope scramble.
It’s such a beautiful spot with the canyon walls giving it a really dramatic feel. The pool is tiny, but for me it was more about the general atmosphere of the place which was definitely special.
Swimming at the secret infinity pool
I’m going to address the elephant in the room straight away and that’s that this spot is right beside the old sewer pipes. You’ll see several manhole covers and pipes which are a little off putting - but it’s not an active sewer system.
In all honesty I don’t know about the water quality, but I do know that tons of people have swum here and not reported any issues.
I didn’t get the feel that the water is contaminated and there is no smell (thank goodness!), but I definitely wouldn’t be putting my head under just in case!
The pool itself is easy to get into and relatively deep for its size - although that may be because we were visiting after such heavy rain.
It would be much better to visit with lower water levels in my opinion, the pool will be less churned up and look much prettier.
We both said that it’s somewhere we’d like to go back to in better conditions - you probably couldn’t visit in worse!
Lastly, I know it sounds really obvious, but don’t go too close to the edge as getting swept off Leura Falls would not be a pleasant way to go! You don’t need to be near the edge in any way (in or out of the water) to get good photos.
If you’d like to extend your walk after visiting the pool, you can head to the base of the falls via the Amphitheatre Track, which we detail in this post.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come. The infinity pool is increasingly popular and litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the national park, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Heading back
Heading back up to Leura Cascades is straight forward but it is fairly steep if you aren’t used to hiking.
It only takes a few minutes to reach the main trail and you can always stop at all the lookouts and waterfalls on the way up rather than the way down and break it up a little!
Current access to Leura Cascades
Currently you can’t drive to the Leura Cascades picnic area, which is where the trail begins, due to the closure of Cliff Drive.
We usually walk from Jersey Avenue, which adds on an additional 500m each way, but there is only room for one car so if it’s taken you’ll need to walk from Cliff Drive. You can use this map to find alternative entry points.
Note that the toilets are shut at Leura Cascades, there’s basically no facilities at all, but access to the walking track is permitted.
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