BLUE TRAIL 18: CARLOTTA ARCH, Jenolan Caves

Many of the Jenolan visitors who begin their caves walking excursion from the overflow carpark will pause to admire the majestic Carlotta Arch and the view through it to the Blue Lake, far below. 

Carlotta Adams was the daughter of PF Adams who surveyed the Devil’s Coachhouse, another spectacular open cave. The sides of this natural arch contain hints of the abundance of “stalactite” formations the visitor can expect on a guided cave tour.

Visitors gaze through Carlotta Arch at the Blue Lake
[photo: © (Geoff Dernee]
The range of birds, reptiles and insects frequenting the nooks and crannies of the open caves and their surrounds is naturally much more diverse than is the case with the underground caves. 

The unique blue of the lake, so often framed by Carlotta Arch in photographs, is caused by the dissolution of limestone in the chilly waters flowing through some of the underground caves. In recent years, a platypus family has been noticed residing in the lake. 

© Don Morison