Minerva Pool in Dharawal National Park near Campbelltown makes for a wonderful walk and it is a beautiful place to swim too. But please do read all this post, it’s a place that deserves care and respect.
Minerva Pool Walk + Swim
Address: End of Victoria Rd, Wedderburn
My twins and I hugely enjoyed a walk through the beautiful bush of Dharawal National Park down to Minerva Pool.
However, all is not as serene as the pool was that day. The Dharawal people considered this pool as a special place, it was used only by women and children.
Nowadays the Tharawal Local Aboriginal Land Council has asked that the cultural significance of the pool is respected. Only women and children are supposed to swim there.
On the day we visited there were some young men who did swim in the pool, leaping in, and playing loud music too. However, other older and wiser men did not swim.
Myself and the kids so enjoyed out swim here, it would be hard to walk in and NOT swim. So maybe this is a walk for groups of mums and kids.
In Dharawal there is another pool that all people can swim in, so maybe that’s best for the whole family. The track is steeper though.
Read all about the Jingga Walking Track here.
Getting to Minerva Pool
Parking
Drive right to the end of Victoria Road, Wedderburn. You will find an entrance gate into Dharawal National Park there. There are parking spots at the end of Victoria Road.
Go through the entrance gate and walk along to the picnic area where there is also a toilet.
The Minerva Pool walking track starts opposite this picnic area.
The walk is 2.4km return, so allow 2 – 4 hours, depending on how long you stay. It took us 30 mins to walk each way, going fairly slowly.
The track is rough with bumps and steps, it’s not at all suitable for prams or wheelchairs.
There is a fairly steep scramble to get down to the pool itself, or rather to the rocks above it. We enjoyed sunbathing and eating our picnic on the rocks, as well as exploring up the river as well.
We watched other people jumping in and then has a good look at how deep the pool is. Then we leapt in ourselves joyfully, several times. You can get a good swim in too, the water is MOST refreshing.
My twins are older primary kids and found the walk easy and the swimming fun, just a bit scary.
Although we did see families with very young children walking in, you’d need to be confident kids are safe around water or a visit here could be just too stressful.
Please, please do not leave litter…. this is a fragile and beautiful place that deserves respect and care so that our kids and grandkids can enjoy it in the future as we can today.
More things to do in Dharawal National Park
Dharawal had had very little public access before being proclaimed a national park in 2012. There are waterfalls, extensive upland swamps, steep-sided sandstone gorges, waterholes and rock shelters, as well as the beautiful bush.
At 6,500 hectares, the park supports a huge range of birds and animals, superb plant life, and features tracks to walk or ride along with scenic spots to relax.
Key experiences of the park include the Jingga Walking Track and the 10T Management Trail. The Jingga Walking Track is a challenging 2.8km return, hard grade walk, leading to a waterhole along O’Hare’s Creek.
Find more things to do in Dharawal National Park on the NPWS website page, click here.
Find our extensive post about Top 20 Things To Do In Campbelltown and Macarthur With Kids here.
There are some great cafes mentioned too!
Check out all of the family-friendly walks around Sydney we have done on this post.
If you love swimming outdoors, you might like reading about other beaches and rock pools in Sydney here.
Thank you for sharing. This place looks Beautiful. I look forward to when our little people can enjoy these wonderful places.
Lovely spot… took my daughter in Feb, who’s about the same age as your daughter, and she really enjoyed. Was busier than I expected though – all the local kids know about this place!!
https://hikingtheworld.blog/2019/02/17/dharawal-jingga-pool-minerva-pool/
Beautiful place but now overrun with men swimming really sad for my people. Please respect our Women’s business.
On your map there is a green line which indicates private property and part of the 10T Management Trail in Dharawal National Park crosses this private property line. Please be advised that this section of the 10T Trail is no longer accessible.
Please alter your maps to reflect that access is no longer allowed.
Thank you
Jennifer Stafford
Thanks for this information Jennifer, I will pop over to the NPWS website to see what is current there.
Thank you for this review. We went yesterday on the long weekend with our 7 and 8 year old boys and they loved it, stopping along the way commenting on the flora and fauna, being amazed at the fungi and moss….so special to be able to walk through this land. It was a bit muddy in parts but nothing you couldn’t navigate around. Not many people on the track, but the ones we did see were mostly families and everyone was really friendly. No one swimming when we were there. An incredible place and it’s a privilege to be able to experience it. I’ve used your website a number of times now for things to do with the kids and it’s never let us down! Thank you for this resource, it’s fantastic.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Olivia. I am so glad that you and the family enjoyed the beautiful walk, it is a truly special place.