Wombeyan Caves Road is a

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

country road linking

Mittagong Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is situated at an elevation of . The town ...

near

Hume Highway Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route ...

in the east to

Goulburn-Oberon Road Goulburn-Oberon Road is a New South Wales country road linking Goulburn near Hume Highway to Oberon. This name is not widely known to most drivers, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the names of its constituent parts: Taralga R ...

at the locality of Richlands in the west.

Route

At its eastern end, the road starts at Old Hume Highway just west of Mittagong. Access from the north of Mittagong is via Mittagong, while access from the south is via the half interchange at the southern end of the Mittagong Bypass section of Hume Highway. It passes through farmland and the locality of High Range as a sealed road. Further west, it changes to unsealed and continues through farmland before entering the

Wombeyan Caves The Wombeyan Caves are caves that have formed in marble, in the Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve, New South Wales, Australia. Wombeyan Caves is a tourist attraction and local holiday area, as well as a reserve for endangered species, such as ...

area. The road conditions deteriorate substantially as the road goes further west until it reaches the main Wombeyan Caves reserve camping area. West of the camping area, the road is sealed as it climbs a tight, winding section up the mountain side. At the top of that hill, the road reverts to unsealed but is wider and straighter. Close to its western end, the road is a reasonable standard sealed road. This road has no major intersections. Wombeyan Caves Road goes through the following settlements, from east to west: Mittagong, High Range, Wombeyan Caves and Richlands. The road is allocated Tourist Route 13, from its western end at Richlands to the turn-off to Wombeyan Caves.

History

The road passes through a historical single lane tunnel carved through the sandstone ridge in a forest area part way through the farmland section. The tunnel is around 22 m long at ground level, but has a sandstone outcrop extending several metres further at its western end. In August 1899 the local newspaper, ''Goulburn Evening Penny Post'', described the progress of "work of tunnelling through the sandstone ridge at the gullies near Bullio is being rapidly pushed on by a gang of experienced men, who are using ratchet drills and other improved appliances, so that this portion of the work will be completed in about six weeks". In late January 1900 the new road was opened, J. H. Young (ex-Minister of Works) proposed that " tshould be named the Duprez-road in honor of a worthy citizen-who had worked hard to secure it-Mr. A. P. Duprez, of Bowral". A plaque at the eastern end of the tunnel states:

''"This tunnel was completed during 1899 as part of a new tourist road linking the southern highlands to Wombeyan Caves. Officially opened on 29 January 1900, the road was originally named Duprez Road in honour of Adolphe Prosper Duprez of Bowral who was the driving force behind its construction."''

Road classification

The passing of the ''Main Roads Act of 1924'' through the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...

). Main Road No. 258 was declared along this road on 8 August 1928, from the intersection with

near Mittagong via Wombeyan Caves to Oberon-Taralga Road (today

) to Richlands. The passing of the ''Roads Act of 1993'' updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Wombeyan Caves Road today retains its declaration as Main Road 258, from Mittagong to Richlands.

Road conditions

Due to the extremely poor condition of the road for several kilometres east of the Wombeyan Caves camping area, it is strongly recommended to access the caves reserve from the Goulburn-Oberon Road. Regardless of the impression that might be given by road maps, the road should not be considered to be a through road unless you are in a 4WD or have a lot of time. The

and

via

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

are a better option if you are not aiming to get to somewhere between the Wombeyan Caves camping area and the sandstone tunnel west of High Range. However, if one takes their time a normal family car can do the trip but care must be taken on bends. Please check on the status of the road before driving it as the portion down to and up from the

Wollondilly River The Wollondilly River, an Australian perennial river that is part of the HawkesburyNepean catchment, is located in the Southern Tablelands and Southern Highlands regions of New South Wales. The river meanders from its western slopes near Crook ...

can often become extremely rutted and washed out, blocked by large fallen boulders or eroded so badly it becomes unpassable and is closed. On 30 January 2015 the local council had closed the road to all traffic between Goodmans Ford (where the road crosses the Wollondilly River) and Langs Road due to significant parts of the road having been washed away down the cliff. As of 13 November 2015, Wombeyan Caves Road has reopened after months of repairs to the damaged section of road approximately 11 kilometers west of the Goodman's Ford crossing. However motorists should still exercise caution as the road is largely unsealed and some sections are still very rough.

Gallery

Wombeyan Caves Road tunnel from east.JPG, Sandstone tunnel on Wombeyan Caves Road, viewed from eastern side Wombeyan Caves Road tunnel plaque.JPG, Plaque at end of tunnel on Wombeyan Caves Road

References