Glow Worm Tunnel

The road to the Glow Worm Tunnel starts from the Great Western Highway. If you follow the M4 and then the Great Western Highway towards Blue Mountains, you will reach a turn-off to the right to the famous Zig Zag railway shortly after Katoomba. We took a short stop at the Zig Zag railway and had a look around the station where an old steam train is operated through the Zig Zag railway. Upon inspecting the time table, we decided to take a ride down the mountain on the steam train. The Zig Zag railway consists of three legs of straight railways which are connected by two turning points. It takes about one and a half hours for a return trip and for those into steam trains, it's a must. Besides, you get to enjoy a great view on the way down and up.


Road to the Glow Worm TunnelContinuing our trip from the Zig Zag railway car park towards a timber mill into the forest, we drove on unsealed road for quite some time. You can virtually follow well marked sign post to the Glow Worm Tunnel. Along the way you pass a couple of great picnic sites and camping sites which are especially popular during weekends due to their accessibility by 2wd cars. Incidently, the whole track to the tunnel can be tackled in a normal 2wd cars.

Near the end of the road, you will pass through a short tunnel before coming to a car park. Upon arrival at the car park which is as far as you can drive, you see a sign indicaitng direction to the Glow Worm Tunnel. Here, you have to put on a pair of good walking shoes and carry a good torch to the tunnel. 

Car park
Car park, you will have to walk from here to the tunnel

Sign post
The sign at the beginning of the walk

Walking information

After walking for about 30 to 40 minutes, you reach the entrance to the tunnel. The tunnel itself is a disused mining tunnel, so it is wide enough for a car albeit the access is impossible now. The entrance is somewhat hidden by heavily grown vegetation but you will see the sign and should be able to pass through the vegetation to get into the tunnel. The tunnel does not have any artificial lighting, so it is pitch dark inside the tunnel after walking into the tunnel for about 50 m or so. You can actually walk through the tunnel and get out of the tunnel on the other side and reach a town if you feel really adventurous. You can enlarge the above image and have a look at the map for more details.

Glow Worm TunnelGlow worms can be seen when the tunnel starts to become dark. They are mainly on the ceiling of the tunnel and do not seem to move. There seem to be more of them the deeper you go in to the tunnel and if you turn off torch, it's like countless stars on the sky...... You can enjoy the view ... until you get frightened of the dark... You can't even see a thing right in front of you. You will appreciate the good torch with a plenty of light power, which you would have brought with you.

It was in the middle of January in summer, so it was a sweating workout to get to the tunnel, but the walk was rewarded by cool air in the tunnel. It is like air conditioned room.

The way back to the car park seemed shorter and quicker than the way to the tunnel as it is the case with any other trip. I think it is a nice and easy bush walk which can be enjoyed by anyone. For those serious adventurers, walking right through the tunnel would be an interesting expedition. Just prepare adquately.


On the way back
The short tunnel before the car park



Written by Dennis  Park
19 February 1998