📍 Key Details:
🚗 Route:
On the way there: (3 hrs 27 mins)
Sydney CBD → Bowral (stop) → Taralga Wildlife Park (stop) → Wombeyan Caves
On the way home: (4 hrs)
Wombeyan Caves → Three Sisters (stop) → Sydney CBD
First Stop Bowral! or Goulburn
Located just over a 1.5 hrs from Sydney, Bowral is the perfect place to stop to get lunch and enjoy the serene small town vibes.
If you are a keen bean and want to keep driving before the first stop, Goulburn provides the same small town feel but is located a little over 2 hrs from Sydney.
Taralga Wildlife Park (Wombat Park)
Every once and a while this park makes its way into the news cycle with a lot of Australians split on the ethical considerations with this park. The main attraction (and most controversial) are of course the wombats. The ethical consideration lies on whether or not its okay to hold a wombat. Personally, I was split before making my way down to Taralga, however, I am glad that I visited (read why below!)
Everything you need to know about the park
📍 Location: Taralga Wildlife Park is a family-owned sanctuary in the scenic Southern Tablelands of NSW, about a 2.5-hour drive from Sydney.
🦁 Wildlife & Attractions:
- Home to many native Australian animals like kangaroos, quokkas, emus, dingoes and wombats.
- Hands-on feeding experiences with farm animals (goats, donkeys, many birds)
- Beautiful open enclosures offering a close-up wildlife experience.
- One of the only places in NSW that offers a “wombat experience” where you get to hold a wombat.
🕰️ Opening Hours:
- Hours vary however, when I visited: Everyday, 10 AM – 4 PM (Check their facebook page here for the most up to date hours).
🎟️ Entry Fees:
- Adults: $25
- Students: $20
- Kids: $15
- Family pass (2 Adults 2 Kids): $55
🍽️ Food & Facilities:
- On-site café with coffee and light meals (pies, pastries) ☕🍔
- Picnic areas available if you prefer to bring your own food 🧺
- Free parking and clean restroom facilities 🚻
🔎 Tips for Your Visit:
✅ Arrive early for the Wombat experience. I was advised to get there before 1pm latest!
✅ Bring a hat, sunscreen, and water—it can get hot! ☀️
✅ Cash & card accepted 💵💳
🚗 Getting There:
- Best accessed by car (limited public transport options).
- Located off the main road, with easy signage to follow.
My Experience
I think its safe to say that this place was more than I anticipated it to be. Overall, its a pretty big open area, with a lot of animals that I was not expecting. It’s relatively remote with not many shops nearby however, I was surprised by how busy this park got, especially with international tourists. It looked like a lot of people were doing day trips just to snag a photo with a wombat (fair enuf).
Now for the million dollar question, how is the “wombat experience”?. Honestly, it was exactly what it needs to be and you truly do get to pat and hold a wombat. On the day, there were two main wombats doing rounds. One was Wilma, a fully grown diva that was happy to munch on grass all day and take photos with people. What surprised me was that Wilma had complete control over her exposure time and after she had enough of the people she sprinted off like a raging bullet, back to her enclosure and instantly fell asleep. It was really cute and made me feel better about the treatment of the animals. Karl was the second wombat and just a baby. When asking the wombat keeper how they get the wombats she told me that all wombats are rescues and wouldn’t survive in the wild alone. Apparently, Karl’s mother was killed in a tragic car accident and they found him near-death on the side of the road 😢.
So… is it okay to visit this park and should they still run this “wombat experience”? Lets start with the cons, wombats are not domesticated and even though they are very docile by nature I don’t think they value human interaction. I also don’t know anything about the treatment of these little guys after the doors close. To be honest we don’t really know how they are treated when people aren’t there. For the pros, I think wombats are super cute and many people would want to hold one. Obviously you can never hold a wild wombat unless you have poop for brains but this park lets you hold more “docile” wombats in a controlled environment. It also creates a sense of care for these creatures that I think many people lack. With more people being exposed to their cuteness I believe that these people are more likely to be open-minded in the education of the problems they face in the wild. In conclusion, I think I tentatively approve of this park, and if you want to hold a wombat, hold one here and support this random family in Taralga!
Wombeyan Caves
Next Stop Cave Swimming!
Where do I even start… This is truly one of the most underrated spots I have ever been to. If you have already driven to Taralga, you might as well make the most of it and drive 30 more minutes to Wombeyan Caves!!!
📍 Location: Wombeyan Cave Tourist Centre
🕰️ Opening Hours: 9AM – 4PM
The location link above will take you to the Wombeyan Cave Tourist Centre which is right next to the hike into the cave swimming. Fun fact this is a natural limestone cave system and in Australia this is pretty rare! So you really feel like you are transported to another country.
Its also important to note that the gates will close at 4PM outside the tourists centre. Meaning make sure you park your car outside of the gate, if you plan to stay past 4.
The track you want to look for is Mares Forest Creek Track Walking Track and it should lead directly to the Tinted Caves (swimming area).
The hike in is beautiful and my biggest regret was not having enough time to explore all of the other cave systems. There are so many in the area! The water is very clean but be warned…its very cold 🥶.
Camping
There are two main campsites I will include.
Firstly, you can camp onsite at Wombeyan Caves. However, bookings are essential and when we got there, they were actually booked out! So make sure you book early. Bookings can be made here.
The Second campground is the one I actually ended up staying at. Its located a little bit West to Wombeyan Caves and is called Bummaroo Ford Campground. This campground was more basic compared to the Wombeyan Caves yet still required booking. However, its only $6 and bookings can be made here. I need to be honest, this wasn’t the best camping experience I had as although it is a beautiful campsite. It was during peak summer and I had hundreds of flying termites fly into my head torch and stove when I was trying to cook my home made tortillas 😫.
This is a small campground, but it wasn’t super busy when I went so its a great spot for a night under the stars!
The Loop Back to Sydney
One of my favourite parts of this itinerary is that you don’t backtrack! After spending time in the caves, take the scenic drive up to the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains has a very special place in my heart and I think there is just way too much to cover for just one blog so I’ll have to end this here. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and thank you for reading!
