Hastings Caves and Thermal Springs

Newdegate Cave at Hastings is the largest dolomite cave open to visitors in Australia, formed in rock older than the limestone that hosts most Australian caves, and shown on guided tours through chambers of columns, flowstone and the unusual helictites that grow against gravity. It was found by timber workers in 1917 and opened to visitors in 1939. A few kilometres away, a thermal spring feeds a swimming pool at a constant twenty-eight degrees, warm enough to be comfortable in a region where outdoor swimming otherwise is not, set in a clearing of tree ferns with a short forest walk alongside. The site is the southernmost visitor attraction of its kind in Australia.

What you actually see

• Newdegate Cave - the largest dolomite tourist cave in Australia, on guided tours.
• The thermal pool - spring-fed water at a constant twenty-eight degrees.
• The fern walk - a short forest track from the pool area.
• The far south setting - forest country at the end of the Tasmanian road network.

When to go

Year-round; the cave holds a constant temperature and the pool is warm in any season, which makes winter visits appealing. Tours run to a daily schedule with fewer in winter. The last road section is gravel.

Honest expectations

Cave access is by guided tour only, with steps and low sections. The pool is a developed swimming pool rather than a natural spring bath. The site is a two-hour drive from Hobart, and services in the far south are limited.

Nearby

Dover and Southport lie on the coast; the Huon Valley is north.