Royal NP, NSW
7.5 km (2 hrs )
★★★☆☆

Having completed the Burning Palms trek earlier in the morning, I decided to revisit Palona Cave that I had explored a number of years earlier. This track begins at the intersection of Sir Bertram Stevens Drive and Lady Carrington Drive and follows the old road as it winds its way along Bola Creek and Hacking River. The magnificent rainforest is a delight to explore, with its tall trees, Cabbage Palms and ferns. A lucky mistake saw me turn off on to Wallamurra Track. A mistake in that this track did not lead to my destination of Palona Cave, but lucky in that I got to see some very nice scenery as I followed the Bola Creek to Bola Gully through some more magnificent rainforest.

I eventually made it to Palona Cave, a sandstone overhang from which a constant flow of water has formed some limestone stalactites and stalagmites. Very unusual to see this outside of limestone formations. Thankfully this time there were no leeches, which were very abundant at the time of my last visit! The walk through the rainforest was very nice, and can be extended to included the Forest Island Track on your return.