Mermaids Pool is this gorgeous wild waterhole not too far from Sydney where you can jump into the water and climb your way up next to a waterfall. A scenic and fantastic nature escape from the city!
How to get to Mermaids Pool?
From Sydney, the easiest is to drive and to park your car right next to the Rockford bridge. It's about 1.5-2h drive from Sydney and you could decide to do this hike on your way to Bowral or Mittagong for a weekend getaway.
You'll need to exit the Hume Motorway near Bargo and drive toward Rockford Bridge. Once on Arina Road, turn left onto Charlies Point Road and then right on a dirt road. It is fairly well indicated, just look for the signs pointing to "Potholes Reserve".
Where is the starting point of the Mermaids Pool trail?
Once parked, head to the bridge and walk underneath. You'll soon see 2 options to get to Mermaids Pool: either hard or easy. I am not sure how easy is the easy way as we took the hard way but the hard way was frankly very manageable for any average hiker, so unless you have some injuries or difficulty walking I would recommend the hard way.
From the bridge you follow an obvious trail which after a couple of minutes splits in two, with the right way heading to "MAPS". This refers to a little red box a few meters further down the track with a very well made map of the area and the two trails. Worth checking if you are unsure where you are going or what to expect.
From the MAPS point you head back towards the water and roughly follow the stream for 35-40min until you reach See-Thru Pool.
See Thru Pool
See Thru Pool is an absolute delight and a great place to stop for a dip before or after Mermaids pool if you are hiking in the warm months.
From See Thru Pool keep walking for another 15min or so and you then reach the gorgeous Mermaids pool and waterfall.
Mermaids Pool
I highly recommend spending some time there and it's worth bringing a little snack or picnic as you can easily find some shade or shelter along the sides of the gorge.
The view from the top is stunning especially on a sunny day, and the water is oh so inviting.
The best way to get in the water is actually to cliff jump into it. There are several popular marked spots to do so, ranging from 9.5m to 15m, or even 18m if you are a daredevil and know what you are doing. The maximum I ever jumped from at Mermaids Pool was 12m which is already quite a bit of air time!
Once in the water, enjoy! Explore the surroundings, get to see the waterfall up close and take your time.
How do you get out of Mermaids Pool?
Back in December 2018, the only way up was with an old rope over the slippery rock which has granted quite a few people some good scratches and even injuries, but they recently installed a ladder and during my last visit in June 2023, the way up via the ladder felt much more luxurious than this old rope who had seen better days!
Little Mermaids Pond
I noticed on the map there is an option to continue and head to Little Mermaids Pond however I never managed to explore that part so can't vouch for how easy/hard/pretty it is or how exactly to get there. But let me know if you do go, I'd love to hear about it!
The Nitty Gritty
Distance: 4.9km return
Time: count 45min - 1h each way
Insider tips: heaps of water in Summer as it can get very hot in the gorge, and maybe a picnic if you have time for a half or even full day there. Plenty of shade near Mermaids Pool for a picnic spot.
Parking: Free parking here
Housekeeping: no toilets along the way so make sure you follow Leave No Trace principles if nature calls.
Comments