Princess Margaret Rose Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Princess Margaret Rose Caves Road, Mumbannar, VIC, 3304. At the south-western corner of Victoria, 447 km west of Melbourne and 2 km inside the state boundary. Within the Lower Glenelg National Park. Sealed road from Mount Gambier (34 km). From Nelson Nelson-Mount Gambier Rd to the border, then signposted right good unsealed road, 12 km to the caves. From Nelson also 3.5-hour river cruises through Glenelg River Gorge to the cave. (-37.9891787, 140.9900365)
Open:	Victorian and South Australian School Holidays daily 10-16:30. [2026]
Fee:	Adults AUD 22, Children (0-15) AUD 15, Australian Concession Card AUD 19, Families (2+3) AUD 48. [2026]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	LED
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=40 min, St=65. V=10,000/a [2000]
Photography:
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Princess Margaret, Princess Margaret Rose Caves Road, Mumbannar, VIC, 3304, Tel: +61-87-38-4171.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1936	discovered by Keith McEarchern on his ground. First exploration and start of development.
1941	opened to the public.
End 2026	construction works planned to be completed.

Description

Glenelg River flows 470 km from its source in the Grampians to the estuary at Nelson. The last 15 km part of its path is the approximately 50 m deep Glenelg River Gorge. The area around Glenelg River is composed of limestone, a karst area drained by the river. Princess Margaret Rose Cave is one of numerous caves in this area, formed when the river flowed 15 m above its present height. It is a beautiful stream-passage cave with nice speleothems. It was discovered, explored and developed by Keith McEarchern, the owner of this land. He first entered the cave down a 17.5 metre deep shaft, he discovered on his ground.

The cave was named in honour of Princess Margaret (*1930-✝2002), the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. However, before it was simply Rose Cave and many still call it under that name. This cave is said to be "most beautifully decorated cave" in Australia, a superlative which depends obviously on the personal opinion of you. It is definitely quite nice and has numerous speleothems. To emphasize on this, it was named Jewel in the Crown and Underground Wonderland.

The cave is currently [2026] closed for assessments and upgrade works, whatever that means. It seems the cave is a part of the Victoria’s Great Outdoors (VGO) program. The cave light was replaced by a new one, the trails were improved, new handrails installed, and the stone archway into the cave was made safer. The visitor centre was also renovated and the technical infrastructure improved. Work is continuing upgrading the toilets and the wastewater system, which is of great environmental importance and quite difficult. However, it is open for visitation during the Victorian and South Australian School Holidays. But while some parts are already renovated some others will not be accessible.

The present entrance was dug through the soft limestone, the original entrance which is incredible steep is still visible with knotches in the sides of the cave where the timbers for the stairs were located. The tour goes as far as the final, but unsuccessful dig. If the group is small enough the guide will take you down a small passage close to the speleothems. The original guide used to play the spoons on the stals, which suffered accordingly. Large scallops on the walls and large suspended flowstones are a feature of this beautiful cave.

Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.