Crystal Pool is a glorious wild swimming hole in Royal National Park which despite its beauty, still flies under the radar. The pool is fed by a picturesque cascade and surrounded by dense bushland, it’s like a little patch of paradise. As the walk to get here is really short, it’s the perfect spot to come on a hot day.
The trail is not signposted and it’s a little overgrown, but overall it’s fairly flat and easy.
Here’s how to get to Crystal Pool and what to expect when you do.
Visiting Crystal Pool
Where to park to access the trail
The trail doesn’t have a car park so you’ll need to use one of the few lay-bys which are close to it. There are very limited spots and if they are full we’d recommend checking out one of the other nearby pools and returning another day. Crystal Pool is small and it’s the sort of spot where if there’s more than one other car there, you’re not going to experience it at its best.
Happily it’s not well known so we’ve actually never had an issue with spots being full and hopefully neither will you.
The trailhead lies off Sir Bertram Drive in Royal National Park, roughly 8km from the boatshed. The coordinates for one of the lay-bys are -34.1174061, 151.0696500 (or click here for Google Maps) and you’ll need to walk down the road (in the opposite direction to Audley) for a couple of seconds until you see the metal gate.
The lay-bys are on the western side of Sir Bertrams Stevens Drive, so if you’re driving from Audley, you will need to turn around at Bundeena Drive to approach the lay-bys from a direction where you can simply pull off the road to park.
The walk to Crystal Pool
The stats
Distance: 550m each way
Elevation gained: Flat
Difficulty: Easy
The trail
Walk around the gate and down the obvious grassy path. It heads very gently downhill and soon turns into a sandy trail. After rain it can get a little muddy along a very short section of track, but otherwise it’s all very easy going.
After 270m the wide path ends and you’ll bear slightly left onto a narrow bush track.
This is where the track gets a little overgrown, but it’s only another 280m to the pool.
It’s mainly flat, but it does have encroaching bushes and some logs and tree branches which have fallen over the trail.
You’ll have to duck beneath fallen trees a couple of times, but despite that it’s not hard to follow, or challenging.
You’ll pass a cascade on your right after 30m (if it’s been raining anyway!) and keep heading straight on to reach the pool.
Roughly 550m after the metal gate you’ll arrive at a large overhang and the beautiful Crystal Pool.
Swimming at Crystal Pool
Crystal Pool is an amazing spot to swim. It might be fairly small but it’s deep and largely obstacle free, so you can swim almost all the way up and down without worrying about crashing into rocks.
The water is absolutely gorgeous, both emerald green and crystal clear at the same time - a bit like the nearby Karloo Pools and Curracurrang Falls.
The small cascade adds to the magic and the rocks give it a sense of seclusion. It really is a glorious spot and off the beaten track enough that it’s unlikely you’ll have to share.
There is plenty of space above the pool to bring a blanket and a book and there are few lovelier places to while away an afternoon.
The overhang provides a bit of shade, or shelter from the rain if needed, although sadly there is a little graffiti which mars an otherwise pristine spot.
Please always take all rubbish with you and leave the place exactly as you found it for others to enjoy after you.
We saw on the map there was a another larger pool further along the trail, but it’s quite overgrown so we haven’t yet put in the effort to find it - Crystal Pool is a pretty hard spot to leave!
Royal National Park entry fee
You’ll have to pay the $12 daily vehicle entry fee unless you have an NSW Parks Pass. The parks pass is better value if you plan on visiting any of the NSW national parks (except for Kosciuszko which is not covered by the pass) more than six times in a year.
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