Red Hands Cave

Blue Mountains National Park near Glenbrook

Hand stencils in Red Hands Cave, Glenbrook

Red Hands Cave and its unique stencil gallery were discovered in 1913 by a local party looking for a lost child.

The site protects a gallery of Aboriginal hand prints and stencils that date back 500 to 1600 years. The local Daruk people created the prints and stencils using naturally occurring red ochres from Campfire Creek beside the cave.

To produce hand stencils artists placed their hand against the cave wall, filled their mouths with ochre and sprayed the ochre over their hands, leaving a "shadow" on the wall. For hand prints they dipped hands in the ochre and pressed them against the wall, leaving a "solid" print.

Along the walking tracks around the cave grinding grooves for sharpening stone axes are still visible today.

Since its discovery Red Hands Cave has been exposed to vandalism. By 1934, just two decades after Europeans first laid eyes on its unique rock art, the cave was ruined by vandalism of visitors writing their initials with charcoal over the original drawings.

Today the cave itself is heavily protected through a cage with a Perspex viewing window to shield this Iirreplaceable part of Australia's cultural heritage from damage.

Funding by the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife helped provide this protection for the unique Red Hands Cave.

The site is accessible via a 6km “medium difficulty” walk from Glenbrook Visitor Centre or by car.

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