Mount Fairy is a very nice little caving area on private property north of Bungendore. It features many passages the size of a wombat hole, which wombats also treat as ready-made homes — and resent the intrusion of cavers making a house-call. Mount Fairy was once mined for lime for the construction of Canberra, and several old mine drives intersect the cave passages, leaving some fascinating mining relics in the area.
Getting there
Drive to Bungendore and continue north until Mount Fairy Road, then turn right onto Sandhills Road after the railway crossing and follow it to the end. It’s about a 50 minute drive from ANU — probably NUCC’s closest caving area of any real size. The area is on private property, so permission must be arranged first.
Facilities
Usually a day trip, given how close it is to Canberra. There are no toilets and the parking area is fairly exposed, so bring a jumper and raincoat. It’s also an enjoyable, if rudimentary, place to camp — a patch of flat grass by a creek with no facilities of its own. Ask the landholders for permission to camp beforehand, and bring your own firewood.