Gunns Plains State Reserve

Gunns Plain State Reserve is a picnic area and limestone cave near Ulverstone, north west Tasmania. The Reserve is a thirty minute drive south of Ulverstone (30 kilometres/19 miles).

Discovered in 1906 and declared in 1918, Gunns Plains State Reserve is one of Tasmania’s oldest cave reserves. It features 10-hectares/25-acres of forest, underground limestone caves, walks and a picnic area with a wood barbecue, picnic tables and shelter hut. There are toilet facilities here and a shop at nearby Gunns Plains sells food.

You can take a guided tour of the Gunns Plains Cave to see stunning limestone formations including calcite shawls and flowstones, and a resident colony of glow worms. The cave was formed by an underground river that still flows and contains freshwater crayfish, fish and eel. Platypus sleep and nest in the sandy banks along the river. The tour route through the cave is about 275 metres long and includes a steep flight of stairs.