Blue Mountains glow worm tunnel
Glow worms
Glow worms are the larvae of a small fly (fungal gnat). The larvae is bioluminescent, meaning the larvae can naturally produce light from an organ in their body.
The attractive light of the glow worm draws in insects such as midges, mosquitoes and flies for the purpose of capturing those insects in nearby mucus lined silk webs.
Attract, trap and eat!
The blue green glow of the larvae is created through a chemical reaction between an enzyme and chemicals in the larvae and oxygen.
The light is emitted through the transparent skin in the abdomens of the larvae.
The journey
The Blue Mountains glow worm tunnel takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to drive to from Mt Victoria, possibly longer depending upon your vehicle.
The road is bumpy and a four wheel drive will reduce the drive time. If you do the odd pullover to see things allow for up to 1hr 15 minutes.
On the way in you will drive through a one way tunnel – glad there were no cars heading the other way.
Once in the car park it takes around 15-20 minutes to walk to the tunnel entrance.
In the tunnel
We were initially greeted by pitch darkness and little signs of glow worms.
We stopped and waited and as our eyes adjusted we began to see a few small glowing dots.
As the number of people walking through the tunnel dropped off we began to see a lot more glow worms.
Both times I have been to the tunnel the best result has been achieved by quietly standing next to the wall and forgetting about time.
Turn your phone light or torch off and be quiet.
The melodic sound of water created a sense of peacefulness and we enjoyed our time in this strange world of darkness.
After being in the tunnel for around 15-20 minutes we headed back to the car park, glowing!
Returning
We left in the middle of the afternoon and were delighted to see two Australian wood ducks in the grass off the road and wallabies in the bush on three occasions. They took off fairly quickly so sorry no photos – next time.
The glow worm tunnel is definitely worth a visit and provides a nice contrast to many of the other spectacular features of the blue mountains. You will also see some nice stone pagodas on the way in.
pagodas near the glow worm tunnel
more sandstone formations
a one way road has to be navigated near the tunnel car park
leaving the tunnel
Australian wood ducks
thar she glows