Jebbs Pool is one of the most beautiful wild swimming spots in Lorne. The walk to get there is also gorgeous and for the most part very leisurely. The pool has several cascades and is surrounded by tall gum trees, making for a picture perfect setting.
It’s also a lovely spot to head for a picnic, with large rock shelves above the pool providing plenty of room to spread out a blanket.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Jebbs Pool.
The walk to Jebbs Pool
The stats
Distance: 2.9km return
Difficulty: Easy (flat)
Starting the trail
The walk begins at the Cumberland River Caravan Park and follows signs for the tourist walk. It is an absolutely spectacular start to the trail, taking you past the river which is backed by dramatic cliff walls.
Stopping anywhere along this stretch of river would be a great place to cool off, but the fact it’s beside the campsite means it doesn’t have that into the wilds feeling you get at Jebbs Pool.
You’ll walk along the path through the campsite for the first 400m before you hit the official bush track. From here the din of the campsite fades away and you enter in a glorious patch of bushland.
Along the river
The trail follows the river for the first 300m and it’s all completely flat and very leisurely. The forest is beautiful and it’s incredibly tranquil with the sound of the river providing a soothing soundtrack.
The dirt path holds up well after rain, which is lucky as there had been a lot of it prior to, and during our visit! Luckily it’s one of those areas where bad weather doesn’t detract too much, the mist on a wet day creates atmosphere, and seeing it rise above the gum trees felt like watching a nature documentary.
After 950m (from the car park) you’ll reach the river crossing, which is not challenging to cross.
There are plenty of rocks to act as stepping stones providing that the river level is not too high (goes without saying not to cross if it looks high and fast).
I found it easier to cross a few metres before where the trail leads you down to the water. At this point you only had to walk along half a log and then you hit a dense patch of rocks which didn’t really require any rock hopping to reach the other side.
The small log moves a little but if you know that in advance and tread lightly it won’t be a problem. If you’re hiking in river shoes you could just walk in the water and avoid the need for any rock hopping whatsoever.
Arriving at Jebbs Pool
The river crossing is particularly pretty as it’s beside another really tall cliff wall which makes for some good photo ops. Once you’re over to the other side you have less than 500m to go to reach the pool.
After an initial flat bit of bush track you’ll reach a short section of rocky path. It’s easy enough and only a little slippery when wet.
You’ll pass the rocky section and then head back onto a normal bush track for the remainder of the walk.
Even arriving at the base of Jebbs Pool on a really grey day, it was undeniably beautiful. The pool is large with several picturesque cascades and very clear water. Even if you’re not planning to swim, it’s a great place to have a picnic or just sit and soak up the atmosphere.
Swimming at Jebbs Pool
You can access the water in a couple of different places. The first bit of water you’ll come to is extremely shallow, but does involve walking over quite a few small slippery rocks.
I preferred to walk a little along the track to the right and enter the water slightly further up. You have a couple of long flat rock shelves in the water to slide over, but it felt easier than the small more slippery rocks.
The pool is a good size but much of the water is quite shallow. In fact I only found a couple of spots where I couldn’t touch the ground.
Despite this, you can definitely have a bit of a swim and the shallow nature of most of the pool also makes it good for kids.
You can walk up onto the rock shelf along the top of the pool from either side of the river. There’s a large space to sit and relax and also several cascades where you could go for a paddle.
After visiting Jebbs Pool you can either return the way you came, or extend the walk and carry on to Cumberland Falls, which is roughly the same distance again. The walk to the falls has several more fantastic swimming holes, but it is slightly more challenging than the walk to Jebbs Pool.
Getting to Jebbs Pool
The walk to Jebbs Pool begins at the Cumberland River Caravan Park. Unless you’re staying here you need to park in the visitors car park. You then follow the signpost for the tourist walk.
The caravan park is 8km and roughly a 12 minute drive from Lorne.
When we saw how great it looked we wished we were staying, so it’s worth checking out if you don’t already have accommodation - they have bungalows and some swish looking villas, as well as campsites.
You can check out the reviews and prices on Booking.com
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