Just 20 minutes south of Margaret River, Lake Cave greets visitors with one of the most striking entrances of all Western Australian show caves. Hidden at the bottom of a vast circular crater, or doline, the cave takes its name from the tranquil underground lake, fed by a stream flowing through its depths.
She shared her discovery with her family, but it wasn’t until about 30 years later that her brother John Bussell, along with Tim Connelly and others, returned to explore the cave.
Lowering themselves 15 metres down the steep limestone wall of the doline, they found a narrow passage leading deeper into the cave.
To explore further, Connelly waded through the cool, dark waters of the lake, relying only on simple hand lamps to guide the way. Lake Cave opened to the public in 1901, with a wooden staircase built to help visitors descend into the doline and an earthen pathway laid down the centre of the cave for easy access.
Lake Cave plunges 62 metres into the earth, revealing a stunning 82-metre-long chamber shaped by ancient collapse and time.
The doline itself was once an expansive underground cavern, but a collapse left behind the deep hollow we see today, with a sloping floor that leads to a small entrance into the cave.
Over the years, Lake Cave has experienced its share of dramatic flooding. In 1924, after bushfires ravaged the surrounding land, torrential rain caused the doline to flood, with water pouring in from the surrounding landscape.
The extreme saturation led to a rock and soil subsidence that blocked the stream passage. It took seven to eight months of work to dig a tunnel and release the floodwater.
A similar flood occurred in 1941, but thanks to the earlier improvements, the water cleared in just a few days.
Among the most striking formations in Lake Cave are delicate straws—thin, hollow stalactites that dangle like tiny drinking straws from the cave ceiling.
Some of these straws have evolved into thicker stalactites, as their centres became blocked, forcing the water to run down the outer surface, adding layers of calcite. The cave also boasts impressive stalagmites, which grow upwards from the cave floor as solution droplets fall from above. When stalactites and stalagmites meet, they form majestic columns.
The cave is home to other fascinating speleothems, including shawls —wavy, sheet-like calcite formations that hang from the ceilings and walls—and the bizarre worm-like helictites, which twist and curl in impossible ways. These strange formations grow in all directions, thanks to the pressure and surface tension in their tiny capillary canals.
One of Lake Cave’s most breathtaking features is the Suspended Table, a rare and remarkable formation.
Two columns rise from the cave floor, supporting a thin sheet of flowstone just inches above the stream below.
Flowstone forms when mineral-rich water seeps from the cave walls or flows over a gently sloping floor, gradually depositing sheets of calcite across a wide area. It’s a delicate, suspended wonder that seems to defy gravity itself.
