Gunns Plains State Reserve

The Gunns Plains State Reserve, approximately 30 kilometres south of Ulverstone in northwest Tasmania is a ten hectare area with the spectacular Gunns Plains Cave - one of the earliest cave reserves in Tasmania, being proclaimed a State Reserve in 1918.

The cave was discovered in 1906 by Bill Woodhouse during a hunting trip after, it is reputed, his dogs fell into a hole that formed part of the cave. It has been used as a show cave for most of the 20th century. It is renowned for its magnificent formations, including calcite shawls and flowstones, and has a glow-worm display.

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.