I Found a Hidden Stone Building Near Leura Cascades… And Finally Worked Out What It Was

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:22]Just off the side of the road near Leura Cascades, there's a small stone building hidden in the bush and almost no one seems to know what it was.

[00:00:37]I passed this the first time without really thinking about it, but after coming back through here again and finding something else nearby, I started to feel there was more to it.

[00:00:51]There's barely anything written about it, so I came back early this morning to take a proper look and try to figure it out.

[00:01:13]Walking down through here early in the morning, >> [music] >> it's quiet in a way that doesn't last long.

[00:01:19]The trees are just starting to turn and the leaves are catching that first bit of light.

[00:01:23]And the further you go, the more the road disappears into it.

[00:01:34]Off to the side, the valley opens up.

[00:01:37]Clouds sitting across the Jamison Valley with the tops of the mountains just breaking through.

[00:01:42]It's one of those views people come up here for, and just down the road from here is Leura Cascades.

[00:01:51]On a previous walk through here, I noticed something off the side of the road and I didn't think much of it at the time, >> [music] >> but not far from here closer to the picnic area, I came across an old barbecue built into the side of the road and half hidden in the bush and it got me thinking about what I'd passed earlier. So I came back to take a proper look. I tried to find something kind of anything that would explain what it was, but there's barely anything out there.

[00:02:16]Just a brief mention in the management plan, but nothing that really tells you what it was used for.

[00:02:25]Standing across from it you can barely make it out. It's there, but it's buried blackberry, scrub and trees growing in around it.

[00:02:32]If you were driving past you wouldn't even notice it. Even walking you could miss it.

[00:02:48]Getting closer the shape starts to come through. Stone walls, [music] low, solid with what looks like openings across the front. A door, maybe a window, another opening further along.

[00:03:12]There's even an old light mounted above one of them, but from here it's hard to tell what it actually is.

[00:03:36]See an old door there too.

[00:03:40]So I got at the back of here and have a look.

[00:03:55]>> Around the back it drops away slightly.

[00:03:57]There's a small window just visible through the overgrowth and another one further along.

[00:04:10]So, as you can see there's a little window.

[00:04:13]I think there's one There's a couple down there. So, I kind of think this is an old amenities building for the old Lyre Cascades picnic area.

[00:04:25]Maybe a toilet block, changing block, I don't know.

[00:04:28]And standing here looking at it, trying to piece it together, it doesn't feel like a shelter. It's not open enough and not a substation either. Nothing fits that.

[00:04:37]But the layout, the windows, the way it's divided, it starts to suggest something else. Maybe an old amenities building, something tied to the picnic area nearby.

[00:04:52]There's one window where the glass is gone. Just enough [music] of an opening to get the camera through.

[00:05:05]And looking inside, that's when it becomes clear. A basin sitting in the corner, a partition and what looks like a door to a stall.

[00:05:13]At that point, there's not much doubt.

[00:05:17]This wasn't a random structure. It was a toilet block.

[00:05:23]Something built for people who used to come through here when this area was set up properly, maintained and used.

[00:05:36]>> [music] >> Not far from it down towards the old picnic area, [music] there's an old barbecue built into the side of the road, like old construction.

[00:06:00]Same feeling and together it starts to make [music] sense.

[00:06:25]This wasn't [music] just bush land. This was a place where people came to spend time.

[00:06:29]Families day trips stopping here using these facilities and slowly over time it was left all behind.

[00:06:49]Places like this don't really disappear.

[00:06:51]They just get quieter over time >> [music] >> and eventually even the things that guided people through here get left behind as well.