Cataract Dam
One of the oldest and most picturesque dams
DAM LEVEL
87%
CAPACITY
97GL
SIZE OF LAKE
8.5 KM2
Cataract Dam is one of the oldest and most picturesque dams in Sydney. The castle-like sandstone building on top of the wall and fanciful outlet tower evoke a sense of importance. At the time of its construction from 1902 to 1907, Cataract Dam was the biggest engineering project in Australia and the fourth biggest in the world.
Lookout points
Dam wall
Walk across the dam wall for impressive views of the lake upstream and gorge downstream.
Viewing area above the dam wall
A viewing area at the top of the steps above the dam wall provides magnificent views of the wall, lake and surrounding bushland.
HOURS - Entry is free
- 10am to 5pm daily
- 10am to 7pm on weekends and public holidays during DST
- No entry 15 mins before close
TOP SAFETY TIPS
- Carry a first aid kit
- Bring plenty of drinking water
- Keep your distance from the wildlife
- Check roads and weather forecasts
Learn more about safety at our sites.
REPORT A HAZARD OR INCIDENT
Please phone 1800 061 069
In an emergency call 000
We’re the people taking care of the state’s water at the source – capturing, storing, delivering. Learn more about WaterNSW.
Barbecues
Children’s Playground
Disabled toilets
Drinking water
Hot water
Parking
Picnic Shelters
Toilets
Viewing areas
Things to do
See the Manor house
Cataract Dam is unique in retaining a set of handsome cottages which date from the dam's construction, built with 'ashlar' (precisely cut) sandstone quarried on site. The official quarters is a particularly fine example of a Federation Queen Anne bungalow, with matching outbuildings and landscaped gardens surrounded by a castle-like sandstone fence. When built, the house contained a board room, offices, four bedrooms and a kitchen.
Make a grand entrance!
From The Manor - dramatically set on a cableway platform used in the dam's construction - walk down a drive flanked by an avenue of phoenix palms and jacarandas towards the dam wall. At the top of a flight of steps, experience a magnificent view of the dam wall directly ahead, with its unique valve house set against the backdrop of the lake's densely wooded shores. You'll feel like a king or queen making a grand entrance!
Walk across the dam wall
Walk down the steps and across the dam wall for magnificent views of the lake and Keele Island upstream, and of the deep Cataract Gorge downstream. If you walk the full 247 metres to the other end, you'll glimpse the dam's spillway. When the lake is full, the wall feels much higher than its 56 metres. Look out across the lake, then cross to the other side and look down into the gorge. You might be lucky and see giant plumes of water being released from the outlets below.
Be photographed next to a castle!
Near the centre of the dam wall stands the valve house, finished in weathered sandstone. Its Tudor style features a slate hipped roof with ridgecap finials and with parapet gable ends on the north and south sides and arched parapets on the east and west sides. It's a great place for photos. Your friends might even think you've visited a castle!
Relax with a picnic
Throw down a rug and enjoy a picnic with family and friends in the landscaped grounds. Look out for reminders of the dam's glory days as a picnic spot in the 1920s and 1930s, when Upper Nepean dams competed for the most beautiful gardens. Remnants of ornamental gardens, grotto shelters, decorative walls and ferneries are scattered throughout the upper picnic area, and near the dam wall is a concrete faux-log bridge. Modern facilities include electric barbecues, drinking water, picnic tables, a children's playground and toilets.
Map and directions
Cataract Dam is about 84 kilometres drive from Sydney, off the Appin-Bulli Road. From Sydney take the Hume Highway (M31) south to the Campbelltown exit and follow the Appin Road south. At Appin, take the Bulli-Wollongong Road, and turn right to Cataract Dam where signposted.
No smoking within 10 metres of children's playgrounds and four metres of shelters, toilets and public buildings
No wood fires. This includes charcoal or solid fuel barbecues. Penalties of up to $5,500 apply.
No access allowed to restricted and Special Areas
Keep to vehicle speed limits and be aware of pedestrians
No model aircraft or drones
No dogs, horses or other pets
No portable gas barbecues during total fire bans
No fishing, boating or swimming
No camping
Facts and History
Located about 84 kilometres south of Sydney, Cataract was the first of the four dams constructed to collect water from the Illawarra Plateau. Created by damming the Cataract River, construction started in 1902 and was completed in 1907.
Find out more
CATARACT DAM
Facts and History
Located about 84 kilometres south of Sydney, Cataract was the first of the four dams constructed to collect water from the Illawarra Plateau. Created by damming the Cataract River, construction started in 1902 and was completed in 1907.
Together with Cordeaux Dam, Cataract's main role today is to supply water to Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly council areas via the Macarthur water filtration plant.
Together, the Nepean, Avon, Cataract and Cordeaux dams also provide an additional supply of water for Sydney, via Pheasants Nest Weir, Broughtons Pass Weir and the Upper Canal.
Why the dam was built
The Upper Nepean catchment south of Sydney is in one of the highest rainfall zones on the mid-NSW coast, and the area's rivers, located in narrow gorges, provide ideal dam sites.
As early as 1888, two weirs were built on the Cataract and Nepean rivers to capture this rainfall as part of the Upper Nepean Scheme to help meet Sydney's growing needs. Tunnels, canals and aqueducts - known as the Upper Canal - diverted the water 64 kilometres to Prospect Reservoir.
The scheme provided only temporary relief, and the 1901 - 1902 drought brought Sydney perilously close to a complete water famine. After two Royal Commissions, authorities agreed that a dam be built on the Cataract River. The successive building of Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean dams between 1907 and 1935 greatly increased the Upper Nepean Scheme's capacity.
How the dam was built
Cataract Dam is located on the Cataract River, a tributary of the Nepean River, just below the junction with the Loddon River. Construction started in 1902 and by June 1903, much of the area to be submerged had already been cleared of timber.
Cataract Dam is a straight dam with an unlined side spillway to the left of the dam wall. For the first time in Australia, pre-cast moulded concrete blocks were used to build the upstream face of the dam. They were hauled to the site from an open factory on the banks of the Loddon River.
Cement and other supplies were delivered to the site by steam tractors hauling trailer trains over rough roads from Campbelltown, 16 kilometres away.
Cottages for men with families, and barracks for single men, were built to house workers for each of the new dams on the Upper Nepean and at Woronora. The towns had a school, amusement hall, medical clinic and ambulance. As each dam was completed between 1907 and 1941, much of the town was dismantled and moved to the next dam site, along with most of the workforce.
Completed in 1907, when Cataract filled to capacity for the first time in January 1911, it soon became clear that the spillway needed to be widened to prevent any risk of floodwater overtopping the dam wall. This work was completed in 1915.
Later improvements
Cataract Dam was strengthened by installing post-tensioned anchors in 1987, to meet modern dam safety standards. This was the first time that post-tensioned cables were used to strengthen a dam, after trials were successfully undertaken on Manly Dam.
WaterNSW acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which we work and pay our respects to all elders past, present and emerging. Learn more