Shothole Canyon was named after the shotholes left by the explosive charge fixed to set up miniature earthquakes for seismographic studies during the oil searches in the 1950’s.
The 12km unsealed road in is quite rough & rugged and recommended for vehicles with high clearance. I’d also recommend wearing enclosed shoes and taking water as there are quite a few stop offs you may like to get out and checkout.
This cache has been placed on an easily accessible low level lookout which is a short walk up from a picnic friendly parking area. It has been placed here to give caches a gorge experience from the bottom of a gorge as opposed to looking down into one. You are looking for a 900mL sistema container located under some rocks at the base of a shrub, which includes a log book, pen and some swappables. You are a little exposed when retrieving the cache so during the busy season, stealth mode is required.
Both the drive in and the view from the cache are arguably the most picturesque ravine in rugged Cape Range National Park!! This Canyon is basically the opposite of Charles Knife Canyon. This one you are down inside the canyon where the gravel road meanders along the gorge floor over 20+ dry creek beds (actually the same creek bed each time other than about two) looking up at the amazing sheer canyon walls where you get a close examination of the three vibrant colourful rock layers – Trealla, Tulki & Mandu Limestone. Pending when you see it, if between July – October you may be lucky enough to experience the canyon coming to life with greenery and a kaleidoscope of wildflowers, many that are unique to the area.
Be sure to takes some photographs and post them with your log to encourage others to venture out to this 19 year old cache!!