Trial Bay Gaol

This is an excellent site for people who are looking for a taste of Australian history. Whilst being an aesthetically pleasing place to visit it holds a lot of information a out the prison itself - from when it was first created and used for and who even tried to escape.Right next to it is a fantastic beach and a park with rocks you can stand upon and watch the ocean and waves. Haves a fantastic mini-museum and a great gift shop! On top of all this you get a fantastic view from the lookout.Would highly recommend!

Trial Bay Gaol was full of interesting sights. There was so much to explore, and you can easily spend a good two hours here. There's a small entry fee ($10), but it's definitely worth the price.

We saw a plethora of wallabies, several pods of dolphins and a decent amount of colourful birds. The walk around the Gaol itself is not suited to young children. Unless you are reading the historical information and engaging in learning about past events, its quite boring so the children lost interest very fast. Us adults could've spend hours looking around but there was nothing to keep the kids entertained.

Excellent little slice of Australian History.Kids loved reading about the prisoners, and what the different buildings were used for. There is a very small entry fee, but it's worth the spend. The location is stunning now... but must have seemed like the end of the earth in the 1800's.Grounds were full of Grey Kangaroos, and we even glimpsed a tree snake sunning on the wall near the guards tower!

Beautiful area and good to see the history being preserved. Happy to pay the full price entrance fee to support the works. National parks are doing a great job here. Thumbs up!

Well worth the $11 entry fee. I really enjoyed my time there. So much to explore. Plus as an added bonus you get to see the kangaroos that live there and the lookout if South West Rocks just sensational. The staff were friendly. You can go into the cells, watch a 10min documentary, there’s a museum and much more. Full 1min versions of videos on my YouTube page.

If you like history then this is the place for you.As you walk around you will be captivated by what it would feel like to be a prisoner back in the day.Don’t forget to have a look in the little museum just as you go through the entry on your right.And take the short walk up the hill to where you will find the graves and an amazing view of the goal.

A very interesting and enigmatic place to visit. Awesome photo opportunities and an exquisite view up the coast from the car park. Great value at $11 per adult. BYO picnic lunch for food tho, they only sell ice creams and sparkling spring water at the reception

Very cool piece of history, along with great views of the surrounding ocean. There is not a huge amount of information available inside, but just enough to pique interest.

Nothing quite like learning about historic events and the world well before our time.Had no idea the English treated the Germans so poorly but I guess that’s the way the world was back then.There’s a small fee everyone must pay if you want to wander through Trial Bay Gaol and absorb the impressions of the people left behind in this place. Visitors can read through stories of prisoners and why they ended up in here and the daily sufferings of abuse victims had to endure for months and years as a consequence for their petty crimes which wasn’t petty back then. After all we are referring to 1885 where life was a lot harder and small crimes sometimes punishable by death.On a more positive note. Visitors get to see another part of Trial Bay Gaol. As you walk around to the rear from the entrance and climb a set of stairs. You’ll get to enjoy picturesque ocean scenery and wonder wildly and differently from what you’ve just learnt about life way back then.It’s obvious the workers of Trial Bay Gaol had it good. So glad to live in times where jails like this … merely exist. Society as a whole had become more open to kindness rather than cruelty and violence. But who knows what the world will become in 50 - 100 years from now. Places like this sure do make you wonder.