There is a great deal of graffiti within the caves although very little is seen on cave tours. The graffiti dates from the 1800's. Whilst graffiti was not approved of then, a lot of visitors showed disregard for the caves and left their names and messages anyway. Much of the graffiti at Jenolan has been studied as it provides an interesting insight into the history of the area.

One of the interesting aspects of the graffiti is that visitors often wrote their name at the furthest point of their exploration as though to say "I made it this far!". Consequently, studying the graffiti and looking for dates gives an idea of how far into the caves people were venturing at different times. It lets us get an idea, for instance, when certain caves were discovered, especially if no other records were kept.

The earliest date found within the caves is believed to be 1838, which is the same year that is generally given that the caves were found in. The graffiti is in the Arch Cave which is not currently shown to the public. The date is written on some rough rock and the '3' is indistinct. Some people think it might be a "5" whilst others think it may be an "8". Much clearer graffiti occurs within the Elder Cave and this definitely dates from the 1850's.

A tour of the Elder Cave, for instance on the Plughole Tour, can be a fascinating tour of the history of Jenolan. Scattered throughout this cave are countless messages left over the years. You can still see quite clearly where the Whalans, the first family to properly explore the caves, left their names where they made new discoveries. Proving that cave exploration wasn't just a male dominated activity, the names of many women appear throughout the cave, especially those of the Webb girls from Bathurst.

For a long time it was cited that one of the original explorers of the Lucas Cave had been a person by the name of J Falls. It wasn't until the 1990's that it was found J Falls had left their name elsewhere, including in the Elder. The big discovery was that in the Elder they had left their full name - Jane. Studying graffiti can help to unlock some of the secrets of the past.

In the late 1800's it was found that a great quantity of graffiti had built up in the Grand Arch. It was ugly and the government felt action had to be taken. The keep of the caves, Jeremiah Wilson, took to the graffiti with buckets of paint and covered it up. Taking a walk around near the exit of the Chifley Cave will reveal many areas of orange paint which was that used to cover the graffiti.

These days graffiti is strongly discouraged. NSW takes cave conservation seriously and in fact it was back in 1872 that legislation was passed making it an offence to damage or deface the caves, hence anyone caught leaving graffiti at Jenolan is committing an offence. If visitors want to leave a message that they made it to Jenolan, they are encouraged to leave their name and message in the visitor's book rather than on the rocks.