Atherton Tablelands Attractions Atherton Tablelands is a beautiful green plateau inland from the coast between Innisfail and Cairns, and west of Wooroonooran National Park.
Being up to 1000m high, it is much cooler than the coastal lowlands and you can visit many dairies, farms and wineries that have taken advantage of the cool weather.
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Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
How to Get to Atherton Tablelands It is best to drive around it by car, but if you haven't got one and are in Cairns, White Car Coaches have tours to the Tablelands. From the east coast, you can get to Atherton Tablelands either from Innisfail via Palmerston Highway, or from Cairns where you have two opportunities: the southern way via Gordonvale to Yungaburra, or the northern way via Kuranda to Mareeba and Atherton. Either way, the trip can be made in a loop and I will start in Kuranda in the northern end of the Atherton Tablelands.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Kuranda Markets Kuranda is a former hippie village inland from Cairns. Today it is a vibrant tourist town with the famous Kuranda Markets, Kuranda Wildlife Noctarium where you can see nocturnal animals, and Birdworld full of parrots (great photo opportunities, many bird photos on this website are from there).
But the most unique place to visit is the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, probably the best place in Australia to get close to Australian butterflies, including the large Ulysses and Cairns Birdwing. There are heaps of eateries, and you can stay at the Bottom Pub, or Kuranda Rainforest Park.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Mareeba Wetlands South-west of Kuranda and in the northern end of Atherton Tablelands is Mareeba - the centre of a rich farming area with tea, coffee, tobacco and macadamia nuts plantations, cattle stations, sugar cane farms and tropical fruit wineries. You can visit the Golden Pride Winery, Coffee Works and the Skybury Australian Coffee Centre for tours and tastings, or watch the cattle mustering at Cattle Saleyards. Mareeba’s main attraction is Mareeba Wetlands - a 12 sq km reserve which attracts numerous waterbirds including jabirus, but also some marsupials and some big reptiles. There are walking tracks and guided tours from the Visitors Centre. South-west of Mareeba is the Granite Gorge, where there is a camping ground and walking tracks, and rock wallabies are often seen here.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Petford and Dimbulah Inland from Mareeba there is an interesting side trip west of Atherton Tablelands that takes you to the outback. Only after a few hours drive you enter the empty desert with red soils and outback pubs with some funny characters. You pass small townships like Mutchilba and Dimbulah, then the smallest railway station I have ever seen in Petford; and a BYO (bring-your-own-alcohol) pub in Lappa, which is also an old museum with all sorts of memorabilia and a public bar with corrugated iron walls.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Chillagoe Further west along the Burke Developmental Road is the small township of Almaden (it’s not right on the road, there is a turnoff) and finally, Chillagoe in the middle of limestone country – the limestone was deposited by coral reef 400 million years ago when the area was the bottom of a tropical sea. There are limestone bluffs everywhere, one of the most famous ones is the Balancing Rock. Limestone often forms caves, and Chillagoe caves include Donna Cave, Royal Cave and Trezkinn Cave, which you can visit on guided tours to Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park. There is also the Chillagoe Heritage Museum, and the Old Smelters from Chillagoe’s mining past; and the tourist information centre is in the Hub. Some mining still happens here, and the town's two pubs get quite lively during the weekends. You can stay at the pubs, or in Chillagoe Tourist Village, Chillagoe Cabins, Chillagoe Creek Homestead or Chillagoe Bush Camp and Eco Lodge.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Atherton Back on the Atherton Tablelands, south of Mareeba is the township of Atherton – a farming centre with the Old Post Office Gallery, Railco Scenic Heritage Steam Railway, Hou Wang Chinese Temple, and Crystal Caves – a mineralogical museum in an artificial cave. You can stay at the Grand Hotel, Atherton Travellers Lodge, Woodlands Tourist Park or Atherton Blue Gum B&B.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Misty Mountains South of Atherton is the small township Herberton, where there is the Herberton Historical Village and the Railco Scenic Heritage Steam Railway. Here you can stay a the Australian Hotel, Wild River Caravan Park or Green Springs Holiday Farm. South of Herberton, in the southern end of Atherton Tablelands, is Ravenshoe, known for the largest Wind Farm in Australia. South of Ravenshoe you can visit Misty Mountains – a huge bushwalking area which is reached from Ravenshoe, Millaa Millaa and Palmerston Highway in north, and from Tully in east on the coast north of Townsville. There are 130km of long bushwalking tracks in Misty Mountains through some superb rainforest with more than 1000 species of rainforest trees and many endemic bird and mammal species. Rare mammals include coppery brushtail possums, lemuroid possums, striped possums and Herbert River Ringtail Possums. South from Ravenshoe, on the Tully Falls road there are numerous entrances to the tracks which take you to lookouts, waterfalls and pinnacle rock formations. Parts of the tracks follow traditional pathways of Aboriginal people, and there are camping sites in the bush, which you need to book with EPA. Back in Ravenshoe on the Atherton Tablelands, you can stay at Kool Moon Motel or Millstream Retreat.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Millaa Millaa North-east of Ravenshoe is Millaa Millaa, a small township in south-eastern Atherton Tablelands that got damaged in the Cyclone Larry in March 2006, despite being so far inland. Milaa Millaa is mostly known for the beautiful waterfalls that surround it – you can drive the Waterfalls Circuit where after visiting Millaa Millaa Falls, Zillie Falls, Ellinjaa Falls, Mungalli Falls, Millstream Falls, Souita Falls and Pepina Falls, even the keenest waterfall fanatics should be satisfied for the day!
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Bromfield Swamp North of Millaa Millaa is Malanda – you can visit its waterfalls in case you weren’t satisfied yet, but Malanda also has the old Majestic Theatre with the original canvas chairs. Bromfield Swamp west of the town has some good birdlife and the visitors centre runs rainforest walking tours. You can stay at Malanda Hotel (which also is the town’s pub), or Malanda Falls Caravan Park in case you can handle any more waterfalls by now. Outside the town are also Fairdale Farmstay, Platypus Forest Lodge and Fun’n’Feathers.
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Lake Barrine and Lake Eacham East of Yungaburra is the Crater Lakes National Park with two beautiful crater lakes – Lake Barrine and Lake Eacham. Both have some bushwalking tracks around them and next to Lake Barrine there are two huge 1000-years-old kauri pines. Lake Barrine Rainforest Cruise & Tea House serves meals and offers cruises on the lake. Lake Eacham is quieter and more beautiful, and has some good birdwatching and swimming spots. Camping is not allowed around either of the lakes, but you can stay at Lake Eacham Van Park, Chambers Wildlife Rainforest Lodge or Crater Lakes Rainforest Cottages.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Cathedral Fig Tree North from the Crater Lakes National Park is Atherton Tableland's another fig tree – Cathedral Fig Tree. The name fig tree is actaully a little misleading – it is really a fig that has killed a big tree and what you see hanging off it are the roots of the fig. A fig starts growing up the tree when a bird happens to drop a seed on a branch, and the fig then lives off the nutrients of the host tree, and grows its roots until they reach the ground. By the time they reach the ground the host tree is usually killed by lack of nutrients and the fig will use its trunk to lean on while now being able to get the nutrients from the forest ground.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Atherton Tablelands Attractions: Lake Tinaroo The Catherdral Fig Tree is on the Danbulla Forest Drive, which goes around Lake Tinaroo in north-eastern Atherton Tablelands, which is famous for its freshwater barramundi fishing but also a nice place to camp and relax. After the Cathedral Fig, there are volcanic craters at Mobo Creek and Lake Euramoo with a short walk around it.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Further along the drive are some camping grounds and bushwalking tracks with views before you come to Kauri Creek, Platypus Creek, Tinaroo Falls Dam and finally the township of Tinaroo Falls, where you can stay at Lake Tinaroo Holiday Park, Tinaroo Haven Holiday Lodge or Tropical Houseboats. From here, the Gilies Highway takes you across the mountain range back to the east coast to Gordonvale, north of which is Cairns.
Here is a map of Atherton Tablelands, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
