Atherton Tablelands

The Atherton Tablelands sit at six hundred to a thousand metres behind Cairns, a plateau built on old basalt flows that gives it rich red soil, dairy and crop farming and a climate several degrees cooler than the coastal strip. Volcanic activity left the crater lakes Eacham and Barrine, both deep, round and ringed by rainforest with walking tracks. The Curtain Fig, a strangler fig whose aerial roots fell as a curtain fifteen metres to the ground after its host tree toppled against another, is a short boardwalk from the road. Waterfalls, platypus viewing at Yungaburra, tree kangaroos, coffee and tea plantations and small towns fill the rest.

History

The tableland has a long history of Aboriginal occupation, the country of Yidinji and Dyirbal speakers among others. James Venture Mulligan, led by Aboriginal guides, explored the area in 1875 looking for gold and found tin, John Atherton settled with his cattle in 1879 near the town that bears his name, and Herberton was founded on 19 April 1880; a dray road brought timber cutters after the miners, for red cedar, kauri and other trees, and a large Chinese-Australian community worked the mines, forests and farms, growing some of the first maize in north Queensland and building the Hou Wang Temple (Wikipedia, Atherton Tableland).

What you'll find

• The crater lakes - Eacham and Barrine, deep volcanic lakes in rainforest.
• The Curtain Fig - a strangler fig with a fifteen-metre curtain of roots.
• The waterfalls - Millaa Millaa, Malanda and the Waterfall Circuit.
• The platypus - viewing points on Peterson Creek at Yungaburra.

When to go

April to October for the dry season and cooler days; the wet season from December to March brings heavy rain, though the falls are at their best then. Nights on the Tablelands are cool year-round, a relief after Cairns.

Before you go

Attractions are spread widely and a car is essential. The range roads up from the coast are winding and slow. Platypus viewing requires stillness at dawn or dusk and is never guaranteed. Rain can be persistent.

Nearby

Cairns lies east down the range; Chillagoe and the outback are west.

Key facts