Millstream Falls National Park
- Introduction
- Fact file
Introduction
Part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, the centrepiece of Millstream Falls National Park in the Atherton Tableland is Millstream Falls, reputedly the widest single-drop waterfall in Australia. For over 3 million years, up until 20 000 years ago, this area was subjected to numerous volcanic eruptions, with extensive lava flows. The picturesque falls, on a tributary of the Herbert River, actually plummet over the edge of a columnar basalt lava flow. At Little Millstream Falls, around 2 kilometres to the south, the water threads its way around rocky outcrops to drop in separate water flows into the large deep pool below, a refuge for platypus.The park lies in a rain shadow area, which prevents the growth of rainforest species, and the vegetation is dominated by attractive eucalypt woodlands of stringybark, bloodwood and ironbark, and bottlebrush rim the river. Forest birds and parrots are numerous, along with the olive-backed oriole, black-breasted buzzard and various honeyeater species, such as white-throated, white-naped, white-cheeked and fuscous honeyeaters. This park is for day-use only, providing a scenic spot for picnicking, and exploring the falls and rock pools along the Millstream River. Swimming is possible but do not dive into rock pools and always test the water depth. The park was the site of an army camp during World War II and old campsites are a legacy of this period. From the carpark, Millstream Falls Track (1 km return, 20 minutes, easy) is a pleasant walk through eucalypt forest, with a short path leading down to the base of the falls. The walk to Little Millstream Falls also takes about 20 minutes return.
Fact file
Camping
No camping
Location and access
1718 km north-west of Brisbane; 147 km south-west of Cairns; 3 km south-west of Ravenshoe via Mt Garnet Rd
Park Information
NQIS (07) 3227 8185QPWS Yungaburra (07) 4095 3768
Size
372 ha
Where to Stay
Eacham (07) 4091 4222
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