BEST Atherton Tablelands Waterfall Road Trip 2025

Planning a trip to see the Atherton Tablelands waterfalls? Whether you’re heading out for a day trip from Townsville or Cairns or adding it to your Queensland road trip, this region is well worth a visit.

We spent a couple of weeks exploring the area, and in this guide, we’ll show you the best waterfalls, where to find them, and what else to do nearby.

Ready to explore? Let’s get into the best Atherton Tablelands waterfalls – plus tips on where to stay, what to bring, and a few lesser-known spots you won’t want to miss.

Atherton Tablelands Waterfalls Circuit

The Atherton Tablelands was our first taste of Tropical North Queensland. It’s the starting point for the ‘Wet Tropics’ and a UNESCO World Heritage site that links to the Far North’s Daintree Rainforest.

If there’s anything we love more than road trips, it’s a road trip that includes waterfalls, so the Atherton Tablelands waterfall circuit was perfect and broke up our trip along the coast nicely.

If you’re planning on doing a road trip to see the Atherton Tablelands waterfalls, here’s how we did it including which were our favourites and which of them is a true hidden gem.

We started this waterfall circuit from Innisfail, but it can also be done in reverse from Cairns.

Wallaman Falls

At 286m tall, Wallaman Falls is Australia’s tallest single-drop waterfall, its pool is over 20m deep and the whole area of Girringun National Park is hugely important to The Warrgamaygan people, who are connected to it both historically and spiritually.

We were nearing the end of the dry season when we visited Wallaman Falls so it wasn’t at its best, but it certainly wasn’t disappointing.

2 large viewing platforms have been built as well as several walking tracks that give visitors an opportunity to walk down into the gorge.

Had Wallaman Falls been in full flow, we may have been tempted to take the long walk down and swim in its plunge pool but with plenty of others to see over the next few days, we chose not to.

If you do want to do the walk though, it begins next to the car park and is a 3.2km return – down on the way there, up on the way back.

How To Get To Wallaman Falls

Wallaman Falls is roughly 50 km inland from Ingham and was the first fall we visited during our Atherton Tablelands waterfall road trip.

This means driving to Wallaman Falls will take you slightly away from the main route to Atherton.

This was something I was cautious about first because it meant doing a big detour then looping back on ourselves to get back on track but trust me, it’s worth it.

The drive will take you through open cattle fields where calves grazed along the roadside and wallabies laid sunning themselves,

Before you start getting used to dodging cows, the road takes an incline and you’ll soon find yourself winding your way up the mountain and past several viewpoints where you can see right out to sea.

Tchupala Falls & Wallicher Falls 

Following the Palmerston Hwy, the scenery changes quite quickly and before you know it you’ll be surrounded by the rainforest of Wooroonooran National Park.

This will be the first set of Atherton Waterfalls that you come across on this route, if you can find the parking for it. It can be quite hard to spot, which means many of the tourists on this route fly past them to get to the more popular waterfalls further up the road.

The track is an easy route that forks off after a few hundred metres, leaving you with a ‘left or right’ choice. You can visit one, or both, of these waterfalls easily in an hour.

Nandroya Falls

From the carpark, which is just passed the Henrietta Creek camping area, there’s a long winding track that takes you through the rainforest and down to the waterfall, this track has two options; take the same track in/out (2.4 km return) or take the loop track from the waterfall (just over 5 km return).

Along the well formed track you’ll pass strangler figs towering overhead, ‘wait-a-whiles’ hanging carelessly at the side and Silver Falls which makes a great place to stop and cool off along the way.

Biting horse flies seem to love this waterfall, so be sure to pack plenty of bug repellent.

Mungalli Falls

Be prepared for a dramatic change in surroundings at Mungalli Falls.

Mungalli Falls is one of the most accessible Atherton Tablelands waterfalls, if you can figure out how to get to it.

Getting to Mungalli Falls is a bit confusing as it’s tucked away behind private property. You’re allowed (and encouraged) to park at the Education Centre rather than on the road, something we hadn’t realised until after we drove past it.

The walk from there is a relatively short easy one that actually goes through their property; including the restaurant, if you want to see the lookout that has a view directly down onto the falls.

It’s a clever set up really as it shows you the activities they put on for paying campers as well as their menu, something that we didn’t take advantage of, unfortunately.

Once you reach the falls you’ll find a lovely viewing platform that stops you going down to the water, which is understandable because there’s a colony of glow worms living here too as well as the occasional sighting of Platypus in the plunge pool below the water.

Here’s our guide to finding platypus on the Atherton Tablelands, if you’re curious.

Before heading back to the car, head over to Mungalli Creek Platypus walk that tracks on the other side of the road, away from the waterfall. Whilst updating this post, I couldn’t find a Google location that confirmed the platypus walk was still open. Please check before walking onto private property. I’m sure the education centre staff will be more than happy to help.

Ellinjaa Falls

Ellinjaa Falls is one of three that makes up a mini route called the Millaa Millaa waterfall circuit and it’s back inside the rainforest, not far from the small town ‘Millaa Millaa’. It’s easy to find and is well sign posted from Palmerston Hwy.

This is often visited as a waterfall day trip from Cairns as it’s a fairly quick and easy route to do as a self-drive tour, if you’re like us and don’t like tour groups.

Knowing this we got to Ellinjaa early to try and beat the crowds but we really didn’t need to. The easy-access lookout nearest the car park is overgrown and, I think, puts people off from looking for the hidden steps that lead down to the bottom of the waterfall.

We ended up having this beautiful waterfall all to ourselves for the morning! Who’d have thought we’d find that on the Millaa Millaa waterfall circuit!

There were no evil biting flies there either which was a double bonus for us.

A post shared by Tosh Giles (@toshgiles) on Feb 22, 2019 at 2:48pm PST

Zillie Falls

The next stop on the Atherton Tablelands waterfall circuit is Zillie Falls. 

This is also located next to the car park but the view from the platform that goes alongside the falls is very restricted.

Not really looking down at it, but not looking across it either, it’s yet another view that doesn’t allow you to take in the waterfall’s full beauty. 

However, just behind the viewing platform is a route suitable for those looking for adventure and a better view of Zillie Falls.

I’m still not sure if this is, or ever has been, an official track to the base of the waterfall but if it is, it needs some serious maintenance. Definitely, don’t try and get down after some heavy rain or if you don’t feel physically up for a bit of a rock scramble.

There isn’t anything to guide the way. No steps or handrails like we’d seen at other waterfalls, no tourist signs or marker points.

Just a faded overgrown dirt path that zigzags its way down the steep bank, over fallen trees and across boulders in the river.

Once at the bottom of the falls, you’ll have quite a bit of boulder climbing and rock hopping to do before you get a half-decent view.

There is an easier route on the way back up, but to describe it would be pointless as nature has a way of changing and morphing as each day passes. Just know that getting to the bottom is possible, follow the faded track and you’ll get there; eventually.

Millaa Millaa Falls

The mother of all waterfalls, the namesake for this circuit and the busiest and most commercial waterfall I’ve ever seen with every Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour from Cairns coming here.

There’s a reason though. Millaa Millaa waterfall is the same fall used in the famous song by Peter Andre, you know the one, every 90’s kid had a poster featuring him topless under this waterfall… ’Mysterious Girl’.

Not only that, but it’s also been featured in a famous Herbal Essences TV commercials.

Alongside Millaa Millaa falls is also a block of toilets, a changing room and designated coach parking; just to give you an idea of just how busy this place gets.

They’ve also added manicured lawn and built a concrete platform perfectly positioned for selfies and group photos.

It was a little bit too touristy for us but we stayed to relax in the shade for a bit and try and wait out the crowds; it never happened

With each coach load that left two more would arrive along with a crowd of tourists all wanting to get ‘that shot’ in the waterfall; either the Peter Andre pose or a well-timed hair flick.

It is still worth seeing though, it’s not the prettiest waterfall on our Atherton Tablelands waterfalls road trip but it’s the most iconic.

Barron Falls

Ahh, Barron Falls. The waterfall that started this madness. We saw Barron Falls advertised on a poster somewhere and after some digging, we came up with this whole Atherton Tablelands road trip… even though it’s closer to Cairns, and not really in the Atherton Tablelands. 

Barron is a mammoth waterfall that would definitely rival Wallaman Falls if it was in full flow. It also rivals Millaa Millaa falls for the top spot as the most touristy waterfall!

Barron Falls is in the town Kuranda, we continued driving through Atherton, Peterson and Mareeba which gave us a big tour of what the rainforest has to offer, ya know, besides high humidity and lots of beautiful but weird trees – like the ‘wait-o-whiles’.

As we pulled into Kuranda it was quite clear that Barron Falls was a big deal. Adverts for the sky rail were everywhere and the brown tourist signs got that bit bigger. The town itself didn’t seem too busy though.

Barron Falls is roughly a 10 to 15-minute walk from the big car park, via a sky deck that winds through the trees and down towards the waterfall. 

There are several ways of getting a closer look at the waterfall though; There’s the sky rail, a network of cable cars that they like to up-sell at every corner, or there’s the steam train.

The sky rail takes you above the treetops giving you an aerial view of the area while the train takes you up close and personal with Barron Falls. They’re also in the process of building a platform in front of the falls too, but I’m unsure on how that will affect the view from other methods.

While Barron Falls is 100% set up for the tourists, we still enjoyed seeing it even during the dry season. There’s a lot of history here too, which is talked about as you walk through the Sky Deck

Other Things To Do In Atherton Tablelands

While most come to this region for the waterfalls and platypus, there are so many other amazing things to do in the Atherton Tablelands. Here are a few of the most unique;

Mount Hypipamee Crater & Dinner Falls

Love unusual geology? The dinner falls loop walk is short but takes you through some amazing rainforest to The Hypipamee Crater, or also known as the Volcanic Pipe. Dinner falls is a quick and easy walking track that passes a cluster of different waterfalls that all make up ‘Dinner Falls’.

Halls Falls

This is a great secluded spot tucked away in the Herberton Range Conservation Park. The pool is a great spot for swimming and gives amazing views. Always be careful in locations like this.

Curtain Fig Tree

A fun photography opportunity with a unique looking fig tree. 

Millstream Falls

This is an impressive waterfall that flows over basalt lava flow. It’s also the widest, single drop, waterfall in Australia, and is a great option if you’re looking for camping in Atherton Tablelands.

Driving Tips For The Atherton Tablelands

While the roads are well-kept, you’ll find yourself navigating winding mountain passes, occasional wildlife crossings, and some pretty steep inclines. So, it’s best to slow down, take it all in, and really enjoy the ride.

If you’re planning to catch the waterfalls before the crowds, be aware of the morning fog – especially in the higher areas.

Visibility can drop quickly, so keep your speed in check and your headlights on. After a heavy downpour, some of the smaller roads can get slippery. If you’re not used to country roads, it’s a good idea to drive cautiously.

Mobile reception can be patchy, so downloading offline maps or keeping a paper map on hand is always a good backup.

That wraps up our Atherton Tablelands waterfall adventure!

From iconic spots like Millaa Millaa Falls to hidden gems tucked away in the rainforest, this region has no shortage of incredible places to explore.

Whether you’re tackling the full circuit or just stopping by a few highlights, it’s a trip well worth making.

If you’ve visited the Atherton Tablelands waterfalls, we’d love to hear about your experience! Did you discover any lesser-known falls? Have a favourite swimming spot? Join our Facebook group and let us know! we’re always up for finding new places to explore.