Crystal Creek (also known as Saltwater Creek) is a creek in the

City of Townsville The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas, to the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It runs for 17.5 km, beginning just below Paluma, flowing through the township of Mutarnee and emptying into the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

. It forms part of the

Paluma Range National Park Paluma Range is a national park located between Ingham and Townsville, in north Queensland, Australia. The park is 1188 km north of Brisbane. Geography The park contains the Jourama Falls, Crystal Creek and Lake Paluma. Ecology Most of ...

and is known for its division into two tourist destinations, namely Little Crystal Creek and Big Crystal Creek. Little Crystal Creek is situated approximately two thirds of the way along Mt Spec Road, heading towards the village of Paluma. This location consists of a number of small swimming holes and waterfalls, as well as the

Little Crystal Creek Bridge Mount Spec Road and Little Crystal Creek Bridge is a heritage-listed road from Mutarnee to Paluma with a bridge over Little Crystal Creek at Crystal Creek, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The bridge is north of Townsville and p ...

, an historical arch bridge of which construction began in 1932. Facilities here include a wheelchair accessible picnic area, barbecues and toilets. Big Crystal Creek is located a few kilometres downstream from Little Crystal Creek, at the end of Spiegelhauer Road. Facilities at Big Crystal Creek also include a wheelchair accessible picnic area, barbecues, toilets, as well as a designated camping ground. The most popular of the swimming holes at Big Crystal Creek is Paradise Waterhole, which is substantially larger than that of the Little Crystal Creek waterholes, and can be accessed by a short walk from the picnic area along a bush track. Further down the road from the picnic area, the Big Crystal Creek Rockslides can be found, which is another swimming destination known for its natural waterslide formed by mossy rocks.

Heritage listings

Crystal Creek has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * Mt Spec Road:

Mount Spec Road and Little Crystal Creek Bridge Mount Spec Road and Little Crystal Creek Bridge is a heritage-listed road from Mutarnee to Paluma with a bridge over Little Crystal Creek at Crystal Creek, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The bridge is north of Townsville and p ...

References

{{coord, 28, 19, S, 153, 20, E, display=title, region:AU_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Waterfalls of Far North Queensland Rivers of Far North Queensland

Heritage listings

See also

References