Barron Gorge National Park is a
protected area in the
Cairns Region
The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. H ...
,
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
, establishe ...
, Australia. It is predominantly within the locality of
Barron Gorge.
Geography
The park is 1,404 km northwest of
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
and from
Kuranda. Barron Gorge is part of the
Wet Tropics World Heritage Area
The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...
.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a scenic tourist cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland’s World Heritage Area in Australia. It operates from the Smithfield terminal () in Cairns to the ...
is a 7.5 kilometre scenic cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park in the Wet Tropics of Queensland's World Heritage Area north of Cairns which has won more than 25 awards. The
Kuranda Scenic Railway
The Kuranda Scenic Railway is a tourist railway service that operates along the heritage-listed Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line. Constructed in 1891, the line runs from Cairns, Queensland, over the Great Dividing Range to the town of Kuranda o ...
line passes through the park with a station at
Barron Falls
Barron Falls ( Aboriginal: ''Din Din'') is a steep tiered cascade waterfall on the Barron River located where the river descends from the Atherton Tablelands to the Cairns coastal plain, in Queensland, Australia.
In 2009 as part of the Q150 ...
.
Two trains run from and returns to
Cairns daily.
The original
weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
, constructed in 1934 at the top of the falls, is visible from the station lookout and Skyrail'
Barron Falls Station lookouts.
Landforms
Barron Gorge formed where the
Barron River passes over the eastern escarpment of the
Atherton Tablelands
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia.
The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinar ...
.
Barron Falls cascade 265 m to the gorge below. Two waterfalls—
Stoney Creek Falls and
Surprise Creek Falls exist on tributaries of the Barron River within the park. Slopes around the gorge are steep with some at a 45° angle. This made construction of the railway hazardous. 23 people died during its construction.
History
In 1885 the explorer
Archibald Meston
Archibald Meston (26 March 1851 – 11 March 1924) was an Australian politician, civil servant, journalist, naturalist and explorer.
Personal life
Archibald Meston was born at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston.
Mes ...
described the Barron Falls in flood where the raging waters "''rush together like wild horses as they enter the straight in the dread finish of their last race ... (where) the currents of air created by the cataract waved the branches of the trees hundreds of feet overhead ... the rock shook like a mighty steamer tumbling with the vibrations of the screw.''"
In 1935, the waters of the Barron River were harnessed in the
Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station to generate Queensland's first hydroelectric power. Two hundred metres from the base of the Barron Falls an underground power station was carved into the cliff face. Water was delivered through pipes to drive the turbines, two 1200 kW turbo-alternators. The substation, workshops and staff houses were built around the area now forming the
Skyrail station.
The Djabugandji Bama (Aboriginal people) are the Traditional Owners of the area known as Djirri Nyundu Nyrrumba, which includes Barron Gorge National Park. Ownership of the park returned to its traditional owners on 17 December 2004.
This is the first park in Queensland to have a native title determination.
Visitors to the park have not faced any changes under the new owners but Aboriginals were then able to hold traditional religious ceremonies.
Flora and fauna
Bird's-nest fern and
elkhorn ferns grow amongst
Candlenut
''Aleurites moluccanus'', the candlenut, is a flowering tree in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, also known as candleberry, Indian walnut, ''kemiri'', varnish tree, ''nuez de la India'', ''buah keras'', ''godou'', kukui nut tree, and ''rata k ...
,
Corkwood,
Native olive and
False Red Sandalwood trees at the bottom of the gorge.
The park forms part of the
Wooroonooran Important Bird Area
The Wooroonooran Important Bird Area comprises some 5125 km2 of mainly forested land in the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site, of Far North Queensland, Australia.
Description
The site encompasses the largest block of tropical r ...
, identified as such by
BirdLife International because it supports populations of a range of bird species endemic to
Queensland's Wet Tropics.
[BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Wooroonooran. Downloaded from on 2 December 2011.] Noisy pitta
The noisy pitta (''Pitta versicolor'') is a species of bird in the family Pittidae. The noisy pitta is found in eastern Australia and southern New Guinea. It eats earthworms, insects and snails. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtr ...
s and the
orange-footed scrubfowl
The orange-footed scrubfowl (''Megapodius reinwardt''), also known as orange-footed megapode or just scrubfowl is a small megapode of the family Megapodiidae.
This species comprises five subspecies found on many islands in the Lesser Sunda Islan ...
are two species of bird that may be commonly seen. The
southern cassowary
The southern cassowary (''Casuarius casuarius''), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary or two-wattled cassowary, is a large flightless black bird. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf c ...
is occasionally spotted in the southern section of the park.
Nocturnal animals are relatively common. These include a variety of possums and flying foxes as well as
Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo
Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo (''Dendrolagus lumholtzi'') is a rare, long-tailed bear-like mammal found in rainforests in northeastern Australia. Like most tree-kangaroos (genus ''Dendrolagus''), it lives alone in trees and feeds on plant matter. It ...
and the
northern quoll
The northern quoll (''Dasyurus hallucatus''), also known as the northern native cat, the North Australian native cat or the satanellus is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia.
Taxonomy
The northern quoll is a member of the family Das ...
.
See also
*
Protected areas of Queensland
Queensland is the second largest state in Australia. It contains around 500 separate protected areas. In 2020, it was estimated a total of 14.2 million hectares or 8.25% of Queensland's landmass was protected.
List of terrestrial protected ar ...
References
External links
Barron Gorge National ParkQueensland Holidays
Barron George National Park protectedplanet.net
{{National Parks of Queensland
National parks of Far North Queensland
Protected areas established in 1940
Wet Tropics of Queensland
Canyons and gorges of Queensland
1940 establishments in Australia
Important Bird Areas of Queensland
Cairns Region