Things to do in the Atherton Tablelands

The Atherton Tablelands sit between 500 and 1,100 metres of elevation, about 90 minutes inland from Cairns, and the altitude changes everything: daytime temperatures run several degrees cooler than the coast, which is exactly why locals treat the Tablelands as their own escape from the humidity.

This is farming country first: coffee, avocados, mangoes, dairy, macadamia, and a handful of small distilleries share the plateau with volcanic crater lakes and rainforest waterfalls.

The Waterfall Circuit near Millaa Millaa, Lake Barrine and Lake Eacham, the Curtain Fig Tree at Yungaburra, and Peterson Creek's dawn and dusk platypus sightings are all within a short drive of each other, making a single loop day workable from Cairns or an overnight stay worthwhile.