Barron Falls

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Barron Falls
Din Din
Barron falls january2005.JPG
Barron Falls in the wet season.
Australia Queensland relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Barron Falls
Location Kuranda, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates 16°50′19″S145°38′45″E / 16.83861°S 145.64583°E / -16.83861; 145.64583 [1] [2]
Type Steep Tiered Cascade
Total height125 metres (410 ft) [3]
Number of drops4
Longest drop107 metres (351 ft) [3]
Total width259 metres (850 ft) [3]
Average width137 metres (449 ft) [3]
Watercourse Barron River
Average
flow rate
30 cubic metres per second (1,100 cu ft/s) [3]

Barron Falls (Aboriginal: Din Din [4] ) is a steep tiered cascade waterfall in Kuranda, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. [5] The falls are created by the Barron River descending from the Atherton Tablelands to the Cairns coastal plain. [3]

Contents

In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Barron Falls was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "natural attraction". [6]

Location and features

Barron Falls in dry season. BarronFalls 4435.jpg
Barron Falls in dry season.

Protected within the Barron Gorge National Park, the volume of water seen in the upper photo only occurs after substantial rainfall during the wet season. For much of the rest of the year, little more than a trickle is evident, due in part to the presence of a weir behind the head of the falls that supplies the Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station located downstream in the gorge.

The Barron Falls may be viewed and reached by road via the Kennedy Highway that crosses the Barron River upstream of the falls, near Kuranda. The narrow-gauge Kuranda Scenic Railway and the Skyrail aerial tram also lead from the coastal plain to the tablelands. The train stops at Barron Falls overlook, where passengers may disembark for several minutes. The Skyrail stops at two rainforest mid-stations, Red Peak and Barron Falls. The trail at Barron Falls Skyrail station leads through the rainforest to three separate lookouts providing views of the Gorge and Falls. [7]

Etymology

Video of Barron Falls in flood, January 2009

The falls were named for Thomas Henry Bowman Barron, the Chief Clerk of Police in Brisbane in the 1860s. [3]

Tourist attraction

The falls were one of the most popular tourist attractions in Queensland by the 1890s. Visitors are drawn to the natural features and scenery. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuranda, Queensland</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Kuranda is a rural town and locality on the Atherton Tableland in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Kuranda had a population of 3,008 people. It is 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Cairns, via the Kuranda Range road. It is surrounded by tropical rainforest and adjacent to the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage listed Barron Gorge National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mareeba</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barron River (Queensland)</span> River in Queensland, Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shire of Mareeba</span> Local government area in Queensland, Australia

The Shire of Mareeba is a local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, covered an area of 53,491 square kilometres (20,653.0 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several councils in the Atherton Tableland area to become the Tablelands Region.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuranda National Park</span> Protected area in Queensland, Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line</span> Railway line in Queensland, Australia

The Cairns-to-Kuranda Railway is a heritage-listed railway line from the Cairns Region to the Shire of Mareeba, both in Queensland, Australia. It commences at Redlynch, a suburb of Cairns and travels up the Great Dividing Range to Kuranda within the Shire of Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland. It was built from 1913 to 1915 by Queensland Railways. Components of it include Stoney Creek Bridge, the Rail Bridge over Christmas Creek, Kuranda railway station, and Surprise Creek Rail Bridge. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 August 1992. The railway is used to operate a tourist rail service, the Kuranda Scenic Railway. It forms part of the Tablelands railway line.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macalister Range, Queensland</span> Suburb of Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuranda Fig Tree Avenue</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Kuranda Fig Tree Avenue is a heritage-listed avenue of trees at Coondoo Street, Kuranda, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1931. It is also known as Avenue of Ficus Microcarpa and Ficus Obliqua trees. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 July 2018.

References

  1. "Barron Falls (QLD)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  2. "Barron Falls (QLD)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Barron Falls". World Waterfall Database. 2014. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  4. 1 2 Julie Carmody & Bruce Prideaux. "Sustainable Nature Based Tourism: Planning and Management. Report on Visitation and Use at Barron Falls, Far North Queensland 2009/10" (PDF). Wet Tropics Site Report 5/10. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  5. "Barron Falls – waterfall in the Shire of Mareeba (entry 1761)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  6. Bligh, Anna (10 June 2009). "PREMIER UNVEILS QUEENSLAND'S 150 ICONS". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  7. "Barron Falls Station". Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008.

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