Barron Falls

The Barron Falls (Aboriginal: Din Din[4]) 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.

Barron Falls
Din Din
Barron Falls in the wet season.
LocationAtherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates16°50′19″S 145°38′45″E[1][2]
TypeSteep 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]
WatercourseBarron River
Average
flow rate		30 cubic metres per second (1,100 cu ft/s)[3]

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".[5]

Location and features
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 leads 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.[6]

Etymology

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

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. "Barron Falls". World Waterfall Database. 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  4. 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. 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.
  6. "Barron Falls Station". Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008.

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