A drive amid the natural beauty of the Atherton Tablelands is an immersive experience that does so much more than soothing the traveller’s soul and delighting the senses.
Discover interesting and engaging facts about the region’s rich mining heritage, forestry and farming traditions along with newer agricultural industries, and the cultural practices of the local Indigenous people.
The Heritage Trail will take you to pretty, heritage-listed country towns that have retained the links to their past through quaint architecture and friendly, old-fashioned service.
Start: Mareeba
Duration: 2-3 days
Print: Atherton Tablelands Themed Trails
Mareeba Heritage Museum and Visitor Information
The Mareeba Heritage Museum and Visitor Information Centre is your entry to our beautiful region and your pathway to understanding the rich and varied history of Mareeba.
Location: 345 Byrnes Sreet, Mareeba
Mount Mulligan is a former mining town west of Mareeba. Known as the birthplace of the Rainbow Serpent and a sacred site according to indigenous legend, Mount Mulligan is spectacular but rarely seen.
Location: 53 kms north of Dimbulah on the Mount Mulligan Road, Mount Mulligan
Rocky Creek War Memorial Park was the site of the largest military hospital in the Southern Hemisphere – a 3000 bed hospital which treated over 60,000 patients from 1943 to 1945.
Location: Chillagoe
Rocky Creek War Memorial Park was the site of the largest military hospital in the Southern Hemisphere – a 3000 bed hospital which treated over 60,000 patients from 1943 to 1945.
Location: Kennedy Highway, Tolga
Yungaburra is a picturesque village and is largely unchanged since 1910. With 18 heritage-listed buildings, it is the largest National Trust village in Queensland. Yungaburra takes its name from the Yidinyji language, meaning a place of enquiring or questioning.
Visit charming cafes, award winning restaurants, arts and crafts galleries complete the picture.
Fran and Nick at Atherton Antiques and Australiana have been selling quality antiques and collectables from their heritage art deco building in Atherton for nearly 25 years.
Location: 2 Tolga Road, Atherton
Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway
Train rides between Herberton Station and Historic Village Herberton every Sunday from 10am to 2pm.
Tickets $5.00 return for adults and $3.00 for children.
Location: Herberton
The Herberton-Petford road leads to heritage-listed Irvinebank, the tin mining town that refused to die.
See the Mill and Treatment Works on the foreshore of Loudoun Weir and visit the renowned Loudoun House Museum in John Moffat’s house. Pioneer graves can be matched with local history at the Museum.
Historic Village Herberton
Set on 16 acres, the Historic Village Herberton is a tin mining town with shops, pub, bank, chemist, grocer, printer and garage. There are more than 50 restored period buildings making this outdoor museum the most significant in Queensland.
Location: Broadway, Herberton
Millstream Falls National Park has a rich World War II history. Camp sites were constructed for the Battalions of the 7th and 9th Divisions between 1943 and 1945.
Location: Millstream National Park, Kennedy Highway, Ravenshoe
Tablelands Tours and Transfers
Tour through Australia’s pioneering history with the award winning Herberton Historical Village. Visit Kuranda Lookout, Barron Falls and the local, award-winning Bridges Café. Take a guided tour of the historical pioneer village in Herberton, followed by an old-fashioned cooked lunch. After lunch, feel free to ride on the Tinlander train, and then follow the highway through the scenic Crater Valley and Herberton Ranges to Mt Hypipamee. Discover hidden truths of the rich Indiginous heritage in the area, and the historical timber, railway, mining, war and dairy industries of the early pioneers.
