Jun 10

Jun 10 Wild swimming at Emerald Creek Falls

In an area known for its waterfalls, Emerald Creek Falls really stands out as a wild gem.

You won’t find this adventure on far north Queensland’s Waterfall Way but, it’s worth the drive out from Mareeba along a gravel road.

Emerald Creek Falls is actually very different to a lot of the falls you will find around the Atherton Tablelands. Instead of lush rainforest, you will find a series of cascades over rock slabs, surrounded by Aussie bushland.

Unexpected landscapes in tropical north Queensland

The walking track is around 3km long if you visit all the spots, but the scenery starts at the carpark with the creek running right behind it – so if you can’t wait for a swim, start here!

We walked all the way to the lookout at the top and it was warm at the end of March. As mentioned, the area here is a bit different so you don’t have the sun protection from any rainforest and there is no shade the whole way up.

The landscape on the walk up is quite nice, the large boulders, green bushes and the sound of the waterfall and streams are welcoming signs of nature. Most of the area is quite dry and dusty which makes for an interesting contrast to the creek and water flowing from the cascades.

The lookout itself is a fenced platform and we could feel the power and spray from main waterfall drop.

After reaching the top, we headed down about 350m, turning at the sign marked ‘Bottom of Falls,’ to the best bit of a visit to Emerald Creek Falls – the swimming holes!

Once you veer off the dirt path, blue arrows will guide you across the giant boulders (that can get a bit slippery with wet feet) and a couple of foot bridges to the main swimming hole. As we were visiting after some seriously heavy rains, we decided that the large pool was not safe for a swim – the water was flowing pretty hard here, and we couldn’t see into the pool.

The good news was that around the upper falls here, there were plenty of small crevices that made the perfect cooling off spot – not to mention a pretty spectacular photo opportunity.

After cooling off here in our private spas, we headed down further to the lower falls where there were plenty of people enjoying a proper swim in the deeper pool, so we jumped in and appreciated that cool, refreshing water.

Relaxing on the rocks surrounding the pools and listening to the rush of water from the falls above is amazing way to spend time in nature.

A nice finish to our day out was when we stopped for an ice cream on the way back at Emerald Creek Ice Creamery. They even make dairy-free sorbet using local and seasonal fruit which is always a nice treat on a summer day.

How to get there:

A very easy day trip from Cairns, it will take you about 1hr 15mins to make it to the Emerald Creek trail – noting that the last 8km or so is dirt road. In the dry conditions we had, it was no drama in a regular car, but I can imagine that in the wet, you might want the added safety of a 4WD.

Don’t forget those snacks. There are plenty of flat and shaded areas around the swimming holes to relax and spend the day in this special part of nature.

Locals with furry pets should also know that this beautiful spot is in a State Forest and therefore dog-friendly so your pooches can come and enjoy it too.

Hire a car here to visit these falls yourself on your next Cairns holiday!