Nine Amazing Queensland Gorges You Need To Visit

Nicknamed Australia’s ‘little Grand Canyon’, this landmark definitely belongs on our must-see, must-visit list.

Porcupine Gorge is an impressive canyon that has been carved into the landscape by the eroding action of Porcupine Creek, revealing strata of sedimentary rocks spanning hundreds of millions of years.

The gorge is a great place for viewing wildlife, especially birds. Explore the sculptured sandstone and deep pools of the gorge floor along the 2.4 kilometer (return) Pyramid track. Enjoy the bird calls and look for wallaroos and red kangaroos. The short walk to the Pyramid lookout is well worth the scenic views over the gorge. Set up camp in the camping area and enjoy the solitude of the outback.

While in Hughenden it’s well worth the trip to Porcupine Gorge and Pyramid Rock.
If you have a moderate fitness level do the walk down into the gorge but go early in the day (allow 2-3 hours to enjoy time on the Gorge floor and a slow walk back to the top); take plenty of water and don’t forget to slip/slop/slap.

There are 2 main places to visit (you’ll see both brown signs off the highway, 1 for the lookout & 1 for the campground. Both are worth a visit). The Campground has a nice lookout area, a few optional walking tracks & toilets that have much to be desired (they ran out of flushing water & stank bad). If you are doing walking tracks, take plenty of drinking water.

For the “Mini Grand Canyon” experience, it’s best to visit the main Lookout point signposted off the highway. Still not like the USA, but is a more impressive gorge (canyon look to it), with millions of years of old rock layers.

If you’re not up to the trip down (and more importantly back UP!) then there are a couple of good lookout points that will provide fantastic views. Make sure to add this to your Queensland Gorges must-see list!

I’ve heard so much about this place and my visit to the gorge exceeded my expectations.

Before visiting I was confused about the relationship between Lawn Hill Gorge and Adel’s Grove. Lawn Hill is the (Boodjamulla) National Park, Adel’s is the commercial operation 10Kms down the road. Between the two is a water reserve owned by the state government but there does not appear to be anything happening there.

The confusion arises because many of the pictures in Adel’s promotion material is actually Lawn Hill Gorge, not Adel’s Grove. Also – Adels run their Gorge Cruise in the Park, this is not clear from Adel’s Website. The Gorge cruise is in the Park, in an electric barge vehicle, and you see some of the middle Gorge and the Indarri falls; it’s the more expensive trip. The “Up the Creek” cruise is from the Grove and is basically a nature cruise in a petrol barge that travels slowly up the river; it’s cheaper and you learn a bit about Albert (ADEL is his initials).

This beautiful oasis amid dry, stony savannah country sounds much more romantic when referred to by its Aboriginal name, ‘Boodjamulla’ National Park. Boodjamulla is the Waanyi people’s name for the Dreamtime Rainbow Serpent, who formed the gorge to keep his skin wet.

The scale of Boodjamulla is best appreciated by a combination of hiking up to the rocky plateaus and drifting on the gorge waters.

For the moderately fit the must-do hikes are the four-kilometer, Island Stack walk that kicks off with a staircase climb that eases into an easy track that loops around a large island of rock in the heart of the gorge.

From this track, there’s a short Cascades walk to a pandanus-fringed pool, with mini-waterfall. If you start this walk in the wee hours – wear a head torch – the sunrise experience is well worth the loss of shut-eye.

One of the main activities here is to canoe through the gorge. There are “harmless” freshwater crocodiles, but I was assured they are no threat whether you’re on or in the water. You can only take the canoes upstream into the upper gorge area. The two gorges are separated by Indarri Waterfalls, where you can either tie up and go for a swim or carry your canoe along the path into the second gorge.

The gorge is spring-fed and you can see the air bubbles floating up from the bottom. The water is surprisingly clear in some parts and there are lots of small fish who will pop up to say hello.