Barron Gorge
|
Barron Gorge National Park Queensland |
|
|---|---|
|
IUCN category II (national park)
|
|
Glacier Rock, 2009
|
|
 Barron Gorge National Park
|
|
| Nearest town or city | Cairns |
| Coordinates | 16°50′34″S 145°39′08″E / 16.84278°S 145.65222°ECoordinates: 16°50′34″S 145°39′08″E / 16.84278°S 145.65222°E |
| Established | 1940 |
| Area | 28 km2 (10.8 sq mi) |
| Managing authorities | Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service |
| Website | Barron Gorge National Park |
| See also | Protected areas of Queensland |
Barron Gorge National Park is a national park in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia.
The park is 1,404 km northwest of Brisbane and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Kuranda. Barron Gorge is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a 7.5 kilometre scenic cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park in the Wet Tropics of Queensland’s World Heritage Area north of Cairns which has won more than 25 awards. The Kuranda Scenic Railway line passes through the park with a station at Barron Falls. Two trains run from and returns to Cairns daily. The original weir, constructed in 1934 at the top of the falls, is visible from the station lookout and Skyrail's Barron Falls Station lookouts.
Barron Gorge formed where the Barron River passes over the eastern escarpment of the Atherton Tablelands. Barron Falls cascade 265 m to the gorge below. Two waterfalls—Stoney Creek Falls and Surprise Creek Falls exist on tributaries of the Barron River within the park. Slopes around the gorge are steep with some at a 45° angle. This made construction of the railway hazardous. 23 lives were lost during its construction.
In 1885 the explorer Archibald Meston described the Barron Falls in flood where the raging waters "rush together like wild horses as they enter the straight in the dread finish of their last race ... (where) the currents of air created by the cataract waved the branches of the trees hundreds of feet overhead ... the rock shook like a mighty steamer tumbling with the vibrations of the screw."
...
Wikipedia