Einasleigh Uplands

The Einasleigh Uplands are an interim Australian bioregion of savanna and woodland located on a large plateau in inland Queensland, Australia.

The uplands are an area of eroded volcanic rock on and to the west of the Atherton Tableland in the northern section of Australia's Great Dividing Range running inland as far as the town of Croydon in the southwest. The plateau is covered in grassland dotted with eucalyptus trees and cut through with ridges, gorges and lava tubes. The area has rich fertile soil. Natural features include the Great Basalt Wall of dried volcanic lava and the lava tubes of Undara Volcanic National Park.

The climate is cooler than the coast with summer nights being as cool as 9 °C compared with 20 °C on the coast. The summer high temperatures are around 35 °C. There is a wet season between December and March.

Rivers that have their source in the uplands include the Flinders River which runs northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria along with the Palmer, Mitchell and Gilbert-Einasleigh while the Burdekin and Herbert Rivers run south-east from the tablelands to the Coral Sea coast.

Urban areas include Herberton and Croydon.

Einasleigh Uplands is the name given to this area in the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia survey of different ecosystems in the country, while in the World Wildlife Fund's bioregion mapping they are described as Einasleigh Upland Savanna. These descriptions are based on study of the climate, plant life and terrain compared with neighbouring areas. This area is inland from the moist Queensland coast but is not as dry as the Brigalow Belt and the Mitchell Grass savannas south, while the Cape York Peninsula to the north is lower-lying and wetter. The region contains a number of specialised habitats that add to the variety of wildlife found here. These include lava flows and caves such as those of Chillagoe.

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