Innot Hot Springs

Innot Hot Springs Queensland
Nettle Creek Tin Dredge at Innot Hot Springs, 2009
Innot Hot Springs
Coordinates	17°39′57″S 145°14′25″E / 17.66583°S 145.24028°E / -17.66583; 145.24028Coordinates: 17°39′57″S 145°14′25″E / 17.66583°S 145.24028°E / -17.66583; 145.24028
Population	321 (2011 census)
Postcode(s)	4872
LGA(s)	Tablelands Region
State electorate(s)	Dalrymple
Federal Division(s)	Division of Kennedy
Localities around Innot Hot Springs: Mount Garnet Silver Valley Millstream Gunnawarra Innot Hot Springs Koombooloomba Gunnawarra Glen Ruth Glen Ruth

Innot Hot Springs is a small town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2011 census, Innot Hot Springs had a population of 321 people.

Innot Hot Springs is located on the Kennedy Highway, between Mount Garnet and Ravenshoe in Far North Queensland. It is 5 kilometers south of Mount Gibson. The town is on the northern edge of the locality with the Kennedy Highway passing through it.

The Herbert River meanders in a southerly direction through the locality from Millstream to Gunnawarra and Glen Ruth. The confuence of the Wild River with the Herbert River occurs in the north of the locality (east of the town). Nettle Creek flows from Silver Valley to the north through the town and joins the Herbert River to the south of the town.

The town was established around three hot mineral springs in the Nettle Creek near the town. The temperature of the springs is between 165-185 °F.

According to the Mamu people, the springs were created in the Dreamtime when a large maritime turtle had a hot stone put in her stomach. It hurried out of the sea inland, to this spot, to warm the waters. From that day onwards, it ordered all big turtles were to stay in the sea, while small tortoises would be permitted to live in the freshwater rivers on land.

The hot springs were first discovered by Europeans in the early 1870s when John Atherton was exploring the area for grazing opportunities. However it seems the springs were ignored until 1885 when Charles Overend Garbutt, the owner of Woodleigh Station, rediscovered them and learned from the local Aboriginal people that the springs had healing properties. In the Victorian era, mineral springs were widely believed to have theraputic benefits obtained through bathing in the water and drinking the water. Perceiving the commercial opportunities, a Russian-born man, Antonie Antonevic leased 10 acres around the springs on 1 April 1886. The leased passed through a number of people's hands before it was taken up by (Neil) Charles Spranklin in the late 1890s, who is generally regarded as the major force in developing the springs.