CHILLAGOE CAVES NATIONAL PARK, QUEENSLAND
From previous talks given and discussions around, it appears very few of you have heard of Chillagoe. It is situated 80 air miles west of Cairns, or 130 road miles from Cairns, in far north Queensland.
The township is quite small but well equipped for tourist accommodation and requirements and this is still expanding, mainly due to the increasing number of visitors each year.
The national park at the present time is made up of 8 separate areas ranging from 3800 acres to 1½ acres, mostly covering areas where limestone caves are known to exist. All national parks in Queensland are controlled by the Department of Forestry. Cave tours are free to the public, as are all national parks in Queensland.
The area is rather hard to describe, roughly the limestone belt commences approximately 20 miles SE of Chillagoe and runs NW for further 15 miles beyond Chillagoe. The total distance covered is approximately 150 miles. The outcrops rise straight out of the undulating open forest country to a height in most places of 150 feet to 200 feet and vary from 1 to 3 miles wide.
The climate of Chillagoe is quite severe, in summer up to 34°C in the shade, winter 16°C which usually lasts at the most 3 weeks. The average rainfall is 30 ins. all in 2 months (February, March). As a result most of the caves are only really active for 3 months of the year. Most caves are in the bluffs, ground level and higher. Several have huge daylight holes in the roof which are the result of roof collapse many hundreds of years ago and this makes strong draughts through the cave systems, drying them out very quickly after the wet season.
The largest of the tourist caves, The Royal Arch, take 2½ hours to tour and is made up of a series of 12 large caverns connected by small passageways. The Donna, a smaller cave, has 1 large chamber and from there 3 passageways, one on the top of the other. The Ryan is really a fossil cave as crinoids , brachiopods, corals and sponges are well exposed right throughout the cave. Thus with 3 entirely different types of cave on show the visitor is given quite a variety and most find it very educational.
All these three caves have concrete paths, ladders and steps, bridge walks, and in places handrails installed. As time permits further improvements are being carried out.