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Mount Hypipamee National Park
(The Crater & Dinner Falls)
Photo courtesy of Carl-Heinz Seelig.
The Crater
History:
- The Crater is the remains of what is believed to have been the only explosion pipe of
this volcanically active area between 10 and15, 000 years ago.
- The volcanic bedrock in the vicinity has caused the variation on the form
of soil types that have evolved.
Location:
- The Crater and Dinner Falls are located about 30km from
Atherton on the Kennedy Highway. Just over the Barron River, the turnoff to
these two natural attractions is on the right.
General Information:
- Mount Hypipamee National Park is the only park that protects high altitude
rainforest, unlike any other National Park on the Atherton tableland.
- The change in soil type influences the vegetation it supports and the
diversity of animals which are supported by it. As a result, this area has
become renowned for it’s numerous arboreal (tree dwelling), species.
- There is much interesting information about the crater and it’s
surrounds, presented on an information board at the beginning of the 800m
return walk.
- The walk to the crater is well maintained and has been bituminised. This makes for easy
walking and wheel chair access .
- The crater itself is astounding in size and is worth the
short walk.
- On your return from the crater, there is a path which leads down to the
Dinner Falls.
These falls are on the Barron River.
- An information board located close to the beginning of the walk traces the
path of the river from its beginnings in the Great Dividing Range, through
the Atherton Tablelands and out to the Pacific Ocean.
Mt Hypipamee crater is a diatreme formed by an explosive eruption of volcanic
gases which blasted through solid granite. Angular blocks of granite as large as
refrigerators can be found in the surrounding rainforest, giving testimony to
the power of the explosion that hurled them there. A 400m walking track leads to
a viewing platform above the crater. A longer 1km track leads to Dinner Falls,
at the headwaters of the Barron River, before looping back to the carpark.
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