Barron Gorge National Park

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Barron Gorge National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)

Nearest town/city:	Cairns
Coordinates:	16°50′34″S, 145°39′08″E
Area:	28 km²
Managing authorities:	Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
Official site:	Barron Gorge National Park

Barron Falls

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Barron Gorge National Park is a national park in Queensland (Australia), 1404 km northwest of Brisbane and 2 km from Kuranda. It has its own railway station on the Kuranda Scenic Railway line, with a train running daily from Cairns. The original weir, constructed in 1934 at the top of the falls, is visible from the station lookout.

[edit] History

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."

In 1935 the waters of the Barron River were harnessed in the Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station to generate Queensland's first hydroelectric power. Two hundred metres from the base of the Barron Falls an underground power station was carved into the cliff face. Water was delivered through pipes to drive the turbines, two 1200kW turbo-alternators. The substation, workshops and staff houses were built around the area now forming the Skyrail station.

The stocking of exotic sports fish into the river has led to a serious decline in the diversity and abundance of native fish.^[1]