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MOUNT HYPIPAMEE NATIONAL PARK - THE
CRATER
Photo courtesy of Carl-Heinz Seelig.
The Crater
History:
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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.
Wet Tropics Management Authority
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.
- Their is a 400m
walking track which leads to a viewing platform above the crater.
- 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.
- A longer 1km track leads to
Dinner Falls, at the headwaters of the Barron
River, before looping back to the carpark.
- 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.
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