Wallaman Falls, Single-drop waterfall in Girringun National Park, North Queensland, Australia.
Wallaman Falls is a horsetail waterfall on Stony Creek in Girringun National Park, Queensland, where the stream leaves the Atherton Tableland and drops 268 metres in a single plunge off the Seaview Range escarpment. The white column falls from a notch in a sheer cliff of dark grey and reddish-brown rock, widening as it descends into a pool 20 metres deep, with mist gathering at the base. Green vegetation grows along the upper ledges and lower slopes.
About 50 million years ago, uplift of the continental margin shaped the landforms here. The Herbert River, which had flowed west, began cutting east toward the Coral Sea, and its gorge retreated inland along its course at roughly 40 centimetres per hundred years. Tributaries such as Stony Creek were left suspended, and their own gorges, including the Wallaman Falls drop, formed by the same erosion.
Wallaman Falls lies in Girringun National Park, formerly the Lumholtz National Park, within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The falls are a cascade and horsetail waterfall on Stony Creek, a tributary of the Herbert River, and the main drop is 268 metres. Around 100,000 people visit each year.
The Djyinda Walk runs four kilometers from the parking area through rainforest to several lookouts. The route is mostly downhill to the base and requires a demanding climb back up.
The gorge below the falls was cut by the Herbert River, whose headward erosion moved inland about 40 centimetres every hundred years. Stony Creek was left hanging above the retreating valley, so its water now falls free over the escarpment edge.
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