Atherton Tableland, Plateau in Queensland, Australia

The Atherton Tableland is a plateau in Queensland's Great Dividing Range, with elevations between 600 and 900 meters, stretching across a vast area. It combines diverse landscapes including rainforests, wetlands, and waterfalls in a region shaped largely by farming and dairy production.

James Venture Mulligan led the first European exploration of the area in 1875, guided by Aboriginal guides; prospecting for gold, he found tin instead. Herberton was established on 19 April 1880 by John Newell, with mining beginning on 9 May, and grew into Australia's richest tin field. John Atherton had settled with his cattle near the future town bearing his name in 1879.

The name honours John Atherton (1837–1913), who drove cattle into the district during early European settlement. Chinese-Australians drawn by the mining and timber booms took up farming, grew maize among the first in north Queensland, and built the Hou Wang Temple, added to the Queensland State Heritage Register in 1992. Yidinji and Dyirbal speakers maintain their culture today despite forced removals after European occupation.

Four sealed roads climb to the tableland: the Palmerston Highway from Innisfail to Millaa Millaa, the Gillies Highway from Gordonvale to Yungaburra and Atherton, the Kennedy Highway from Cairns via Kuranda to Mareeba, and the Peninsula Developmental Road from Cooktown and Mossman to Mareeba. A car is the most practical way to reach the scattered attractions. The climate has two seasons, a wet summer and a dry winter; winter temperatures range from 5 to 22 °C.

Mount Quincan, a scoria cone near Yungaburra, rises 170 metres and its ash and scoria are exposed in a working quarry on its flank. The crater of Mount Hypipamee is different again: a single large gas explosion blasted out granite and threw out little lava. Four volcanic landforms sit within the tableland.