Atherton Tablelands

The Atherton Tablelands is a fertile plateau and part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River, which was dammed to form the irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinaroo. The area is also home to a number of volcanic crater lakes, waterfalls, and rainforests. The Atherton Tableland has a long history of Indigenous occupation, with traditional Aboriginal land use and culture documented from the period of first contact to present. The region is also known for its unique geological history, with a series of volcanic eruptions occurring over the past 100 million years, creating the landscape that exists today