The Curtain Fig near Yungaburra

Yungaburra (including Butchers Creek, Lake Eacham and Topaz)
Attractive town on the edge of the Atherton Tablelands.
Yungaburra is an attractive little township on the Atherton Tablelands which nicely combines a sense of history with a discreet 'alternative lifestyle' presence. Next to the town's charming old timber buildings (a large area of the town has been declared an Historic Precinct by the National Trust) are shop frontages for Naturopaths and Alternative Food Cafes. This is not a Nimbin of the North rather a quiet retreat from the pressures of modern life.

The town of Yungaburra came into existence as a direct result of John Atherton's discoveries of tin and gold at Tinaroo Creek in 1878. The gold and tin fossickers who moved into the area sought a new route to the coast arguing that the existing routes to Cairns and Port Douglas were unnecessarily long. John Robson, who had been with Atherton when he found the tin, cut a track from the tablelands to the coast which became known as Robson's track. The settlement of Allumbah Pocket which grew up on this track eventually became known as Yungaburra.

In 1886 the state surveyor marked out the town and by 1891 people were settling in the area. For some time the town operated as a staging post for people moving to and from the coast. There was some timber cutting, particularly cedar, in the early days but the town's primary function was as a service centre.

The town now has a large number of interesting buildings all built from local timber. No fewer than 23 have been listed by the National Trust. The boom period for the town seems to have occurred shortly after the arrival of the railway in 1910. Between 1910 and 1920 some of the town's most attractive buildings were constructed. St Marks Anglican Church on Eacham Road was built in 1913 at a cost of £250. The same year St Patricks Catholic Church at the top of Eacham Road was completed. The buildings along Cedar Street, the narrow street at the side of the Lake Eacham Hotel, all belong to this period. The former Bank of New South Wales is on the corner directly opposite the Lake Eacham Hotel.

Tourism became the town's biggest industry in 1926 when the Cairns–Yungaburra Range Road was opened. The trip from the coast took three and a half hours and visitors had the sights pointed out to them by the drivers of the White Car Company which operated tours to the town (interestingly the White Car Company still run tours in the region and their journey from Cairns to Yungaburra now takes longer than it did back in 1926 - they stop at more places). The town, and particularly the Lake Eacham Hotel, became the centre for sightseeing on the Tablelands. Visitors were entertained in the hotel's gracious surrounds which included two tennis courts as well as a nine hole golf course. They also paid the mandatory visit to the Curtain Fig tree.

Things to see:  

Curtain Fig Tree
Yungaburra's great tourist attraction is the deservedly famous Curtain Fig Tree which is located only 3 km from the town on the Malanda road. This huge tree has, by an accident of nature, created a vast curtain of roots which drop some 15 m from the main body of the tree to the ground.

Lake Eacham
Nearby is Lake Eacham a huge crater lake which was probably formed as recently as 10 000 years ago. The local Aborigines, the Ngadyan people, explained the origin of the lake in a way that seems to blend myth with reality. Apparently two newly initiated men broke a taboo and the rainbow serpent punished them with a fierce act which destroyed their camp with a combination of winds like a cyclone, a red cloud in the sky and the earth shaking. The people tried to escape but were consumed by a hole which opened in the earth.

Lake Eacham is a place of remarkable beauty and peacefulness. The walks around its foreshores are quite superb and the swimming facilities are excellent although there nothing suitable for small children.

Butchers Creek and Topaz
There are a number of small settlements in the area including Butcher's Creek which has the Lynch and Lester Craters nearby. It is now little more than a few buildings. Further down the road is the tiny settlement of Topaz, once a stopover point for fossickers on their way to the goldfields, and now the centre of a dairying industry and tea growing.

	Motels
	Kooka Burra Motel Eacham Rd Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3222 Rating: **
	Lakeside Motor Inn Tinaburra Dve Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3563 Rating: **
	Yungaburra Park Motel Atherton Rd Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3211
	Hotels
	Lake Eacham Hotel 29 Gordonvale Rd Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3515 Rating: *
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Hendry House 9 Roseblade Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3625
	Caravan Parks
	Lakeside Caravan Park Tinaburra Dve Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3563 Rating: *
	Camping & Other
	On The Wallaby 37 Eacham Rd Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4051 0889
	Restaurants
	Burra Inn 1 Cedar St Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3657
	Nickšs Swiss Italian Restaurant Atherton Rd Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3330 Facsimile: (07) 4095 3816
	S'Nibbles Restaurant & Coffee Homestead 23 Gillies Hwy Yungaburra QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4095 3666