Tully Gorge Lookout — Attraction in Koombooloomba

"Where is the waterfall?

As you gaze across the gorge, you may be lucky enough to see water tumbling over the 293 m cliff face, into the Tully River below. These falls were once considered one of the most impressive waterfalls on the Australian continent and were a major icon of North Queensland. You may now be wondering what has happened to these falls. Where has all the water gone?

After World War II, the electricity needs of North Queensland increased and the Tully River was selected to provide hydro-electric power. In the 1959s the Koombooloomba Dam was constructed 19 km upstream from Tully Falls. The construction of two separate hydro-electric stations followed, both of which rely on water from the dam.

At present water from the Tully River is captured at two points. Firstly it is confined in the Koombooloomba Dam an released back into the river through the 7 MW Koombooloomba hydro-electric station.

From here the water follows approximately 13 km to the Tully Falls Weir, just above the falls, where it is captured again. From the weir, water is diverted down the hillside, via a concrete intake structure, and into the 84 MW Kareeya hydro-electric station located about 2 km below the falls.

To ensure reliable electricity supply to meet the energy demands of North Queensland, water is diverted form the Tully River to the Koombooloomba and Kareeya hydro-electric stations. As a result, little water flows down the falls. It is only during the wet season, when the entire system floods, that the falls resemble their...

The Tully Gorge is astounding from the lookout. It's deep, plunging down from eye level to the base of the falls. The falls have disappeared! Water only goes over the falls after long periods of heavy rain. We found this out on information boards at the lookout. The drive from Ravenshoe to the lookout is largely through dense rainforest. That was very nice, but no views of anything but rainforest. We really enjoyed the trip, but were disappointed that the falls weren't happening. All up, we visited 8 waterfalls in a couple of days. There are some beautiful areas and towns in...

This is fantastic drive through World Heritage Rain Forest.It is mainly bitumen except the last 1km but still passable by conventional vehicle.There are cute little creeks and waterfall on the way off the road.Some are easy and others are only for very experienced bush walkers The gorge is spectacular but sadly only flows rarely due to Koolbooloomba dam holding the water back unless it's at 100% capacity.However there is a side track leading down to the base of the gorge which is quite a challenging but an interesting walk .Highly recommend the drive and the look...