Chillagoe Caves and Outback Day Trip: Explore Australia's Natural and Historic Gems from Cairns

Embark on a full-day adventure from Cairns to explore the Chillagoe Caves, Granite Gorge, and other natural and historic gems of the Australian Outback. Discover the region’s wildlife, history, and Aboriginal culture while enjoying morning tea at a local coffee plantation and lunch at a 100-year-old pub. Limited to 14 people for a personalized experience.

Duration: 11 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Cairns - Your driver guide will pick you up from the Cairns area. Transfers from Port Douglas and Northern Beaches are available at an additional cost; please book with reservations before traveling.
  • Skybury Cafe & Roastery - Located in the heart of one of Australia’s most diverse and rich food bowls, Skybury Tropical Plantation has been…
What's Included
  • Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park Guided Tour with a local ranger
  • Granite Gorge National Park and see local rock wallabies
  • Return transfers with local driver guide and live commentary
  • Morning Tea at Skybury Cafe and Roastery with tea, coffee and sweet treats
  • Visit the Chillagoe Smelter Ruins
  • Visit Balancing Rock and see Aboriginal Rock Art
  • Lunch at a classic Aussie pub in Chillagoe
What's Not Included
  • Port Douglas & Northern Beaches transfers additional cost (book with reservations before travel)
Additional Information

Experience the ultimate Outback Full-Day Tour! Discover the Chillagoe Caves, Granite Gorge, and other treasures of the Australian Outback on this comprehensive day trip.
Accompanied by a naturalist guide, journey in a 4WD vehicle through the McAllister Ranges, the Great Dividing Range, and the Australian Outback, all while enjoying insightful commentary…

Location
Cairns
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(162 Ratings)
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Doertheb2024
Dec 18, 2024
Great. - Our tour guide Roan (hopefully I spelled it right) was great. Everyone has felt welcome as in a family. Great info, Good locations, super professional. Thanks for the great day and the tips for the next few days.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jadat21
Nov 25, 2024
The chance to see the outback - Great out and back trip. Lots to see. This gave us a chance to see what I had expected to see from Australia. The coast is lovely. In this trip you drove through some great country, saw agriculture, looked at cute wallabies. Loved this outing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jacob_z
Nov 24, 2024
Awesome Cave experience! - The caves were awesome, it is truly a must see experience if you’re traveling in Cairns and want to do something besides visit the Daintree and Reef. Shoutout to Andrew/AJ for being a great guide and very inclusive of everyone. A lot of activists in one day makes it easily worth it!
Review provided by Viator
Scott_l
Nov 9, 2024
Great tour, cool location, excellent guide! - This is a great tour, and very unique in the Cairns area. Ro was fantastic. There is a lot of driving in this tour due to the distance from Cairns, but the beautiful scenery and interesting commentary on the region from Ro made it fly by. The caves were incredible, and Billy Tea does an excellent job getting you out to see some very unique Australian landscapes and history. Highly recommend this tour to anyone with time in Cairns who wants to get at least a taste of the Aussie outback.
Review provided by Viator
Amelia_c
Oct 5, 2024
Enjoyable, well-organized tour - Rowan was a knowledgeable and personable guide. He made the long drive enjoyable and educational. For me, the best part of the trip was the cave hike. This tour was a great way to get a taste of the outback.
Review provided by Viator
Leone_r
Oct 3, 2024
A brilliant day with so much information on Australian history in that region - The information the tour guide, Rohan gave so so interesting & even though it was a long day I would recommend it. The Chilligoe Caves were incredible & the guide there was very informative too. Loved the day
Review provided by Viator
Sarah_h
Sep 28, 2024
Underrated Gem - This was one of the best things we did while in Cairns. Rowan was a fantastic guide and we loved the small group size. Caves were incredible. Wallabies were the cutest. Long, but memorable day!
Review provided by Viator
Aaron_o
Sep 23, 2024
Rowan curated the perfect day - Rowan was a great guide/ driver and we loved the entire day. Visited a coffee plantation, went on a tour of a huge cave, hiked (more like a nature stroll) to balancing rock, saw aboriginal art, then visited a reserve and fed rock wallabies. The best day! Thanks Rowan!
Review provided by Viator
Marcel_l
Dec 2, 2024
Wonderful outback adventure with a small con in the end - The best way to explore the Outback is in a guided tour with a local. In our case, Tony drove us through the Outback with several stops explaining us a lot about the history. He did a really good job - it was a really good experience. The walk through the cave was exciting. However, we ended up with mixed feelings about the last station: Seeing the rock wallabies is cool and they are walking free, but why do they have to sell food to feed the wild animals and why do they need to have other animals like birds or lizards in absolutely too small cages?! We absolutely didn't need the last stop as it has nothing to do with the Outback - we would rather skip that. Otherwise, we absolutely would recommend this tour for everyone who wants to visit the Outback and thanks again, Tony, for this cool experience!
Review provided by Viator
Rob
Oct 10, 2024
A very good use of a day. - It was a long day. It was a fantastic day. Rowan, to be known as Row henceforth, collected us spot on time, made easy small talk on arrival. We boarded, and his easygoing friendly patter continued as we finished collecting the full tour complement. He was clear in setting expectations for the length of the drive, and then set about driving and sharing relevant local cultural, political, and geomorphological history on the way to a very pleasant cup of coffee. More driving through changing landscapes (with relevant commentary) to lunch at the Chillagoe hotel, which delivered delightfully on the promise of that experience. Refuelled, we headed out to the smelter, the caves, and more - all the while shepherded along by Row and his calm, competent and undeniably enthusiastic appreciation of the world he was sharing with us. It was a long day, but did not feel thus. Entirely enjoyable and recommendable.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 10 guests
1 Adult
January 2025
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