Undara Volcanic National Park
Situated in the Etheridge Shire, on Agwamin/Ewamian Country, around 190 kilometres southwest of Cairns, 260 kilometres northwest of Townsville, and 145 kilometres west of Cardwell, the 61,500-hectare Undara Volcanic National Park was established in 2009 to protect Australia's longest lava tube and the area's unique fauna and flora.
The National Park lies within the 5,500-square-kilometre McBride Basalt Province — one of eleven separate Cenozoic volcanic regions in north Queensland — with a total of 164 eruption centres (volcanoes, vents, and cones) dating back approximately 8 million years. Volcanic activity around 190,000 years ago expelled an estimated 23.3 cubic kilometres of lava onto the surrounding countryside, flowing more than 90 kilometres to the north and over 160 kilometres to the north-west. While the lava initially flowed at a temperature of around 1,200°C, a crust formed as the surface cooled and solidified but — in terrain that allowed the liquid beneath the crust to drain away — hollows formed under the crust, remaining hidden until the surface subsided, revealing what lay below and providing niches for plants and animals that would struggle to survive in the surrounding dry savannah.
European presence in the area dates back to 1862, when the Collins family established Rosella Plains and Spring Creek cattle stations, and the Pinwills family established Yaramulla (meaning 'no water'). The Collins family began offering guided tours of the tubes in 1989 and developed tourist infrastructure before the National Park was declared. They subsequently received a special business lease to continue the tourist operation — now known as the Undara Experience — after the national park was declared.
Although the Kalkani Crater is accessible without a guide, visits to the tubes themselves are only allowed on guided tours.
