Finch Hatton Gorge

Finch Hatton Gorge is a rainforest gorge in Eungella National Park, about 70 kilometres west of Mackay in Queensland. It is known for its dense tropical rainforest, granite boulders, clear swimming holes and waterfalls including Araluen Cascades and Wheel of Fire Falls. Accessed via sealed and unsealed roads from Finch Hatton township, the gorge offers marked walking tracks through protected national park landscape and is a popular day-use destination for nature-based recreation.

Visitors can expect a subtropical rainforest gorge with marked walking tracks leading through dense forest, over granite boulders and along Finch Hatton Creek to waterfalls and natural swimming holes. The main tracks are the Araluen Cascades track (1.6 km return) and the Wheel of Fire Falls track (4.2 km return). Facilities are basic and focused on day use, with picnic areas, car parking and interpretive signage. Swimming is possible in designated creek pools when conditions allow.

Finch Hatton Gorge lies within Eungella National Park, declared in 1941 and one of Queensland's oldest national parks. The area was historically used for timber harvesting and later protected for its rainforest and catchment values. The gorge and surrounding ranges form part of the Clarke Range.

The gorge is within the traditional lands of the Wirri and Yuwi peoples and the broader Mackay region Aboriginal cultural landscape. Eungella is an Aboriginal word meaning 'land of the clouds', reflecting the cultural connection to the mist-covered ranges and rainforest.