Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park
Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park
Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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5.0
210 reviews
Excellent
165
Very good
41
Average
3
Poor
1
Terrible
0
Adam J
Mildura, Australia21 contributions
Feb 2020
We drove here from cairns, it took us roughly 3hrs stopping for coffee along the way, road has bitumen sections west of Almaden, due to being the low season, the booking lady and the ranger took us out to Donna cave in the arvo, Ranger Eddie was very informative guide, with a great imagination, this cave is lit with lights, is relatively easy to do and very beautiful, we also did the Archways self guided cave, due to the rain starting to settle in we left around 5, dirt roads were still good, with plenty of wildlife to see. To do all the caves one really needs to stay overnight. Last guided tour is 130pm
Written 24 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Darron Gedge's G
Cockle Bay, New Zealand275 contributions
Jun 2022
I love places that are off the beaten track and this one is a gem. This park is primalry a Karst (limestone) landscape and has numerous caves to explore, some free and others paid. The walks are easy and fun to take kids. It is best to come here in the dry season as it is cooler (but still a hot 31 degrees) than the wet season. Pkenty of birdlife to see as well as wallbies around the place. There are also Aboriginal cave paintinjgs to see here and a historic copper smelter to visit.
Written 29 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dominika L
Gold Coast, Australia168 contributions
Dec 2020
We visited these caves when we were staying in Cairns. It took us 3 hours to drive there and another 3 hours to go back. The drive was beautiful and the aircon in the car made us feel constantly amazing given it was 38 degrees out in the west. The caves were incredible. There are 3 tours you can do in the day through 3 caves although the whole place has more than 400 caves and more experienced cavers can do these on their own risk. We did guided tours. There was an hour break between each with an extra 1 hour for lunch. My favourite was Donna Cave and the Royal Arch Cave the one in the middle I can take or leave. Price was $60 for all 3 of them or $50 for 2 of them so we of course did all 3 for extra $10. The tours are at given times and there is only 1 tour a day for each cave. There are 2 pubs for very traditional pub meal lunch or you can get some food for picnic lunch from a local store but do not expect aircon anywhere just fans. The caves temperature is 23 and it is nice and cool. It is worth to see.
Written 27 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lyn
Cairns Region, Australia33 contributions
Oct 2020 • Family
Visited Trezkinn and Royal Arches cave.
Both guided tours. Enjoyed every minute.
Trezkinn is lit and Royal arches is dark( will be issued with torch.
Royal Arches has pockets of daylight or open cave roof. This cave has a ‘Laundry Shoot’( low cave where ( if are brave) enter on tummy and come out feet first.( sorry I’m not brave so I cannot tell you about this experience).
However other how experienced said it was fun.
Indigenous guides have lots of knowledge and at times funny.
Both guided tours. Enjoyed every minute.
Trezkinn is lit and Royal arches is dark( will be issued with torch.
Royal Arches has pockets of daylight or open cave roof. This cave has a ‘Laundry Shoot’( low cave where ( if are brave) enter on tummy and come out feet first.( sorry I’m not brave so I cannot tell you about this experience).
However other how experienced said it was fun.
Indigenous guides have lots of knowledge and at times funny.
Written 3 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nola Telley
Cairns, Australia15 contributions
Jun 2021 • Couples
Was absolutely in awe of the way nature evolves.
Our Ranger Sam delivered so much easy to understand facts about how the caves were formed.
A wonder of nature and a must see whilst in the area.
We were so lucky to have had .
Sam be our guide . Her friendly delivery of the facts and her sense of humour was wonderful.
Our Ranger Sam delivered so much easy to understand facts about how the caves were formed.
A wonder of nature and a must see whilst in the area.
We were so lucky to have had .
Sam be our guide . Her friendly delivery of the facts and her sense of humour was wonderful.
Written 17 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JElliot32
New South Wales, Australia3,971 contributions
Sept 2022
Time only allowed for two cave tours in Chillagoe, which were the Royal Arch first, then the Trezkinn, which I preferred. It is smaller, more recently discovered and so less damaged, and wetter than the Royal Arch. The Trezkinn tour took only 35 mins. Because it is more humid than the Royal Arch we saw many more bats here (Diadem leaf-nosed bats) and the process of stalactite formation is more active. There was one truly spectacular formation in the Trezkinn - I think called 'the Chandelier' ... or maybe 'the Candelabra' It was one of a kind and I've never seen such a massive, elaborate community of stalactites before (and I have visited a lot of limestone caves). The Chandelier alone was worth the price of admission!
The Royal Arch is much larger, with some large cavernous underground spaces and also places where light enters. It has been open to visitors over a hundred years and was a popular place for social events during Chillagoe's heyday. Our guide said when they were tidying the cave up for tourist visits they removed many truckloads of bottles. The highlights of this cave tour were the fact that each of us was given our own miners lamps, and a short but particularly skinny passage called 'the laundry chute'. Both of these things were very popular with the kids in the group. Note that navigation of the Laundry Chute is not compulsory; there is another track around it. The Royal Arch tour took 1 and a half hours
Another highlight: a Mareeba rock-wallaby hopped by just as we emerged from the Trezkinn cave entrance.
The Royal Arch is much larger, with some large cavernous underground spaces and also places where light enters. It has been open to visitors over a hundred years and was a popular place for social events during Chillagoe's heyday. Our guide said when they were tidying the cave up for tourist visits they removed many truckloads of bottles. The highlights of this cave tour were the fact that each of us was given our own miners lamps, and a short but particularly skinny passage called 'the laundry chute'. Both of these things were very popular with the kids in the group. Note that navigation of the Laundry Chute is not compulsory; there is another track around it. The Royal Arch tour took 1 and a half hours
Another highlight: a Mareeba rock-wallaby hopped by just as we emerged from the Trezkinn cave entrance.
Written 17 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Graham0709
Newcastle, Australia152 contributions
Jul 2023
Just an absolute awesome experience visiting two of the caves.. Trezkinn and Royal Arch.
If your time is limited then visit Donna cave.
All three caves are a short uphill walk from the carpark.
The work of the Qld Parks in creating a lighting experience and safe walkways within the depths is incredible.
Our guide was extremely interesting.
If your time is limited then visit Donna cave.
All three caves are a short uphill walk from the carpark.
The work of the Qld Parks in creating a lighting experience and safe walkways within the depths is incredible.
Our guide was extremely interesting.
Written 30 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
C8125JEcindyb
Kirwan, Australia52 contributions
Aug 2021
We went on all three guided caves and also did the Archways self guided cave by ourselves.
Our guide Bob was excellent and was very knowledgeable answering all our questions.
Being older I wasn't sure how strenuous the tour would be but actually the hardest part was the staircase up to the entry of the Trezkinn cave, once inside the caves the staircase, ladders and walkways make it easy to get around , with lots of opportunities to stop along the way to take in the awesome formations.
The caves themselves exceeded my expectations and were spectacular.
I would thoroughly recommend doing all three of the guided caves if possible.
We chose the Archways do ourselves as it was the easiest of the self guided caves and was also a cave that had some natural light coming in. I would still recommend taking a torch as theres some uneven ground inside .
Our guide Bob was excellent and was very knowledgeable answering all our questions.
Being older I wasn't sure how strenuous the tour would be but actually the hardest part was the staircase up to the entry of the Trezkinn cave, once inside the caves the staircase, ladders and walkways make it easy to get around , with lots of opportunities to stop along the way to take in the awesome formations.
The caves themselves exceeded my expectations and were spectacular.
I would thoroughly recommend doing all three of the guided caves if possible.
We chose the Archways do ourselves as it was the easiest of the self guided caves and was also a cave that had some natural light coming in. I would still recommend taking a torch as theres some uneven ground inside .
Written 20 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim C
Brisbane, Australia174 contributions
Jul 2020
Ranger Steve helped make it a very enjoyable and interesting day. I liked his description of the cave cockroaches the best. We drove from Mareeba and saw Trezkinn Cave, which was lit, at 11am and Royal Arch Cave, for which we were all given torches, after lunch. The group ranged in age from 4 to 75.
Written 14 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helen C
8 contributions
Oct 2023 • Family
Great value for money. For example Undara cave tours are a complete rip off compared to the Chillagoe caves. Took my 2 year old to Royal Arch cave tour and he absolutely loved it too (he is very adventurous and can easily walk 3-4km without being carried though). I've been to many caves and Chillagoe is definitely one of the top experiences. Great guide too.
Written 7 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
we are planning to visit Chillagoe caves this october. My wife is quite claustrophobic and we were wondering if it is possible for her to do any of the caves at all. We were advised to look at you tube videos but didn't find them useful. How tight are the exit stairs in Trezkinn? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks
Neil
Thanks
Neil
Written 19 August 2019
My wife and I are late 50’s and not what you would describe as intrepid cave dwelling types - we found it gentle and non confronting - I would recommend.
Written 2 November 2019
I'm very claustrophobic, I have been in caves before but it all depends how it is inside. I did read in one you need to crouch for over 12m which is probably not ok for me and was wondering on the others where there are tight spaces, I mean are they wide passages?
Written 28 July 2018
Trezkinn cave is very nice, wide and secure - from what you wrote in your question - I would say it's also suitable for you. You don't need crouch - there are just few passages where you could hit your head - so you have to tilt your head. The floor is even - covered with gratings and there are rails usually on both sides.
Written 29 July 2018
Are closed shoes compulsory to tour the caves? Only brought open toe shoes/thongs with me!
Written 17 January 2018
It would be best for the caves as you need some grip on the rocks. The guided tour I think will be ok just a lot of steps.
The other places will be fine
Enjoy it
Written 19 January 2018
No not at the location of the caves but the caves are not far away from Chillagoe main street where there is a pub and other food options.
Written 2 July 2016
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