Natural attractions
Great Barrier Reef
1. Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, the reef is the only living thing on earth visible from space.
2. Fraser Island
Fraser Island is a World Heritage-listed natural wonder—the largest sand island in the world. Fraser Island is the only place in the world where tall rainforests are found growing on sand dunes at elevations of over 200 metres.
3. Glasshouse Mountains
Named by Captain James Cook, the Glasshouse Mountains are a series of spectacular volcanic plugs rising dramatically from the coastal plain northeast of Brisbane.
4. Whitsundays
Bordered by the Great Barrier Reef and 74 tropical islands in the calm waters of the Coral Sea, the region spans from the beautiful beaches of Bowen in the north to the inland township Proserpine, and is home to Heart Reef and the world-famous Whitehaven beach.
5. Daintree Rainforest
The World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest, Australia's largest rainforest, is home to the largest range of plants and animals on Earth.
6. Outback Queensland
Queensland's Outback has it all, from the magnificent natural diversity of the Channel Country in the south-west and the heritage-rich Matilda Country of the central-west to the ancient lands of the Dinosaur, Fossil and Mining Country in the north-west.
7. Carnarvon Gorge
Carnarvon Gorge is located in the Southern Brigalow Belt region in Central Queensland. Primarily created by water erosion, Carnarvon Gorge is around 30km long and features spectacular rock art on sandstone overhangs.
8. Stradbroke Island
Straddie as it's known to locals is located at the southern end of Moreton Bay, and is one of the largest sand islands in the world. North Stradbroke is a popular escape destination.
9. Lamington National Park
Lamington National Park is a part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves (World Heritage site), on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. The plateaus and cliffs in Lamington are the remnants of a 23 million year old Wollumbin/Tweed volcano, centered around Mount Warning.
10. Bunya Mountains
The Bunya Mountains is a spectacular wilderness range forming an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range lying halfway between Kingaroy and Dalby. The immense subtropical range is home to the world's largest forest of bunya pines.
11. Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay, Brisbane's major shipping channel, is a popular spot for fishing, swimming and sailing and is bounded to the east by the beautiful North Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island.
12. Barron Falls
The Barron Falls is where the Barron River makes its descent from the Atherton Tablelands to the Cairns coastal plain. Protected within the Barron Gorge National Park, large volumes of water only fall after substantial rainfall during the wet season.
13. Springbrook National Park
Nestled between Lamington National Park and the Queensland coast, Springbrook National Park is renowned for its waterfalls and ancient Antarctic beech trees. Springbrook is part of the Gondwana Rainforests and is recognised as one of the most outstanding and valuable places in the world by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
14. Magnetic Island
Magnetic Island, offshore from Townsville and home to about 2,500 residents, is a mountainous island, half of which is national park. The name of the island came about because of the apparent "magnetic" effect it had on the ship's compass of Captain Cook as he passed the island when sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770.
15. Undara Lava Tubes
One of the wonders of Australia, the Undara Lava Tubes are reputedly the largest lava tubes in the world. Located in bushland south-west of Cairns, the cave-like channels were formed when lava, expelled by a volcano, traveled beneath the Earth's surface.
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Last reviewed 4 June 2009
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