Ellinjaa Falls

About Ellinjaa Falls

Rating: 1.5

Difficulty: 1.5

Hiking Distance: 400m round trip

Suggested Time: 15-30 minutes

Date first visited: 2008-05-18

Date last visited: 2022-06-30

Waterfall Latitude: -17.49359

Waterfall Longitude: 145.65608

Directions: Get to the waterfall

Vicinity: Find nearby waterfalls

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Ellinjaa Falls was one of the three waterfalls as part of the 17km Waterfall Circuit (the other two being Millaa Millaa Falls and Zillie Falls) though unlike the other waterfalls, this was not on Theresa Creek.

Viewing this waterfall required us to go on a straightforward short walk (about 200m long) that took us down to its base.

Ellinjaa_Falls_017_05172008 - Ellinjaa Falls — Ellinjaa Falls

From the bottom of the falls, that was where we appreciated its modest 10-15m height (though I’ve seen it reported to be 12m tall in the literature).

When we first visited this waterfall on a sunny morning, we showed up at around 9:15am in mid-May 2008.

During that visit, some of the sun’s rays had penetrated the forest cover thereby creating little light spots on the otherwise shadowy waterfall (which wasn’t ideal for taking pictures).

When we came back in late June 2022, it was raining so we didn’t have to worry about uneven lighting from the sun.

Waterfall_Circuit_111_06292022 - Going down the short and pretty straightforward walk down to the bottom of Ellinjaa Falls — Going down the short and pretty straightforward walk down to the bottom of Ellinjaa Falls

Nevertheless, there were people who braved the cold plunge pool and waded right up to the base of the falls, which I’d imagine would be a great way to cool off under hot and humid weather.

Overall, we spent about 30 minutes away from the car to take in the experience though I’m sure it could easily be longer if we were so inclined to go a dip.

Anyways, according to my Natmap Raster map of Australia, they spelled this waterfall as Elinjaa Falls where they only spelled it with one “l”.

I’m not sure if this spelling was correct or if the double-“l” version was correct.

Waterfall_Circuit_135_06292022 - During our rainy late June 2022 visit to Ellinjaa Falls, there were some people who braved the cold weather and cold water to get under the waterfall — During our rainy late June 2022 visit to Ellinjaa Falls, there were some people who braved the cold weather and cold water to get under the waterfall

But regardless of what its true spelling was supposed to be, I don’t know the meaning of the word and I couldn’t find anything on it in the literature.

Authorities

Ellinjaa Falls resides in the Atherton Tablelands Region near Millaa Millaa, Queensland. It is administered by the Tablelands Regional Council. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website or Facebook page.

Route to this Waterfall

Ellinjaa Falls sits within the Waterfall Circuit Scenic Drive in the heart of the Atherton Tablelands near the rural town of Millaa Millaa.

It was about 3.3km along the looping Theresa Creek Rd from the Palmerston Hwy (Hwy 25) going in the counterclockwise (anticlockwise) direction.

Waterfall_Circuit_104_06292022 - This was the suddenly busy car park for Ellinjaa Falls as seen on our late June 2022 visit — This was the suddenly busy car park for Ellinjaa Falls as seen on our late June 2022 visit

The turnoff for Theresa Creek Rd going in this direction was about 53km west of the start of the Palmerston Hwy in Innisfail.

Going in the other direction, the other end of Theresa Creek Rd started from the far northeast corner of the Millaa Millaa town (about 1km west of the other end of the Theresa Creek Rd entrance mentioned above).

It was about 12km going in the clockwise direction along Theresa Creek Rd to the car park for Ellinjaa Falls.

For geographical context, Innisfail was 59km (less than an hour drive) west of Millaa Millaa, 88km (over an hour drive) south of Cairns, 148km (over 90 minutes drive) north of Ingham, and 260km (3 hours drive) north of Townsville.