Pepina Falls

Atherton Tableland / Far North, Queensland, Australia

About Pepina Falls


Hiking Distance: almost roadside; scramble
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2008-05-18
Date last visited: 2008-05-18

Waterfall Latitude: -17.5694
Waterfall Longitude: 145.60925

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Pepina Falls (I’ve also seen it referred to as Papina Falls) was one of the more obscure waterfalls in the Atherton Tablelands area east of Ravenshoe (that’s “ravens hoe” not “raven shoe”).

Julie and I visited this waterfall to kill some time between visits to Millaa Millaa Falls as we waited for the right lighting conditions.

Pepina_Falls_003_05172008 - Pepina Falls
Pepina Falls

And we were glad to have been able to witness this small (maybe 5m or so) but quaint hidden waterfall.

Experiencing Pepina Falls

In order to attain the view you see in the photo above, we had to descend a short and steep 90m overgrown trail that was more like a minor scramble.

The path eventually led us towards the bed of Middlebrook Creek with partial views of the diminutive Pepina Falls.

However, we had to edge out onto the creek a little bit in order to get cleaner looks given the visual obstructions.

Pepina_Falls_004_jx_05172008 - The bridge at the start of the short scramble leading to the base of Pepina Falls
The bridge at the start of the short scramble leading to the base of Pepina Falls

During the short scramble bridging the car park and the base of the falls, I was concerned about brushing up against the overgrowth.

That’s because I was afraid of plants that were known to have neurotoxic hairs (definitely worse than poison ivy or poison oak) that seemed to be prevalent in the tropical regions of Queensland.

Since I couldn’t tell which leaves or plants had this property, Julie and I took extra precautions by wearing long sleeves (despite the humidity) while traversing this stretch.

When we got to the bottom, we could have gotten more direct views of the falls, but that required wading in the stream, and we were not willing to get that wet.

Pepina Falls and Souita Falls Confusion

Souita_Falls_013_05172008 - Souita Falls
Souita Falls

Finally, there was a little bit of confusion between this waterfall and Souita Falls.

That was because a sign at Millaa Millaa Falls had the two falls mixed up.

As you can see from the signage shown in this page, we definitely had the correct falls identified.

Authorities

Pepina 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.

Pepina_Falls_001_jx_05172008 - Pepina Falls looking through some overgrowth
Pepina_Falls_005_05172008 - Another look at Pepina Falls


From the town of Millaa Millaa, the Palmerston Hwy stopped becoming Hwy 25 as it turned left from the centre of town.

Note that Hwy 25 would then continue as the Millaa Millaa-Malanda Rd.

We then went south from this junction for about 8.3km until we reached a bridge over a creek signposted as Middlebrook Creek.

There was also a Pepina Falls sign here adjacent to a small pullout.

This was where we parked the car.

The Palmerston Hwy continuation in Millaa Millaa was about 55km west of the Bruce Hwy (A1) in Innisfail.

For geographical context, Innisfail was 88km (over an hour drive) south of Cairns and 260km (3 hours drive) north of Townsville.

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Tagged with: atherton, far north queensland, queensland, australia, waterfall, tablelands, waterfall circuit, millaa millaa, ravenshoe, middlebrook creek



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Pepina Falls, Palmerston Hwy, Nov 2009 November 24, 2009 8:16 am by Ken Selvia - Just returned to USA after a week in Australia. Used your waterfall listings and maps to make a nice day driving tour. We loved the Palmerston Hwy drive. We saw some wild peacocks on the side of the road too. I notice your location for Pepina Falls is not quite right. Yours matches the one… ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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