Murray Falls; another beautiful Queensland destination
Everyone has their favourite waterfalls and campgrounds in Queensland, but when a very helpful lady at Tully Information Centre suggested we spend a night at Murray Falls, I was intrigued. We’d missed the section between Townsville and Tully, and decided to head north again, and check it out. We did Wallaman Falls, then the epic drive out to Blencoe Falls, and on the way back, decided to head into Murray Falls to have a look, and spend a night.
When we left, we headed past Cardwell Spa Pools, which were well worth a visit.
Where are the Murray Falls?
You’ll find this beautiful place not far south of Tully, heading slightly inland. It’s quick to get to, and unlike Wallaman Falls and Blencoe Falls you won’t be driving for ages to get there.
What’s the road condition like?
The road into Murray Falls is entirely bitumen, with a couple of single lane sections over the bridges, until you get very close. From here, it’s a 3km gravel road that is in reasonable condition (and was being graded when we arrived).
You’d comfortably get a 2WD into here, with due care. Take it easy driving around the campground if you have low clearance, as some of the humps put in to divert water will result in you bottoming out (as we saw!).
Walks at Murray Falls
You don’t get too many spots that are as easy to access as Murray Falls. The day use area is on the left as you drive in, and takes you to where you can swim, have a picnic and relax next to the beautiful creek.
If you want to see the falls closer, you can either walk from the corner of the campground, or there’s a small parking area next to it. The walk is literally about 100 metres on a well made boardwalk with a couple of stairs, and you end up within 20 metres of the bottom of the falls, which is absolutely fantastic.
Alternatively, if you head out at the start of the campground, you can walk a 1.8 kilometre return track that takes you to the top of the waterfall. You can see this lookout from the bottom one, and it’d be pretty neat.
You can only swim at the day use area
It’s worth mentioning that you aren’t allowed to access the water for swimming anywhere, except the day use area. There’s signs everywhere that prevent you from going down to the water elsewhere, and I assume this is from previous injuries (or worse).
The swimming area is magic, and it is what it is.
Camping at Murray Falls
We’d been told that the campground at Murray Falls was really good, and it doesn’t matter what angle you look at it, camping is great. It’s essentially two big loops, which are quite open with large trees in the middle, and a huge amount of choice for camping. You can camp on the outer of the rings, or inside, and there’s lots of fire pits, shade and great views anywhere that you end up.
The amenities are decent, there’s plenty of bird life around and its just a nice place to be. We did hear about rats eating engine bay wiring and made the effort to leave our bonnet open (which Lake Tinaroo signs suggested is a good solution as they don’t like being in the open), and had no issues.
Watch our vlog
Yep, we’re vlogging our way around Australia too. You can watch our episode of Murray Falls here:
Are the Murray Falls worth visiting?
We’ve yet to go to a waterfall in Queensland that we thought, well, that wasn’t really worth doing. The Murray Falls are no different; you can get very close to the bottom, their decent in size and very picturesque.
The day use area is fantastic for young kids to swim, and the campground is really nice too. We’d happily recommend a visit here, even if its just as you’re driving through. It’s another great Queensland attraction.
