GuestTours Review
Chillagoe Caves & Outback Review
Chillagoe is the opposite of the reef and the rainforest: 215 km inland, dry, red and full of limestone caves. The caves are ranger-guided, and the day adds smelter ruins, Aboriginal rock art and rock wallabies at Granite Gorge. Be honest with yourself about the length: it is a long day with a lot of driving, and it runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday only.
GuestTours Verdict
GuestTours award: Best Outback Day. GuestTours rating: 4.6 / 5.
What's Included
Inclusions and Exclusions
- Cairns City accommodation pickup and return
- Small-group 4WD, 16 to 20 passengers
- Local guide for the full day
- Morning tea at Skybury Coffee Plantation
- Ranger-guided tour of the Chillagoe limestone caves
- Chillagoe Smelter Ruins
- Aussie pub lunch at the Chillagoe Hotel
- Balancing Rock photo stop
- Aboriginal rock art site
- Granite Gorge Nature Park, rock wallabies
Who It's For
Best for these travellers
Great for
Repeat visitors to Cairns
If you have already done the reef and the Daintree, this is the day that shows you something genuinely different.
Great for
History and geology lovers
Limestone caves formed from an ancient reef, the ruins of a copper smelter town, and Aboriginal rock art in one day.
Great for
Anyone without a hire car
The last stretch to Chillagoe is partly unsealed and most rental agreements do not allow it. This takes the problem away.
Great for
Wildlife spotters
Granite Gorge rock wallabies, plus kangaroos, emus and wedge-tailed eagles across the outback stretches.
Not ideal
Travellers with fixed dates
This tour only runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If your dates do not line up, you will need a different day.
Not ideal
Anyone short on time
This eats a whole day and then some. On a three or four day trip, the reef and the Daintree earn their place first.
Day Schedule
What the Chillagoe day actually looks like
Departures Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Cairns City pickup is between 6.45am and 7am, with return between 6.30pm and 7pm. The order of stops can change with weather and road conditions.
6.45 am
Cairns City hotel pickup
Your guide collects you from your Cairns City accommodation. Northern Beaches guests are picked up around 6.45am by International Coaches and transferred to the Canopys Edge bus stop in Smithfield to meet the Billy Tea guide. Port Douglas pickup runs earlier, between 6am and 6.15am, to the bottom of the Kuranda range. Both cost extra and Port Douglas needs a minimum of 2 people.
~9.00 am
Morning tea at Skybury Coffee Plantation
The road climbs the range and out through Mareeba. Skybury is a coffee plantation on the western edge of the Tablelands, the last green you see before the country turns dry.
~11.30 am
Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park
The centrepiece. A ranger-guided walk through the limestone cave system, roughly an hour at a slow pace. There are stairs, uneven ground and a few tight sections, so closed shoes are compulsory and it helps to be reasonably steady on your feet.
~1.00 pm
Chillagoe Smelter Ruins
What is left of the copper smelters that made Chillagoe a boom town in the early 1900s. Chimneys, foundations and slag heaps, with the town that grew around it and then shrank back again.
~1.45 pm
Pub lunch at the Chillagoe Hotel
Lunch is included, at the pub in town. You are a long way from anywhere, so the menu is not extensive. Dietary requirements need to be flagged when you book, not on the day.
~3.00 pm
Balancing Rock and Aboriginal rock art
A photo stop at Balancing Rock, then a rock art site where your guide talks through the region's Indigenous history and Dreamtime stories.
~4.30 pm
Granite Gorge Nature Park
The last stop on the way back, and the one children remember: rock wallabies that come close enough to feed. Kangaroos, emus and wedge-tailed eagles turn up across the day's driving too.
6.30 pm
Back in Cairns
Return to your Cairns City accommodation between 6.30pm and 7pm. Northern Beaches guests are dropped at Smithfield around 6.30pm for the transfer on. Port Douglas returns between 7pm and 7.30pm.
Tour Stops
Key locations on the Chillagoe outback tour
Chillagoe sits about 215 km west of Cairns, past Mareeba and Dimbulah, roughly three hours of driving each way. The day is built around four places you cannot reach on any other tour from Cairns.
Chillagoe-Mungana Caves
Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park · Stop 1
Limestone caves formed over millions of years, deep in dry outback country. The tour through them is ranger-guided and takes about an hour at a slow pace. Closed shoes are compulsory and there are a few narrow sections.
Chillagoe Smelter Ruins
Chillagoe township · Stop 2
The remains of the copper smelters that made Chillagoe a boom town in the early 1900s. Chimneys and foundations still stand, with the shrunken town around them.
Balancing Rock and the rock art
Near Chillagoe · Stop 3
A photo stop at Balancing Rock, and a culturally significant Aboriginal rock art site where your guide covers the region's Indigenous history.
Granite Gorge Nature Park
Near Mareeba, on the way home · Stop 4
Rock wallabies that come close enough to hand-feed, in a granite boulder landscape. The last stop before the run back down to Cairns.
Practical Details
Before You Book
Departure Days
Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. Not running on Good Friday, Ironman weekend, Christmas Day or New Year's Day.
Duration
Cairns City pickup between 6.45am and 7am, back between 6.30pm and 7pm. Around twelve hours door to door.
Food and Drink
Morning tea at Skybury Coffee Plantation and an Aussie pub lunch at the Chillagoe Hotel are both included. Dietary requirements must be given when you book: it is a remote pub and the choice is limited.
Vehicle
Custom-built 4WD carrying 16 to 20 passengers. Not a coach.
Ages and Prices
Adult 17+ $239, child 4 to 16 $179, family of two adults and two children $750. Extra child $150.
Pickup Locations
Cairns City is included. Northern Beaches and Port Douglas cost extra and are booked at checkout. Port Douglas needs a minimum of 2 people and starts between 6am and 6.15am.
What to Bring
Closed walking shoes are compulsory for the caves, no thongs. Sunscreen, a hat, a refillable water bottle, a camera, and a light jacket in the cooler months.
Fitness
You need to be reasonably steady on your feet. The cave walk takes about an hour with stairs and uneven ground, and there are a few confined sections. Tell your guide beforehand if tight spaces bother you.
Cancellation
Cancelling is tight on this tour, and Billy Tea's own page gives two different windows: 24 hours in the fares section and 18 hours in the FAQ. Treat 24 hours before departure as the deadline, and expect a $50 fee if you move to another date. We confirm the exact terms with you before your booking is finalised. If Billy Tea cancel your departure, they move you to the next available date at no extra cost.
Operator Background
Billy Tea Safaris has been operating in Far North Queensland since 1983, and describe this as the only full-day outback tour from Cairns.
Full Review
The full review
Everyone comes to Cairns for the reef and the rainforest. Chillagoe is the opposite of both: 215 km inland, dry, red, and full of limestone caves that took millions of years to form. Billy Tea Safaris has run Far North Queensland tours since 1983 and this is the one day tour that gets you out there and back.
The caves are ranger-guided and genuinely impressive, and the rest of the day earns its place: the smelter ruins from Chillagoe's copper boom, Aboriginal rock art, a pub lunch at the Chillagoe Hotel, and rock wallabies at Granite Gorge on the way home. Vehicles carry 16 to 20 people, so it stays a small group.
Be honest with yourself about the length. Pickup is around 6.45am and you are back between 6.30 and 7pm, and a good chunk of that is driving. It runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. If you want to see a side of Queensland that most visitors never reach, it is worth the day.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. It does not run on Good Friday, Ironman weekend, Christmas Day or New Year's Day. If your dates do not line up there is no alternative day tour to Chillagoe from Cairns.
About 215 km inland, roughly three hours of driving each way. The route runs up through Mareeba and Dimbulah before the landscape turns to dry outback country.
Cairns City pickup is between 6.45am and 7am and you are back between 6.30pm and 7pm. Northern Beaches guests start with a coach transfer to Smithfield at around 6.45am. Port Douglas guests leave between 6am and 6.15am and get back between 7pm and 7.30pm.
$239 per adult aged 17 and over, $179 per child aged 4 to 16, and $750 for a family of two adults and two children. Each extra child is $150. Northern Beaches and Port Douglas transfers cost extra.
Yes, children from 4 to 16 have their own fare. Bear in mind it is a very long day with a lot of driving, and the cave walk involves stairs, uneven ground and a few tight sections.
Cairns City pickup and return, the small-group 4WD, your guide for the day, morning tea at Skybury Coffee Plantation, the ranger-guided cave tour, pub lunch at the Chillagoe Hotel, and entry to the stops along the way including Granite Gorge.
Limestone cave systems inside Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park. The limestone started as a coral reef hundreds of millions of years ago, which is why you get reef fossils in the middle of dry outback country. The tour through them is ranger-guided.
Reasonably. The cave walk takes about an hour at a slow pace and includes stairs and uneven ground. Closed shoes are compulsory, set by National Parks for safety.
There are a few narrow sections you need to pass through. If tight spaces are a genuine problem for you, tell the local guide at the start and they will work with you.
The vehicles carry 16 to 20 passengers. Numbers are kept small deliberately, so it is not a coach experience.
Yes, but they must be given when you book rather than on the day. Lunch is at a remote outback pub, so the choice is more limited than it would be in Cairns.
Free cancellation up to 18 hours before travel, which works out at 2pm the day before. Inside that window there is no refund, and a rebooking costs $50. If your departure is cancelled by the operator, you get moved to the next available date at no extra cost.
You can, but check your rental agreement first. The final 32 km is a mix of sealed and unsealed road and most hire car contracts do not allow unsealed driving. That, plus six hours of driving on your own, is why most people take the tour.
No, they are two separate day tours. The Daintree and Cape Tribulation trip heads north into rainforest and along the coast. Chillagoe goes west into dry outback country. If you have time for both, they complement each other well.
Chillagoe Caves & Outback
Caves, ruins & outback · Mon/Wed/Fri
Tour Price
Adult 17+
About 12 hours, door to door
$239
Child 4 to 16
Family of 2+2: $750
$179
📅 Runs Monday, Wednesday & Friday only. Cairns City pickup included; Northern Beaches and Port Douglas cost extra.