About an hour out of Cairns, there is a tropical wonderland that has nothing to do with the Great Barrier Reef. And no, I am not talking about the Daintree Rainforest – amazing as that is.

I have been to Cairns many times but never explored the Atherton Tablelands – specifically what is known as the waterfall circuit.

This area is a natural playground of tropical forests, volcanic crater lakes, and rivers rushing towards the coast to create a wonderland of incredible waterfalls and I couldn’t wait to explore them.

We started our day trip after a coffee by heading to probably one of the most Instagrammed waterfalls in the area - Millaa Millaa Falls.

We got there early and managed to almost have this spot to ourselves to admire the 18-metre drop. It’s not too much of a swimming spot as the water is very shallow until right near the falls but it is awe-inspiring to soak in the majesty of nature.

Access is pretty easy from the top carpark down a short stone walk or if you have mobility issues, you can get to the viewing platform from the bottom carpark.

The Instagram-worthy Millaa Millaa Falls

Our next stop was just down the road at Zillie Falls where we were a little disappointed with the views from the platform.

Access to the platform is pretty easy, across the road from the carpark (but with no crossing so be careful!)

The view is quite restricted, not really looking down at it, but not looking across it either, it’s yet another view that doesn’t allow you to take in the waterfall’s full beauty.

We weren’t able to uncover any sort of official track down to the base of Zillie Falls and given we were there smack bang in the middle of wet season, it didn’t seem like a good idea to try and scramble down the rocks.

Our final waterfall on the ‘official’ circuit was Ellinjaa Falls, and it was probably my favourite.

A short zig-zag walk from the carpark brings you out to a beautiful view of the falls. To get in the water for a swim, you do have to carefully walk over the shallow rocks to get to a space deep enough to swim.

We ended up having this beautiful waterfall all to ourselves, laughing and squealing as we swam through the powerful falls to discover a private cavern behind, unable to hold a conversation because of the thunderous noise of water crashing down from 12 metres above.

On our drive back to Cairns, we detoured to check out Josephine Falls. The walk to see this incredible feat of nature is a bit longer – around 1.2km – but it isn’t strenuous and the surrounds are lush and rainforesty.

Josephine Falls is a popular tourist spot with a natural waterslide drawing people in.

Unfortunately for us, there would be no swimming (or sliding) down these falls for us as the water levels were dangerously high after crazy rainfalls the week before we arrived.

Nationals Parks have even installed an alert system here with closeable gates and coloured lights to indicate when water levels aren’t safe –people have lost their lives. With too much rain it becomes dangerous to swim but the tradeoff comes in the ferocious views, the loud screaming torrent and the furious deluge you are able to witness.

Deciding we needed one last swim before retiring from chasing waterfalls for the day, we drove just down the road to Babina Boulders and the Devil’s Pool.

The Devil's Pool walk is a 1.3km return walk along Babinda Creek downstream from the Babinda Boulders picnic area and carpark. The walk isn’t difficult, slightly undulating along a rough bitumen track, the walk leads through the rainforest to two viewing platforms where the creek cascades down a series of spectacular waterfalls, granite boulders and washpools.

There is no swimming down this end of the creek, despite how tempting the deep pools amongst the boulders look. There’s a barrier on the lookout point and warning signs about the dangers of swimming here.

After walking back, take a different turn from the carpark and you will find one of the calmest and most beautiful swimming spots. I could spend a whole day here.

Imagine a beautiful creek with crystal clear water that weaves around huge boulders. Even during the hottest days in summer, the water here is still quite cool and perfect for a refreshing swim.

We found a rushing current we could jump into and float along before getting back out and doing it all again like the big kids that we are.

While we didn’t visit on that same day, the day we were flying out, we made an effort to see one last waterfall.

Crystal Cascades is a series of water holes and waterfalls along Freshwater Creek in the Baron Gorge National Park, 17 kilometres from Cairns.

An easy 1.5-kilometre walk along the creek will bring you to several cascading waterfalls and a large swimming hole and the morning we went, we had the place to ourselves!

We didn’t swim at the top end of the falls with the rushing water looking a bit too intense but jumped in for a dip at one of the swimming holes we had passed on our way up to the lookout to cool off from the March humidity.

If you are looking for a unique waterfall experience in the area, Emerald Creek Falls is amazing!