Chillagoe Caves And Outback Day Trip From Cairns

This was a wonderful excursion! The tour gives a chance to travel from the coastline, through the rain forest, and into the more rarely visited outback interior. We had wanted to see this part of Australia just to experience a part of the country less visited by tourists. It was well worth it. The desolation was impressive, and the trip into the caves better than I expected. Our guide was very knowledgeable and did a great job keeping us entertained.

My husband and I had a great day with Billy Tea Safaris! The caves were amazing, but we also loved learning about the balancing rock, the mining history of Chillagoe, and the huge slag heaps from ore processing. My husband especially enjoyed all the geology facts. Getting to hand-feed a rock wallaby was definitely a highlight! Our guide was knowledgeable, looked after everyone, and took us to a really tasty lunch spot. A fun, relaxed day and a great way to see a different side of Queensland. Highly recommend! 👏🏻🦇⛰️

Beautiful day trip with a very knowledgeable guide. Beautiful part of Qld Outback and lots of opportunities to take photos.

This was the perfect tour for us with a limited time in Australia. We wanted to see some remote areas. Get some good information about the surrounding areas. The cave tour was amazing. Our guide Rowan was very helpful and informative and helped us to have a great dream vacation. Feeding the wallabies was definitely a must do. this is a very long tour be prepped with snacks and drinks. The bus was very comfortable and our tour guide was super helpful.

Best tour I think I have ever been on. Small group, but the guide was amazing and made this one of my most memorable experiences in Australia!

Best parts of the day were the Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park, morning tea at Skybury Farm tea rooms & a very quick stop at the Smelters ruins. Caves are totally worth the trip but the rest not so much. Lunch was nice but only has fish & chips or beef or chicken burger & chips to select from. Each stop apart from caves & Smelter ruins were 30 minutes max including morning tea & lunch. Sadly would not recommend to friends due to price tag.

This was a very informative tour. It was well planned/timed with stops to get out and stretch or take photos. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and it was enjoyable listening to him rattle on about the history of the area, wildlife, etc. the stops were well chosen. The cave tour was very interesting too! I would definitely recommend this tour to others.

Very long day of bus driving, but worth the journey. Scenery was amazing and storytelling was interesting. From city to outback in one day.

Lots of driving - BUT - totally worth it to see so much in one day. There was plenty of time at all the stops - and enjoyed every stop. Great tour!

The Chillagoe/Outback tour on August 19 was great! Definitely (as is clear upfront) this is a LONG day, but stops are well spaced and all the activities and food hit the mark. If you want a chance to see the fringes of the outback plus some cool history and nature, this is the choice. Shout out to Rowen as well who was an excellent guide.

Expect a long day but it’s well worth it. The scenery is wonderful and the self-lit caves are different from typical limestone caves.

Michael was a great guide. He knows so much about Australia and the Outback/bush. The caves were spectacular and we loved feeding the wallabies at the end of the day.

Chillagoe caves are average limestone caves by the many we haave seen worldwide. I loved Balancing Rock and surrounds, including the termite mounds. Morning tea was at Skybury papaya plantation with plenty of samples to try. [ I live on the Sunshine Coast and Skybury are always my preferred papaya] . Scones with jam and cream. Excellent local coffee to rival the best. No diabetic option for my husband regarding food but we were prepared with our own snacks. The mine ruins wasn't interesting to us. Very little to see and would prefer extra time at the last stop, Granity Rocks and rock wallabies. Lunch was at the Chillagoe pub. I had the fish with chips and was surprised how good it was. My husband was also happy with a naked burger and salad. His wasn't on the menu but Billy Tea Safaris were able to get a suitable option for him.

👏👏👏 excellent king day tour yum morning tea at Sky Bury Mareeba then outback drive to Chillagoe caves with tour of caves much bigger than we expected followed by Balance rock back to Chilladoe pub for lunch then a visit to Granite Gorge tour guide Michael was a wealth of knowledge we would never have experienced these without Billy Tea tour a long day but well worth it and the price for what we got was great

It's a very long day. A few stops throughout the day however the majority of the time is spent in the vehicle travelling. The trip felt rushed and you didn't spend as much time as indicated on the itinerary. Lunch ended up being approx 20 mins. The tour company was good as was the tour guide/driver. We had a 6yo with us and apart from the short time in the cave and feeding the rock wallabies, was fairly bored.

The caves are worth the long drive. It’s the highlight of the day. Balancing Rock is pretty cool but a very brief stop. The wallabies are a hit with children and tourists. The two drawbacks of the day to be aware of are the long long stretches of time in the bus and the lunch stop. Few options available for the included lunch and not great quality. Pack your own lunch and snacks if this will affect you. If you’re travelling with kids and they don’t handle travel and/or boredom well, this is not for you.

The day was well organised and the truck was comfortable but the sites we visited were ok but not great. A long way to go to visit. If you are in the area, by all means have a look at the Balancing Rock, Chillagoe caves and the Granite Gorge Nature Reserve, I am just not sure that it is wirth the lobg trip from Cairns!

Wallabies were great, be prepared for a lot of driving and sitting though. Appreciate the door to door service

A great day out with as many experiences as they can realistically fit in. Our driver Rohan was extremely knowledgeable and provided great commentary throughout the day. We are Aussie and enjoyed every aspect. Overseas visitors would not be disappointed. A great way to see a different part of Australia - just a bit farther out of Cairns and the more common rainforest tours. The caves at Chilligoe are well worth visiting. The trip was as described, communication from the office was excellent. It is a long day but Rohan never made us feel rushed nor did we miss anything from the published itinerary. Well done to everyone at Billy Tea Safaris !

AJ was very knowledgeable! We appreciated his ability to answer any question. We enjoyed seeing this area.

Rowan was a great host, very knowledgeable would highly recommend the tour, was well worth the moneytri

Absolutely an amazing tour. The driver. Mark, was interesting, informative, and had a good sense of humor. The rock wallabies were the highlight of the day. Highly recommend!

This tour was excellent. Rohan, our guide, provided us with lots of information about our destinations and what would happen at each stop. He also knew when to be quiet so we could nap on our way back from Chillagoe to Mereba. The itinerary was well planned. We had a long drive to Chillagoe but stopped for morning tea. We went to the caves and then had lunch. Activities were planned near Chillagoe. We visited the smelter ruins, balancing rock and Aboriginal Rock Art. All these involved short walks. We then travelled back to Cairns, stopping at Granite Gorge. This broke the journey and was a wonderful place to hand feed rock wallabies. The morning tea and lunch were both excellent. Skyberry Cafe was really nice and lunch was served in a typical outback pub at Chillagoe. I was very happy with the guide, the tour itself and the places we visited.

It's a fair time spent on bus, but worth it for the scenery, stunning contrast, red earth, falling rocks, caves and wallabies

It would be wrong to visit Australia without seeing the outback. Snakes, wallabys, kangeroos, Achidna, and rock wallabys all in one day. The real Australia.

The caves were amazing to see and very interesting. We had a great stop on the way home where we could hold animals and feed wallabies which I loved. Be aware that the day involves a lot of driving (think it was around 3 hours there and back). There's not really any commentary or engagement during the drive.

It’s a great escape from the coast up to the bush (Outback). The cave is small but neat. The best part was Rowland’s commentary. That guy is a beast!

Tour is a long day but well worth the time and our guide , “Row”, was fabulous, knowledgeable and did a great jog of explaining and showing us things throughout the day.

Rowan was a terrific guide and provided lots of good info. He was an extremely careful and safe driver and an all round good guy. This is a great tour to get a feel for the outback if you are staying in Cairns. We actually decided to take this tour instead of driving out there ourselves because it looked like driving out to Chillagoe on narrow and sometimes gravel roads would be risky and also Billy Tea tours takes care of arranging the cave tour which is necessary to see the caves. The tour definitely got us more interested in life in the outback.

Loved our guide + driver Rowan! He has always kept us informed of whats going to happen when and managed our expectations. He is very knowledgeable and shared a lot of info in a fun way while he was driving. Also a very caring person. The tour itself is absoutely content rich - from caves to smelter site to rock wallabies - you have the outback of cairns packed in one day. A nice escape from the humid coastline and tourist packed city center.

Absolutely fantastic experience! Every part of it was beautiful. The guide was incredible and knowledgeable. Would highly recommend to anyone!

Worth the time, but it is a long day. All parts of the tour are excellent, tour guide & rangers are very knowledgeable

This is an amazing experience! I had such a friendly and informative guide and the stops we made were fantastic.

Perfect tour if you want to see the bush. Food at the Skybury Cafe was incredible and had a beautiful view. The park ranger at the cave was very knowledgeable and the rock wallabies were precious. We were lucky to go on an overcast day, but definitely bring water, sunscreen and a hat.

It's a really long day but very interesting and informational. Fun stops and great guides! Gets you out of the rainforest and into the bush.

Great to go inland rather than staying on the coast. It was a great day and we saw a lot. Rowan our driver and tour guide was very knowledgeable, respectful and attentive to our needs. An excellent tour allowing us to experience some of Queenslands history, produce, Australia’s beautiful landscape and wildlife. I would highly recommend it.

I’ll start with the good. Staff was helpful coordinating pick up locations. Tour was great for first 20 minutes when we could hear the guide. The speaker was completely garbled the rest of the day. I understand glitches happen, but when asked if the system could be adjusted it was stated as “a known issue”for that particular bus. It’s not fun for the guide nor any of the paying clients if communication isn’t clear. Bummed I missed out on the history and agriculture of the area. Please do better

Go with the flow and drink plenty of water, worth the time to see an amazing country, very different to the coast

This was an outstanding experience. Need reasonable mobility for the caves portion, but nothing drastic! Highly recommend this tour- Rohan, our guide, was excellent! Super knowledgeable, personable and made the trip extra special.

Great tour and unique experience. Joanne was great in the caves! Something different to do in Cairns.

This was a long day but had plenty of stops to break things up with lots of greats sights. The tour guide was super knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating.

Rowan was absolutely wonderful! This tour went into the Outback with stops at Chillagoe Caves and an old mining site. His enthusiasm and love of what he was doing and showing us made this a top notch tour. He made this tour a delight and I wish I could book all my tours with him. Definitely worth it. The caves were amazing and the rock wallabies were so cute!

We had such an awesome day out with Billy Tea Safaris! The whole tour was really well put together and ran super smoothly. The 4WD was comfy and air-conditioned, which made the long drives really easy. Our guide Rohan was amazing, so friendly and full of knowledge about the history, wildlife and Aboriginal culture. He kept the day interesting and fun, and even gave us some great tips for Cairns that were absolutely spot on! The highlights for us were definitely exploring the Chillagoe Caves, seeing ans feeding the adorable rock wallabies at Granite Gorge. This tour is such a unique way to see the diversity of Far North Queensland, it really does pack a lot into one day without feeling rushed. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to experience both the natural beauty and rich culture of the outback from Cairns.

The trip was really well planned. Lots of driving but broken up with good stops along the way. Good to see something different from the rest of the Cairns experiences.

While the overall trip was interesting, and the weather good, I felt that a little time could be spent at the smelting plant. The ruins looked interesting, and even a 15-min chance to explore the place will be good. Besides this, the visit to the caves, balancing rock was quite interesting. The rock wallabies at the end was a nice stop. It was enjoyable, and our guide, Daniel, was great with his commentary.

Quite a lot of distance travelled on this tour but there are plenty of breaks. The caves were huge and you had a pleasant drop in temperature. Enjoyed lunch just a burger but a nice one. AJ our guide was very entertaining and informative. Overall a good day.

Pick up was on time AJ the driver/guide was a great guy and very knowledgible and interesting on all things during the trip. The 1st stop for coffee and scones was excellent and in a very nice setting. The caves were amazing Mick the local guide was excellent and knew his stuff. We then went to balancing rock and aboriginal wall art short walk here no drama . we then stopped for a pub lunch no complaints here either. We also stopped at an old pub for refreshments and then onto the granite gorge to feed the wallaby all enjoyed this event., the truck was comfotable with great air con .All in all a great day out, thanks to AJ for making it so good!

This is a long day trip but worth it. Our guide Rowan was extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of the trip, explaining the transition from tropical coast through mountain rainforest to outback territory. The trip starts well with tea and scones at Skybury. Chillagoe Caves are excellent even though there is only time to see a fraction of them. The ex mine and smelter works are very interesting though it is a shame such a scar has been left on the beautiful outback landscape. Balancing rock is amazing then to finish the lovely rock wallabies at Granite Gorge. A very interesting trip.

Great tour with Rowan into the unknown. Real Australia, far from the popular tourist spots l. Chillagoe Caves tour with ranger Ash was amazing. Coffee plantation and breakfast just right. Lunch at a proper Ausdie outback pub was spot on. Afternoon walks to old copper smelting works, interesting rock formations and to feed Rock Wallabies all lovely. Really diverse. Vehicle much comfier than expected. Really enjoyed all of it. If you want something different, fo this tour.