Crater Lakes National Park Tropical North Queensland

Lake Eacham day-use area upgrade – have your say

Have your say on the proposed upgrades to the Lake Eacham day-use area.

Photo credit: Darren Jew ©Tourism and Events Qld

Take your canoe and kayak for a majestic paddle along the edge of the lake. Photo credit: © Tourism Tropical North Qld

Walking tracks through the rainforest provide secluded forest-fringed views of the lake. Photo credit: © Queensland Government

Lake Eacham day-use area upgrade

Lake Eacham, part of Crater Lakes National Park, is a biodiverse, culturally significant, rare and unique ecosystem located within the UNESCO Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area.

With good road access and close proximity to the Atherton Tablelands, the lake and fringing rainforest, provide exceptional recreational and tourism opportunities.

Day use activities associated with Lake Eacham include:

picnicking
swimming
non-motorised watercraft
short rainforest walks
wildlife spotting (day and night).

The Queensland Government is committed to providing safe and universal accessible opportunities for all park visitors, while protecting and conserving the natural and cultural values of this national park site.

With some of the Lake’s visitor infrastructure ageing, we have been working with First Nations peoples to develop a design for the upgraded day-use area with proposed changes to the carparks, picnic area, viewing decks and waterfront access zone.

The proposed new design will improve the visitor experience by:

providing universal accessibility across the site for increased recreational opportunities
improve site functionality by reducing visitor impacts and maintain visitor safety
sustainably repurpose existing facilities and utilising local natural materials and finishes
providing new opportunities to encourage visitors to learn about the unique cultural and natural values of the area.

Works are expected to be completed over the next three years and will be staged to ensure some visitor access is always maintained.

Concept video

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) has commissioned a concept video of the proposed upgrade. This is a concept video of what the upgraded new day-use area may look like.