Chillagoe

140 kilometres west of Mareeba, the former mining town of Chillagoe is one of the favoured haunts of mining buffs tracing the heady days of the 1870's to the 1920's mining boom. It's easy to see why. The town is a stunning mix of outback landscape, mining heritage, aboriginal art sites and fantastic limestone caves.

The old township is still dominated by the Chillagoe smelters, which were built at the turn of the century by miners and speculators convinced the region was set to become the next Broken Hill. The rail link followed and the town grew to 10,000. The region however failed to live up to its promise and millions were lost in the inevitable bust. The smelter staggered on until the 1940's when it was abandoned.

The town today is based on tourism. If it's the mining history that brought you out, head for the museum, then it's a case of wandering through well interpreted sites. Don't forget to include the town cemetery in your wanders. Mining is not the only option however and it would be a shame to leave without sampling some of the other Chillagoe attractions.

Chief amongst them are the substantial systems of limestone caves at the Chillagoe-Montana National Park, about one kilometre from the main town site. The caves feature spectacular formations of stalactites and stalagmites (which is which!). They can only be entered as part of a tour, which are well managed and very informative.

From the caves there's a walking track to the nearby Balancing Rock formation and some Aboriginal rock art. If you have transport, head west out of town for 14 kilometres and you'll find The Archways, another stunning limestone feature. The best source of up to date information about tours, sites and walks is The Hub in Chillagoe.

Temperatures for Chillagoe

Chillagoe has hot summer temperatures. The summer high temperature for Chillagoe is approximately 35 °c. The summer low temperature is approximately 20 °c.

Chillagoe has warm winter temperatures. The winter high temperature for Chillagoe is approximately 28 °c. The winter low temperature is approximately 11 °c.

MONTH	LOW °c	HIGH °c
January	21	34
February	21	32
March	19	32
April	18	31
May	14	29
June	12	27
July	11	27
August	10	28
September	13	30
October	16	33
November	19	34
December	20	35

Chillagoe Accommodation