Millaa Millaa Falls, QLD: Herbal Essences advert, & waterfall swimming

Millaa Millaa Falls, Queensland features in Peter Andre’s Mysterious Girl video and the Herbal Essences advert. This Atherton Tableland waterfall is gorgeous, easily accessible, and you can swim in the crocodile-free pool at the bottom.

What is Millaa Millaa Falls?

Millaa Millaa Falls is a waterfall in the Atherton Tableland near Cairns. It is one of the region’s most beautiful waterfalls. It also happens to be one of the most accessible – which means Millaa Millaa Falls has that magical combination of beauty and accessibility.

To visit Millaa Millaa Falls on an Atherton Tableland day tour from Cairns, book here.

How to get to Millaa Millaa Falls

From the Queensland town of Millaa Millaa, this Atherton Tableland waterfall is a 3.4km drive down the Theresa Creek Road.

The distance from Yungaburra to Millaa Millaa Falls is 40km.

The car park and coach park are more or less at the bottom of the falls. Unlike other stunning Australian waterfalls, such as MacKenzie Falls in the Grampians, Purling Brook Falls in Springbrook National Park or Booloumba Falls in the Conondale National Park, there’s no need for a long, sweaty walk through the forest.

Cairns to Millaa Millaa Falls

The distance from Cairns to Millaa Millaa Falls is 101km. The drive from Cairns takes about an hour and 35 minutes.

If you don’t want to drive it yourself, there are Atherton Tableland day tours from Cairns that visit Millaa Millaa Falls.

The full day Atherton Tablelands rainforests and waterfalls tour from Active Tropics Explorer also calls at several other attractive spots in the region.

These include the Babinda Boulders, Josephine Falls, the Hypapimee Crater, the Curtain Fig Tree and Lake Eacham.

At time of writing, this tour costs $129, and can be booked online.

Several other tours visit Millaa Millaa Falls from Cairns. Pick whichever suits you best here.

If the Millaa Millaa Falls looks like it belongs in a shampoo advert, that’s because it was in one. A Herbal Essences TV advert made this Atherton Tableland waterfall famous. It’s now one of the most photographed waterfalls in Australia.

The video for Peter Andre’s Mysterious Girl was also filmed at Millaa Millaa Falls. This Atherton Tableland attraction has not exactly been short of attention.

Millaa Millaa Falls in the Atherton Tableland is famous from a Herbal Essences shampoo advert. Photo courtesy of Tourism and Events Queensland

How tall is Millaa Millaa Falls?

Millaa Millaa Falls is about 18.3 metres tall, and distinctive vertical pipe formations behind it are volcanic basalt.

These are similar to what you’ll find at Trentham Falls and the Organ Pipes National Park near Melbourne.

Swimming at Millaa Millaa Falls – are there any crocodiles?

But it’s the lush forest setting and pool at the bottom that make this Atherton Tableland waterfall special. You can swim in the pool at the bottom of Millaa Millaa Falls – it is too high up for crocodiles to reach.

But, if you’re lucky, you might see a platypus.

Herbal Essences waterfall on the Millaa Millaa Falls Circuit

If you really want to go heavy on waterfalls, you can include a visit as part of the Millaa Millaa Falls Circuit. This is a 17km driving route that also takes in Zillie Falls and Ellinjaa Falls. The whole circuit should take less than an hour, but it can be built into a wider Atherton Tableland driving route.

Pick up a hire car in Cairns, then do a loop through the region. Other highlights include Mount Bartle Frere, Windin Falls, Lake Eacham and the Danbulla National Park. Go on the right day and you can also visit the Yungaburra Markets in Yungaburra or the Golden Drop winery in Biboohra.