Carnarvon Gorge & Central Highlands

Get a feel for the real rural Australian life with a visit to Capricorn’s Central Highlands, west of Rockhampton. The Central Highlands are home to vast and diverse agricultural and mining operations as well as some of Queensland’s most dramatic natural landscapes.

A slice of heaven within mining and cattle country, the Capricorn Region boasts sprawling national parks with towering escarpments and gorges, rainforest and waterfalls. Take your time wandering the region’s marvel, Carnarvon Gorge.

Whether you visit Carnarvon because of its geological appeal, its rare and ancient indigenous rock art or for its delightful walking tracks, you will surely be struck by its magnificence and grandeur.
Visit Blackdown Tableland National Park, just half an hour drive off the Capricorn Highway and discover immense sandstone gorges and sweeping views of the endless plains around the park.

The Central Highlands are ideal for a touring holiday. Travel west from Rockhampton along the Capricorn Highway and you will come across some original outback frontier towns, like Alpha, where each street is named after a famous poet or Dingo where you can learn the unusual skill of dingo trap throwing.

The town of Emerald is the hub of the Central Highlands and is the gateway to the Sapphire Gemfields. Here the whole family can fossick in the largest commercial sapphire fields in the Southern Hemisphere - who knows what treasure you might dig up!