This week’s report of a missing woman in Mossman Gorge in far north Queensland evokes memories of previous tragedies there and at the Devils Pool within The Boulders at Babinda, south of Cairns. Tourists beware.

Both Mossman George and The Boulders are truly magnificent tropical spots, easily accessible off the Bruce Highway, drawing thousands of visitors yearly, many from overseas.

To say that the two tourist attractions a mere 124km apart are welcoming, verdant, freezing cold water havens from the oppressive tropical heat and humidity would be the understatement of millennia.

They are simply iconic, mesmerisingly beautiful, and steeped in indigenous history and lore.

They are perched in the highest part of the Great Dividing Range with Queensland’s two highest peaks, Mounts Bartle Frere and Bellenden Kerr only a cooee away.

The Mossman Gorge is a large area within the Daintree National Park and is considered as a sacred site by the traditional owners the Kuku Yalangi people.

Since 2003 there have now been three deaths at Mossman Gorge. In a 2014 Coroner’s report of the drowning of a Taiwanese national , a former member of that country’s military and a strong swimmer, it was found that “the Mossman Gorge is an unpredictable and inherently dangerous waterway and the danger increases in the frequent times of high rainfall when flash flooding can occur”.

Trip Advisor says of Mossman Gorge:”Very beautiful, but be cautious. Don’t enter the water”.

The Devils Pool at Babinda , just 10km off the Bruce Highway, in the foothills of Mt Bartle Frere ( Chooreechillum) is a far more tragic place, with 20 recorded deaths since 1959. It is best described as a natural pool in a treacherous stretch of Babinda Creek with prominent large granite boulders, hence the name The Boulders.

The most recent death at the Devils Pool was just over a year ago,  on December 21, 2021 when a young local Edmonton woman slipped and fell into the water. Her body was later found at The Boulders. Various Coroners’ reports have recommended many and various safety measures, including signage designating a No Go Zone – all of which have been implemented.

The Devils Pool allure still manages to confound all logical attempts to mitigate the risk.

This is the traditional land of the Yidinji tribe. Aboriginal Folk lore has it that Oolana a young woman from the Yidinji tribe was promised to a respected elder but instead fell in love with and ran off with Dyga , a young warrior from another tribe.

They were hunted down and captured. Oolana escaped , and in despair threw herself in the Devils Pool. The legend is that Oolana still haunts the Devils Pool, pulling young men to their untimely death. As a matter of fact the great majority of the 20 recorded deaths at the Devils Pool have been young males.

There are explicit warnings from Trip Advisor with respect to the Devils Pool -“ Dangerously Beautiful, Sweet but Dangerous, Sweet and Sour”.

In so many ways it’s a shame that more Queenslanders, indeed Australians , aren’t aware of the existence, incomparable beauty, danger and tragic history of both the Mossman Gorge and the Devils Pool at The Boulders, Babinda.

Make sure you get to see these incredible natural assets in your lifetime, but leave the swimming to the hotel pool.

Greg Hallam is a former Chief Executive Officer at Local Government of Queensland and an expert on the Queensland outback. He writes occasionally for InQueensland.