Road Trips & Maps – Australian Tourist Publications

Road Trips & Maps

CAIRNS AND THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

Road Trips & Maps

Hit the road from Cairns and explore some of Queensland’s most breathtaking landscapes! The Great Barrier Reef Drive hugs the coast, carving its way through two World-Heritage-listed areas, the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest. Inland, the Waterfall Circuit of the Atherton Tablelands reveals famous falls and ancient crater lakes, perfect for a refreshing dip. Food lovers will adore the Tablelands Food Trail, where farm gates, coffee plantations, and tropical fruit orchards tempt your taste buds. Heading west, Mareeba and the Outback deliver golden savannahs, vast skies, and rich Indigenous culture. Jump in a car, or take a tour, and experience a unique blend of natural beauty, adventure, and culture.

ROAD TRIPS & ITINERARIES

MAPS

Road Trips & Itineraries

A SPECTACULAR COASTAL ROAD TRIP

Great Barrier Reef Drive

The Great Barrier Reef Drive is undoubtedly one of the most scenic drives in Australia. Winding its way between the Wet Tropics Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef’s Coral Sea, this spectacular road follows the coastline from Cairns to Cape Tribulation for 140 amazing kilometres.

Along the way are the beautiful Cairns beaches, secluded stretches of coastlines and home to everything from quaint holiday hamlets to the chic resorts of Palm Cove. Don’t miss the luxurious yet laid-back resort village of Port Douglas, approximately 60 kilometres north of Cairns. It’s a launch pad to the Great Barrier Reef and gateway to the world’s oldest tropical rainforest, the Daintree. Just north is the majestic Mossman Gorge, and then a further 30 kilometres to Daintree township, named for the mighty river on which it was founded. The only way across the river is by ferry, transporting you back in time to the wilds of Cape Tribulation, a place where you can emerge from the dense rainforest onto the sandy shores of the Coral Sea.

COOL OFF AT A CRYSTAL CLEAR WATERFALL

The Waterfall Circuit

The Waterfall Circuit meanders across the heart of the Atherton Tablelands and is home to Tropical North Queensland’s greatest waterfalls. Walking tracks take you to crystal clear mountain streams and creeks cascading down rocks and crevasses on their journey towards the sea. Start at the Barron Falls in Kuranda, then move on to Davies Creek Falls, Emerald Creek Falls, and Granite Gorge as an introduction to the unique Waterfall Circuit of the Atherton Tablelands.

The circuit starts at Millaa Millaa Falls, the region’s most popular and most photographed. Then drive to Zillie and Ellinjaa Falls before visiting Mungalli Falls. On the way to Ravenshoe, visit Souita and Pepina Falls and Australia’s widest waterfall, the Millstream Falls, located five kilometres past the township. Continue to Little Millstream Falls and Koombooloomba Dam, an excellent spot for camping and fishing.Dinner Falls is located inside the Mt Hypipamee National Park, also home of the Mt Hypipamee Crater. At Malanda, take a refreshing stop at Malanda Falls where the North Johnstone River runs over a wide lava flow into a year-round swimming pool.

FOODIES, PREPARE YOUR TASTEBUDS

The Food Trail

The Tablelands’ food trail is world-class. There’s nothing quite like enjoying an assortment of tropical fruits, a coffee, or a cheese platter grown, made, and prepared only metres from where you’re dining. A patchwork of farms across the region are world-renowned for their quality fruits, prize-winning vegetables, gourmet cheeses and dairy products, hand-crafted chocolate, and supreme quality pork and beef. And now a cluster of local distillers, wine makers and brewers are serving up award-winning spirits, fruit wines and craft beers, sourcing the Tablelands’ amazing produce.

A great way to sample and enjoy the food and drink of the area is on a tasting tour, either on an organised tour or self-driving. Try a “farm gate” tour and enjoy a coffee at one of Australia’s oldest coffee plantations, watch cheese makers and chocolatiers handcraft their wares at a dairy farm, then enjoy some in an on-site cafe. Or stop by a fruit farm and try their quality produce as fresh as it gets, in a sweet sorbet, preserved in jam, or prepared right there in a tasty restaurant dish.

EXPLORE ANCIENT LANDSCAPES

Mareeba and the Outback

Start your journey in Mareeba, a multicultural town perched on fertile ground of the Atherton Tablelands yet a stone’s throw from the rugged beauty of the Outback. Wind your way through Mount Molloy and Julatten, where misty rainforest meets open woodland, then continue west as the landscape transforms into vast savannah grasslands, golden under the endless sky.

Soon, you’ll reach the mighty Mount Mulligan, a sandstone giant ten times the size of Uluru. Steeped in Indigenous history, this ancient monolith dominates the horizon, its towering cliffs glowing red at sunrise and sunset.

From here, head to Chillagoe, home to an amazing labyrinth of limestone caves, where stalactites, rock art, and underground chambers reveal a world frozen in time. Continue your adventure through the historic mining towns of Irvinebank and Watsonville, where relics of the past whisper stories of gold rush days. Each mile takes you deeper into Queensland’s wild heart, where the spirit of our ancestors is alive and waiting to be discovered. The Outback—it’s closer than you think.

Maps

Cairns CBD Map