Why this ride
Sustained elevation change, linked bends and open summit views. It also links naturally to Wet Tropics of Queensland.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Gillies Range Road
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 58 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 01
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Check state road reports, fire, flood, fuel range and unsealed-road suitability. Specific flag: rain; traffic.
Seasonal context
May-Oct
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Gordonvale
Gordonvale lies at the foot of the mountains south of Cairns, in a flat, green valley of sugar cane, and above it rises a peculiar peak. Walsh's Pyramid, a steep-sided, conical mountain of about 920 meters, is claimed to be the highest free-standing pyramid-shaped mountain in the world, and every year runners race to its summit in a local event. The mountain makes a dramatic backdrop to a town that is otherwise a modest working place, with a sugar mill that sends up steam, cane trains and old timber houses.
Read the complete Gordonvale write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gordonvale sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Atherton.
2. Atherton
Atherton sits at about 760 metres on the Tableland behind Cairns, and the first thing you notice after the climb from the coast is the air. It is cooler, drier and smells of cut grass and woodsmoke instead of mangrove mud. The Tableland is a high plateau of old volcanic soil, rich enough that the area grows maize, peanuts, potatoes, bananas, coffee and tea, and the countryside looks more like a patch of rolling green dairy land than the tropical north. Cattle graze under big, spreading trees, and crater lakes fill the hollows left by ancient eruptions.
Read the complete Atherton write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Atherton comes up 58 km in.