Why this ride
A 400 km round trip from Ravenshoe - roughly 7 h 47 in the saddle. It goes by way of Main component, Component around Moresby Range and back through Main component.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Component around Malaan and Component around Moresby Range
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 400 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 47
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
Scenic road chapters
Atherton Tablelands Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 96 km this is Atherton Tablelands Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 96 km
- Named road
- Atherton Tablelands Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Component around Malaan
Up on the Atherton Tableland, behind Cairns in far north Queensland, the land rises from the hot coastal plain to a cooler plateau of volcanic soil, rolling farmland and patches of dense rainforest. Near Ravenshoe, which claims to be the highest town in Queensland, the forest around Malaan is one of the components of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage site, a long strip of tropical rainforest along the coast and the Great Dividing Range that contains some of the oldest continuously surviving rainforest on Earth. The forests are home to tree kangaroos, possums, rare frogs and birds, and, in the lowlands, the cassowary, a large flightless bird with a bony crest that is best admired from a distance.
Read the complete Component around Malaan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component around Malaan is where the day begins. Next is Main component.
2. Main component
Inland from the cane fields south of Cairns, the land rears up into a wall of rainforest so dense that the ridgelines seem to steam after every shower. Gordonvale lies about fourteen kilometres to the north, Babinda a little further south, and the tableland town of Yungaburra up over the range to the west.
Read the complete Main component write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Main component comes up about 96 km into the recorded legs. Next is Component around Moresby Range.
3. Component around Moresby Range
Innisfail had to rebuild itself after a cyclone flattened much of the town in 1918, and it chose to do so in the latest style. As a result, this sugar town on the Johnstone River has one of the finest collections of Art Deco buildings in Australia, with colourful façades, geometric patterns and elegant shopfronts lining the main streets. Just to the east, the Moresby Range runs down to the coast in a band of steep, rainforest-covered hills, part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage area, one of the oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforests on earth.
Read the complete Component around Moresby Range write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 199 km into the recorded legs you reach Component around Moresby Range. Next is back through Main component.
4. back through Main component
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Main component write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Main component, late in the day. Next is Component around Malaan.
5. Component around Malaan
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component around Malaan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Component around Malaan. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Component around Malaan to Main component
Component around Malaan → Main component is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Main component to Component around Moresby Range
Main component → Component around Moresby Range is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Component around Moresby Range to back through Main component
Component around Moresby Range → back through Main component is 105 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Main component to Component around Malaan
back through Main component → Component around Malaan is 97 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.