Why this ride
From Babinda it runs 398 km to Babinda; allow about 6 h 07 of riding. On the way it passes Component around Cowley, Component around Malaan and back through Component around Cowley. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha and Component around Malaan
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 398 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 07
- 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 100 km this is Atherton Tablelands Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 100 km
- Named road
- Atherton Tablelands Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha
South of Cairns, the coastal plain narrows between the sea and a wall of mountains that includes Bartle Frere, at 1,622 metres the highest peak in Queensland, and its neighbour Bellenden Ker. The ranges here are covered in dense rainforest, among the oldest on earth, and they form part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, listed by UNESCO in 1988.
Read the complete Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha is where the day begins. Next is Component around Cowley.
2. Component around Cowley
The Wet Tropics of Queensland are a long, narrow strip of rainforest between Townsville and Cooktown, and they hold the oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforest on earth, some of it unchanged for well over a hundred million years. The World Heritage listing, from 1988, covers not one block but a patchwork of national parks and other protected land, which is why the label calls this a component around Cowley. Here, the mountains run down almost to the sea, and on the flat, fertile coastal plain around Innisfail, sugar cane and banana plantations stand beside beaches, mangroves and remnants of forest.
Read the complete Component around Cowley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component around Cowley comes up about 100 km into the recorded legs. Next is Component around Malaan.
3. 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
about 197 km into the recorded legs you reach Component around Malaan. Next is back through Component around Cowley.
4. back through Component around Cowley
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component around Cowley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Component around Cowley, late in the day. Next is Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha.
5. Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha 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 Malbon Thompson and Graha. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha to Component around Cowley
Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha → Component around Cowley is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Component around Cowley to Component around Malaan
Component around Cowley → Component around Malaan is 97 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Component around Malaan to back through Component around Cowley
Component around Malaan → back through Component around Cowley is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Component around Cowley to Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha
back through Component around Cowley → Component around Malbon Thompson and Graha is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.