Why this ride
277 km from Innisfail Estate to Innisfail Estate, about 4 h 50 of riding. The stops in between: Component around Russell River, Component around Lake Barrine and back through Component around Russell River. Lakes are the scenery here.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Component around Moresby Range and Component around Lake Barrine
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 277 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 50
- 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
For about 55 km this is Atherton Tablelands Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 55 km
- Named road
- Atherton Tablelands Loop
Component around Russell River → Component around Lake Barrine
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 45 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go. Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 84 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Component around Moresby Range is where the day begins. Next is Component around Russell River.
2. Component around Russell River
Rain is the first fact of life along the Russell River. The river drains the eastern slopes of the Bellenden Ker Range, south of Cairns in far north Queensland, and these mountains, including Bartle Frere, at 1,622 metres the highest peak in the state, catch the moist trade winds off the Coral Sea and wring out some of the heaviest rainfall in Australia. The result is a dense, steaming tropical rainforest that tumbles down the mountains to the coastal plain, part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area, listed in 1988. It is one of the oldest continuously surviving rainforests on earth.
Read the complete Component around Russell River write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component around Russell River comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Component around Lake Barrine.
3. Component around Lake Barrine
Lake Barrine fills a volcanic crater on the Atherton Tablelands, a deep round lake fringed by dense rainforest, formed by a violent volcanic explosion many thousands of years ago when rising magma met groundwater. Its sister lake, Lake Eacham, lies a few kilometres away, and both are part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Site. The water is clear and deep, and the rainforest around it is home to some remarkable creatures: Lumholtz's tree kangaroos, musky rat-kangaroos, Boyd's forest dragons and many birds.
Read the complete Component around Lake Barrine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 139 km into the recorded legs you reach Component around Lake Barrine. Next is back through Component around Russell River.
4. back through Component around Russell River
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component around Russell River 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 Russell River, late in the day. Next is Component around Moresby Range.
5. Component around Moresby Range
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Back at Component around Moresby Range. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Component around Moresby Range to Component around Russell River
Component around Moresby Range → Component around Russell River is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component around Russell River to Component around Lake Barrine
Component around Russell River → Component around Lake Barrine is 84 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component around Lake Barrine to back through Component around Russell River
Component around Lake Barrine → back through Component around Russell River is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component around Russell River to Component around Moresby Range
back through Component around Russell River → Component around Moresby Range is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.