Skyrail Rainforest Cableway & Kuranda

The mountain town of Kuranda sits 330 metres above Cairns on the Atherton Tablelands, surrounded by World Heritage rainforest. Getting there is as much of the experience as being there.

The Kuranda Scenic Railway is a genuine heritage attraction: a narrow-gauge line built by hand between 1886 and 1891 by workers who carved it through rainforest and gorge country using picks, shovels, and explosives. The route takes about 90 minutes each way, passing through 15 tunnels and over 37 bridges, with views into Barron Gorge that are genuinely dramatic.

The Skyrail offers a different perspective — 7.5 kilometres of gondola over the rainforest canopy, with stops at Red Peak (where you can walk boardwalks through the forest) and Barron Falls. Glass-floor gondolas are available for the vertigo-inclined. A one-way journey takes about 90 minutes.

Kuranda itself has markets, a butterfly sanctuary, a koala garden, and craft shops. It can feel overrun with day-trip groups at midday; arrive early or stay late to see it more calmly.

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A story
The classic Cairns day trip combines two very different journeys through the same landscape: the Kuranda Scenic Railway, a 37-kilometre narrow-gauge line opened in 1891 that winds through 15 tunnels and over 37 bridges to reach the tablelands, and the Skyrail, a 7.5-kilometre gondola cableway that glides over the rainforest canopy at 160 metres above Barron Gorge. Go up by train, come down by gondola. Or the reverse. Either way, you cover the same terrain twice and see entirely different things.