How to explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics with kids
Itinerary
By Danielle Reckless
Searching for a unique family holiday? How about some quality time exploring one of Queensland’s most important and diverse UNESCO World Heritage areas.
The Wet Tropics is one of the oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforests in the world, stretching some 450km from Townsville through to Cairns, Port Douglas and Cooktown. While the Wet Tropics is made up of five rainforest precincts – including the famous Daintree – it’s not just its old age that makes it special. The region is home to about a third of Australia’s mammal species (including many that are found nowhere else on earth), around half of the country’s bird species, and thousands of rare plants, tucked between thundering waterfalls, swimming holes and pristine, untouched beauty. The result? An enchanted forest more fascinating than any fairytale.
Equal parts classroom and playground, explore the Wet Tropics with kids and you’ll ignite their sense of adventure, spark appreciation for the great outdoors, and get imaginations soaring as you discover the treasures within.
Day 1
PM: Take the Skyrail into the rainforest
Hit the ground running once you arrive in Cairns: the kids will have energy to burn, and your first peek at Wet Tropics rainforest is not too far from the city.
The journey is just as thrilling as the destination if you take the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway – a gondola style ride over the treetops – to the top of Barron Gorge National Park. One of the 24 national parks that make up the Wet Tropics World Heritage-listed area, there’s fun for the whole family as you explore and learn in the immersive Rainforest Discovery Zone, take a free Ranger-guided walk, and marvel the mighty Barron Falls from a lookout that teeters over the edge of the escarpment.
If your kids love trains, be sure to take the scenic Kuranda Railway back down to sea level. The nearly two-hour journey crosses 37 bridges and 15 hand-made tunnels, and offers a whole new perspective on the surrounding ancient rainforest.
Return to Cairns – your base for the next few nights – where you can wander the esplanade, cool off at the lagoon, and grab a bite from the many waterfront restaurants that wrap around the marina.
Day 2
All day: Explore Daintree and Cape Tribulation with a Kuku Yalanji guide
It’s not just natural beauty that you’ll discover while you explore the Wet Tropics with kids. This region holds around 60,000 years of Indigenous history too.
The whole family can learn about the ageless cultures and traditions passed down for millennia on a full day tour with Indigenous-owned Walkabout Cultural Adventures. With a Kuku Yalanji guide leading the way, you’ll visit a number of culturally significant sites between Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation, including the renowned Daintree, and get hands-on searching for bush tucker and medicines, mud-crabbing, and cooling off in freshwater streams.
Return to Cairns tonight: your Wet Tropics adventure continues tomorrow. Though if you’ve never experienced the Great Barrier Reef, some of the best day tours depart from Cairns, so work an extra day into your itinerary to experience this natural wonder of the world.
Day 3
AM: Discover the best waterfalls in the Wet Tropics
Atherton Tablelands beauty is on your agenda today, so leave the city behind for country vistas – and a whole new side to the Wet Tropics.
Travelling the Gillies Highway toward Yungaburra, you’ll meander the windiest road in Queensland, famous for its 263 corners and 800m elevation change within only 19km of road. Just outside of town is a serene spot to stretch and swim: volcanic crater lake, Lake Eacham, sits nestled in the tranquil surrounds of Crater Lakes National Park. Take a dip, go bird-watching and soak up the serenity while exploring the shaded walking tracks.
Rejuvenated and ready to explore more, hit the road for the region’s famous waterfall circuit. Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Ellinjaa Falls are located within a stone's throw of each other, accessible off Palmerston Highway. Millaa Millaa is probably the most well-known and photographed of the three, but it’s perfect for families with green space to picnic, splash and play without steep drops to worry about.
PM: Get an after-dark glimpse of rainforest life
See the nocturnal side of the Wet Tropics – one that’s totally different than daylight hours – with an after-dark tour. A naturalist from Wait-a-While Rainforest Tours will lead you through well-known nooks and hidden crannies in the Atherton Tablelands, in search of the sights, sounds and wildlife that comes to life by nightfall, including platypus, possums, flying foxes, frogs, bandicoots and so many more.
The tour includes a stop at Yungaburra’s oldest resident, the Curtain Tree Fig. Sitting proudly on the fringe of the town, the spectacular fig is far from your average tree - it stands 50 metres tall, with a trunk circumference of 39 metres, and is estimated to be more than 500 years old. It’s also prime habitat for the rare tree kangaroo.
If you choose to spend the night in Yungaburra, grab some pub grub with a slice of history at the Yungaburra Hotel. Serving steaks since 1910, this grand building also happens to be the second-largest timber hotel in the southern hemisphere. History lines the walls of this establishment, with photographs of the town’s milling history on display. People of all ages are welcome here, but kids are best seated in the grand dining room.
Where to stay? Kookaburra Lodge Motel is a budget-friendly favourite among families.
Day 4
AM: Walk among the rainforest canopy
Get an early start today, as you’re steering two-hours south of the Atherton Tablelands towards another pocket of Wet Tropics Rainforest beauty.
There’s no better place to stop and stretch little legs than at Mamu Tropical Skywalk. Tucked into Wooroonooran National Park, the spectacular elevated walkway through ancient rainforest allows visitors to climb into the canopy – you can practicually reach out and touch the trees and ferns that flourish here. But it’s not just plants available for your viewing pleasure - climb the 37-metre-high observation tower for views of the North Johnstone River gorge and Misty Mountain peaks.
The Skywalk is close to other walking tracks and picnic areas perfect for a morning tea break.
PM: Get wild on the whitewater
Prepare to get wet. Your destination, Tully, is known as one of the wettest towns in Australia, and all that water leads to some big adventures.
Meet the team at Wildside Adventures for the 12pm sports rafting tour, where you’ll gear up and get a whole new perspective of the rainforest as you raft down grade 2 and 3 rapids on a 6km whitewater course through Tully Gorge National Park. It’s rough, it’s exhilarating and it’s fun for the whole family – open to those six years and older.
Want to explore more of the Wet Tropics with kids? Stay the night in Tully then return to Cairns via a captivating castle among the trees, Paronella Park. Or, head towards the coast where the rainforest meets the reef at Mission Beach – one of the best places to see a cassowary in the wild.
