Jump in the car for the ultimate Outback to Great Barrier Reef 10 day family road trip

Imagine for a moment you cast a lasso west from the palm-fringed shores of Townsville, deep into the heart of Outback Queensland before looping back around to land in Cairns. That’s the path you’ll be taking on this epic outback to sea road trip spanning 10 incredible days. So pack the kids into the car and tell them they’ll be fossicking for gold, digging for dinosaur bones and walking through tunnels made by lava. We can hear their whoops from here.

Fire up the playlist, it’s time to hit the road in Queensland.

Day one: Townsville to Charters Towers (137 km - one hour and 30 minutes)

Leave the balmy tropical beach ambience of Townsville behind, pop on your Akubra and head west on Overlander’s Way on route to the charming gold rush town of Charters Towers. More history than gold is unearthed nowadays, but you can still fossick in the river beds or be on the lookout for nuggets in the paddocks, where you’ll also find some pure-bred Texan long-horned locals at Leahton Park. J.R (home to a prize bull who also holds a world record for the longest set of horns). Ride the tractor and sidle up for some billy tea, the kids will love getting their feet dusty on the ranch. Afterwards, step back in time at Zara Clark Museum (also known as Bartlam’s Store) to glean a glimpse into a bygone era when Charters Towers was Queensland’s second-largest town.

Bush camp for the night at Bivouac Junction where you can throw in a line to catch one of the elusive barramundi (in season) or sit back and watch the sunset spangle the confluence of the Burdekin and Fanning Rivers.

Day two: Charters Towers to Hughenden (248km – two hours and 30 minutes)

Wake up with a wander along streets filled with heritage listed buildings and grab yourself breakfast at Perry’s Bakehouse Café. If you have longer to linger, check out our guide on 10 things to do in Charters Towers.

You’ll be heading into dinosaur country today, but on route, be sure to stop in at Pentland, home of the Cape River Goldfields where you can grab a coffee from Wookatook Cafe. Be sure to check out the heritage Railway Station and infamous Norwood Lockup.

60 minutes further and you’ll reach Hughenden, once the site of a giant inland sea. The land is now scattered with fossils including the town’s most famous - “Hughie” a seven-metre tall Muttaburrasaurus which is sure to make the kids eyes pop. If you know your dinosaurs, a Queensland Pterosaur was found here also, along with 3000 other fossils you can learn about at the Flinders Discovery Centre.

Leave enough time to head a further hour north to Porcupine Gorge, a spectacular living example of sandstone cliffs ribboned with sediment telling the story of hundreds of millions of years. Camp here for the night (bookings are essential) or return to Hughenden.

Day three: Hughenden to Richmond (116km - one hour and 15 minutes)

Richmond is home to Kronosaurus Korner with evidence of dinosaurs ranging in size from a kingfisher to an elephant. The kids can fossick at a number of approved dig sites there and if they find something new - they might even have a dinosaur named after them! During school holidays sign them up for a mini paleo expedition to learn about the 100-115 million-year-old marine reptiles and dinosaurs that once roamed these vast lands. After, watch the sky illuminate with millions of stars, settle in at one of the towns hotels or caravan parks to rest where an inland sea once surged.

Day four: Richmond to Cloncurry (286km - three hours)

You have a date with a dunnart, so head to Julia Creek to meet these small mouse-like nocturnal marsupials that are both rare and endangered. Currently being bred in captivity to replenish the grassy plains around Julia Creek where they burrow, learn of their battle to survive while you watch them eat. Donald and Duncan feast on worms at the daily feeding at 10am and 2pm.

Carry on a further 90 minutes to Cloncurry or as the locals like to call it - “The Curry” - it’s the birthplace of the Royal Flying Doctors service. You can dig up plenty of history at the Cloncurry Unearthed Museum while also learning about the rich Indigenous culture that has underpinned Queensland’s North West region for over 40,000 years.

Day five: Cloncurry to Mount Isa (122km - one hour and 30 minutes)

Weave through the Selwyn Ranges to enter BIG territory - Mount Isa. Here big trucks, big mines and a big rodeo - with the largest prize purse in the southern hemisphere - are all part of “The Isa’s” tapestry. Underground it’s big too, so book yourselves on a Hard Times Mine Underground Tour guided by a real-life miner and learn about Mount Isa Mines - the world's biggest single producer of copper, gold, lead and zinc. And afterwards, wind back 25 million years to learn beside paleontological experts about one of the biggest and most significant deposits of Australian Fossil Mammals found anywhere in the world at The Riversleigh Fossil Discovery Centre.

Before you settle in for the night, be sure to check out the sunset from The Mount Isa City lookout for a unique cityscape backdropped by the ever billowing - you guessed it - “big” smokestacks.

Day six: Mount Isa to Normanton  (498 km - five hours and 15 minutes)

Loopback to Cloncurry for a stop in at the Cloncurry Bakery for a pie, sausage roll or delicious cake before continuing north on the Matilda Way to Normanton. A stop in at Burke and Wills Roadhouse Junction will break up the journey and reveal stories of just how close the ill-fated explorers came to making it to the Gulf. In just under 200km the kids can pile out of the car to check out Krys, a replica 8.68 metre Savannah King Crocodile that was captured on the banks of the Norman River in Normanton.

Afterwards, head over the road to the Purple Pub for a few beers (and a yarn with locals) before moving onto the Gulfland Motel and Caravan Park for the best Barra and chips you might ever smash.

Day seven: Normanton to Bedrock Village (395 km - four hours and 15 minutes)

Pick up a roadie pie from the bakery and pay a visit to the Normanton Visitors Centre to see the rousing Indigenous stock workers exhibition honouring the men and women who work on the land. And if your kids love trains, call into the historic Gulflander Train Station for a glimpse of the 1950’s “Tin Hare” before following its tracks one hour and 39 minutes down the road to Croydon for a lunch stop.

Pro tip: You also have an option to include a side trip to Karumba from Normanton. Read more about what is on offer in Karumba here.

Once in Croydon, grab some lunch at the Croydon Cafe and take a drive up to Diemms Lookout to appreciate the vast, golden beauty of the Gulf Savannah Country. Carry on a further two and a half hours to arrive at Mount Surprise, where Bedrock Village offers accommodation for caravans along with self-contained cabins suitable for families.

Day eight: Mount Surprise to Atherton (219.3 km - two hours and 24 minutes)

Join Bedrock’s morning tour to Undara Volcanic National Park to visit the volcanic marvel that is the Kalkani Crater and after a soul-warming cup of tea, venture inside the Undara Lava Tubes. A geological wonder, and one of the longest cave systems in the world, ‘Undara’ translates as “long way” in Indigenous language and dates back 190,000 years. Tell the kids to be on the lookout for micro-bats and butterflies, both are known to frequent the caves in clouds. On return to Bedrock, drive the two hours and 24 minutes to park yourself on the Atherton Tablelands.

Day nine: Atherton

Enjoy a leisurely day hopping between the 10 waterfalls that make up the enchanting Waterfall Circuit. From the insta-famous Milla Milla Falls, arguably the most aesthetically blessed, to the mystical Ellinjaa Falls where you can disappear with the kids behind a veil of water to discover what lies within. More water play can be found inside a volcanic crater at Lake Eacham and you can choose to cross the sapphire-blue waters by kayak or be brave and dive right in.

The Tablelands are a holiday destination in their own right, and there is plenty to see and do, so use this comprehensive guide to decide if you would prefer a chocolate or cheese tasting, a serve of scones at a tea plantation, crystal caving or to spot a platypus in the wild.

Day 10: Atherton to Cairns (93.5 km – one hour 20 minutes)

Take your time to meander back to Cairns. A stop at Kuranda will reveal the Southern-Hemisphere’s largest butterfly aviary where the kids will delight in watching, among many other species, the luminescent blue Ulysses Butterfly float by. Learn about cocoons, caterpillars and see the science behind butterfly breeding before popping across the road to enjoy an ice cream on the main street in Kuranda.

Surprise the kids with a fitting end to their epic outback to sea road trip with a one-way ride on the Kuranda Scenic Railway or Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. You’ll get to do the windy drive all by yourself through the words oldest tropical rainforest, while your family winds beside or sails overhead. For more to do in Kuranda and Cairns, check out our guide here.