Wet Tropics World Heritage Area
Wet Tropics World Heritage Area
5
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and nearby attractions
The area
Reach out directly
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
5.0
7 reviews
Excellent
7
Very good
0
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
0
Simon R
Brisbane, Australia44 contributions
Jan 2012 • Solo
Kuranda is a tourist town. Accessed via road, train or cable car, they come to check out the views of Barron Falls & the various lookouts such as Wrights Lookout, buy a souvenir and then head back to coastal accommodation all in a day. I however decided to stay a few.
National Parks surround Kuranda. On the road up I travelled through lush rainforest (part of the Barron Gorge National Park), spotting two species of frog in the pouring rain as I went (and no cane toads!). At the top of the rise is the Barron River. Beyond that the landscape starts to dry out and just 20 km further West is Davies Creek National Park which couldn't be more different to the Wet Tropics!
My usual early rise and the relatively short journey to Black Mountain Road meant I was in rainforest by 7am. I'd read about Kuranda National Park on the coastal side of the Barron River as being a good place to see Victoria's Riflebirds and Southern Cassowaries. It's part of a corridor that extents through Kuranda north to Mowbray National Park and beyond.
Further along the road I saw more evidence of the birds presence in the form of traffic signs warning that the birds were about. It wasn't long before I heard this unfamiliar calling coming from the road side to the right. I immediately stopped my bike and started scouring the rainforest floor. I couldn't remember what the call of a cassowary was but I could tell by the call this was a big animal. However it was not coming from the ground. I looked up into the trees and found the source. A Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo stared back at me and continued calling loudly.
Not long after my second ever sighting of a tree kangaroo in the wild, I had yet another second ever sighting and another real treat, a Cairns Birdwing Bufferly.
The Barron Gorge National Park is seperated by the Barron River. Any animals unable to cross the River from the western bank to the Eastern corridor are excluded from accessing a much larger forested area. Their isolation means they become more susceptible to diseases due to in-breeding. Cassowaries are one of the animals not renowned for their swimming ability. With this in mind I wasn't sure what I would find as I set out to explore the smaller western side and was pleasantly surprised to see a cassowary just a hundred or so metres down the Mcdonalds track past Wrights Lookout
Leaving the Wet Tropics behind I travelled 20 km west to the Davies Creek NP. I set off just after midnight to avoid the heat of the day and after several stops arrived at the camp ground just before dawn. There are clear signs here "NO PETS ALLOWED" (for a very good reason). 2 km's of hill climbing followed to reach an elevation of just over 500 metres above sea level. Here the landscape is dry, almost desert like and dominated by grass trees and eucalypt.
On the way back to Cairns I stop at Cattana Wetlands near Yorkey's Knob. I spot some green pygmy-geese from the hide (another new species). On leaving I spot metallic starlings and a yellow-bellied sunbird near the entrance. In town a huge flock of rainbow bee-eaters settle down for the night. Pied imperial-pigeons (my favourite bird) fly from tree to tree
National Parks surround Kuranda. On the road up I travelled through lush rainforest (part of the Barron Gorge National Park), spotting two species of frog in the pouring rain as I went (and no cane toads!). At the top of the rise is the Barron River. Beyond that the landscape starts to dry out and just 20 km further West is Davies Creek National Park which couldn't be more different to the Wet Tropics!
My usual early rise and the relatively short journey to Black Mountain Road meant I was in rainforest by 7am. I'd read about Kuranda National Park on the coastal side of the Barron River as being a good place to see Victoria's Riflebirds and Southern Cassowaries. It's part of a corridor that extents through Kuranda north to Mowbray National Park and beyond.
Further along the road I saw more evidence of the birds presence in the form of traffic signs warning that the birds were about. It wasn't long before I heard this unfamiliar calling coming from the road side to the right. I immediately stopped my bike and started scouring the rainforest floor. I couldn't remember what the call of a cassowary was but I could tell by the call this was a big animal. However it was not coming from the ground. I looked up into the trees and found the source. A Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo stared back at me and continued calling loudly.
Not long after my second ever sighting of a tree kangaroo in the wild, I had yet another second ever sighting and another real treat, a Cairns Birdwing Bufferly.
The Barron Gorge National Park is seperated by the Barron River. Any animals unable to cross the River from the western bank to the Eastern corridor are excluded from accessing a much larger forested area. Their isolation means they become more susceptible to diseases due to in-breeding. Cassowaries are one of the animals not renowned for their swimming ability. With this in mind I wasn't sure what I would find as I set out to explore the smaller western side and was pleasantly surprised to see a cassowary just a hundred or so metres down the Mcdonalds track past Wrights Lookout
Leaving the Wet Tropics behind I travelled 20 km west to the Davies Creek NP. I set off just after midnight to avoid the heat of the day and after several stops arrived at the camp ground just before dawn. There are clear signs here "NO PETS ALLOWED" (for a very good reason). 2 km's of hill climbing followed to reach an elevation of just over 500 metres above sea level. Here the landscape is dry, almost desert like and dominated by grass trees and eucalypt.
On the way back to Cairns I stop at Cattana Wetlands near Yorkey's Knob. I spot some green pygmy-geese from the hide (another new species). On leaving I spot metallic starlings and a yellow-bellied sunbird near the entrance. In town a huge flock of rainbow bee-eaters settle down for the night. Pied imperial-pigeons (my favourite bird) fly from tree to tree
Written 28 August 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Daintree Naturals
Cairns, Australia20 contributions
Jun 2012 • Family
THe Daintree Rainforest is the most place to visit just to drive through it is breath taking, a great time to visit is during wet season when the water falls cascade across the road.
Cant highly reccomend enough a river cruise on the mighty Daintree River right in the heeart of the jungle....
Cant highly reccomend enough a river cruise on the mighty Daintree River right in the heeart of the jungle....
Written 23 June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DAFYDDHD
Featherston, New Zealand220 contributions
Jul 2015 • Couples
Davies Creek is about 20kms south west of Cairns....it is signposted but to get to the Falls is around 15kms off road.....you really need an sub or four wheel drive.....if you go rights up to the falls there is a pool for swimming and awesome views.
Written 31 July 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Suzanne B
Melbourne, Australia39 contributions
Jun 2015 • Couples
Recommended drives that we undertook include:
> Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas ("where the rainforest meets the reef")
and
> Gillies Highway off Bruce Highway from Cairns to Yungaburra and the Atherton Tablelands
Both involve very windy roads but the scenery is absolutely worth it.
> Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas ("where the rainforest meets the reef")
and
> Gillies Highway off Bruce Highway from Cairns to Yungaburra and the Atherton Tablelands
Both involve very windy roads but the scenery is absolutely worth it.
Written 1 July 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Instantcalmer
Yasothon, Thailand1,027 contributions
Apr 2015 • Friends
The Wet Tropics World Heritage area covers a few areas including around Kuranda but I want to write about the coastal drive from Cairns to Port Douglas. The stretch from the northern beaches of Cairn for about 20-25km thru Ellis Beach and onwards is a perfect scenic drive. It is Cairns own mini version of the Great Ocean Road. The mountains come all the way to the ocean with just a ribbon of pristine beach between. Stunning scenery. Rex Lookout is a standout but there are others.
Written 10 April 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing