QUEENSLAND OPENS NEW RAINFOREST WALK

A spectacular new rainforest canopy walkway which offers amazing vistas and wildlife encounters is now open for travellers to explore!

At Travel Wheels campervans and station wagons we are always on the lookout for new places to visit in Australia, and we have found another one. It has taken over fifteen years to plan Queensland's newest rainforest walkway which is called the "Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway" and it's now open for everyone to enjoy.

Mamu is located in the lush World Heritage listed rainforests of the Wooroonooran National Park and it's a great spot pull off the highway and to spend a few days enjoying this magical place. It's nearest neighbour is the Daintree Rainforest which is more well known, but give this new walkway a try and you will be pleasantly surprised by its beauty and just how quiet and peaceful this National Park is.

Visitors can now enjoy rainforest plants and animals from the forest floor right up to the canopy, as well as sweeping vistas over the North Johnstone River gorge and beyond to rainforest-clad mountains from a 40m-long cantilever and a 30m-high observation tower.
The entire area has cultural significance for the Mamu aboriginal tribe, and the walkway was constructed in partnership with the indigenous people.

For more information, check out this website from the Queensland Government

Getting there and getting around

The Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway was opened by the Hon Anna Bligh, MP, Premier of Queensland, on 24 August 2008. It is in Wooroonooran National Park, in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The walkway is on the Palmerston Highway, about 30km north west of Innisfail. It is about 90 minutes drive with your Travel Wheels campervan or car rental from Cairns and only 30 minutes from Innisfail.

Wheelchair accessibility

The ground-level Forest walk and the elevated walkway (but not the upper deck of the observation tower) are accessible for wheelchairs with assistance, strollers, and people with impaired vision or mobility.

Walkway features

The Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway offers a unique experience. Visitors can get close to rainforest plants and animals, from the forest floor to the forest canopy. They can also enjoy sweeping vistas of World Heritage-listed landscapes. Information signs help visitors to understand the rich cultural history of the area and the complex web of rainforest life. The walkway is located on the escarpment of the North Johnstone River gorge, offering spectacular views over a sharp bend in the river and beyond to rainforest-clad mountains. The entire area has cultural significance for the Ma:Mu Aboriginal people.

The walkway includes:

• more than 1000 metres of ground level walking tracks, connecting the elevated walkway, cantilever and tower
• a 350m elevated walkway, high in the canopy of this lush tropical rainforest
• a 10m-long cantilever and a 37m-high observation tower with two viewing decks, providing spectacular views over the North Johnstone River gorge and surrounding Wet Tropics World Heritage Area
• seats, information signs and artworks in shelters along the Forest walk and on the elevated walkway
• an entry building, office building, toilets, bus shelter and a combined bus and carpark.

Forest Walk

When you arrive in your Travel Wheels campervan stop in the car park and then it's only a short walk to enter the building. Visitors stroll along the ground-level Forest walk for a close-up look at this rich tropical rainforest, part of one of the largest remaining continuous stands of complex vine forest on basalt soils. The walking track is an easy walk, suitable for wheelchairs, prams and visitors with vision-impairment.

Cantilever

Visitors arrive at a shelter with seats and information signs. From the shelter a 10m-long cantilevered structure rises gently as the ground drops away steeply, providing visitors with their first experience of the rainforest canopy. At the end, a viewing platform offers a magnificent view of the valley below, featuring a sharp bend in the North Johnstone River.

Visitors then return to the shelter and continue along the Forest walk to the start of the elevated walkway.

Elevated Walkway

The elevated walkway meanders through the rainforest canopy. Along the way visitors are able to view rainforest plants and animals at close quarters and gain tantalising glimpses of the river valley far below. Two small shelters provide rest areas and three linking sections offer the choice to leave the elevated walkway and return to the ground-level Forest walk, where two shelters provide seats and information signs.

Observation Tower

At the end of the elevated walkway a short section of the Forest walk brings visitors to the final information and rest shelter. From here a short elevated walkway leads to the lower viewing deck of the observation tower. The top of the tower, 37m above the ground, is reached by an external stairway (not accessible for wheelchairs) and offers visitors spectacular, uninterrupted vistas of the North Johnstone River gorge and surrounding landscapes. Information signs help visitors to learn more about this landscape.

Source: Queensland Government

If you need any more information about travelling around Australia, feel free to contact us at Travel Wheels campervans and car rentals, and we will do our very best to help plan your adventure around Australia!