How the Tablelands works
The Atherton Tablelands is not a single destination — it's a highland plateau roughly 700 to 1,000 metres above the Cairns coast, spread across a triangle of country between Kuranda, Ravenshoe and Millaa Millaa. The things you've come for — the Waterfall Circuit, the crater lakes of Barrine and Eacham, the Curtain Fig Tree, platypus at Yungaburra, coffee farms around Mareeba — sit 10 to 40 kilometres apart along quiet rural roads.
That geography decides your transport. There is no train on the plateau and no sightseeing bus network between the natural attractions, so the practical choices come down to two: drive yourself, or join a coach tour from Cairns. A scheduled bus service does link the main towns, which works well for point-to-point travel, and the famous Kuranda rail and cableway pair delivers a brilliant car-free day on the plateau's eastern rim.
🚗 Driving & the four range roads
Self-drive is the default way to explore, and the drive itself is half the experience. Four fully sealed roads climb the Great Dividing Range from the coastal plain, and most visitors make a loop of two of them.
| Route | From | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Kennedy Highway (Kuranda Range) | Smithfield, northern Cairns | The main route. A steady climb past Kuranda to Mareeba — the gentlest option and the busiest. Allow about an hour Cairns to Mareeba. |
| Gillies Range Road | Gordonvale, south of Cairns | The famous one — around 260 corners in 19 kilometres of rainforest switchbacks. The most direct route to Lake Barrine, Lake Eacham and Yungaburra. Allow 25–30 minutes for the range alone. |
| Palmerston Highway | Innisfail, south of Cairns | The easiest gradient, climbing through World Heritage rainforest to Millaa Millaa — ideal if the Waterfall Circuit is your first stop. |
| Rex Range Road | Near Mossman | The northern back door, linking Port Douglas to Julatten and Mareeba through green hill country. |
On the plateau itself, roads are sealed, quiet and easy. As a rule of thumb: Mareeba to Atherton is about 30 minutes, Atherton to Yungaburra about 15, Yungaburra to Millaa Millaa about 30. Car hire is available in Cairns and at Cairns Airport; book ahead in the June–September dry season.
All four ranges are safe, sealed roads — but they are mountain roads. Take the Gillies gently and use the slow-vehicle bays, expect morning fog on the plateau in winter, and avoid driving the ranges at dawn, dusk or night when wallabies, pademelons and tree-kangaroos are on the move. If you're towing, prefer the Kennedy or Palmerston over the Gillies.
🚌 Buses & public transport
Trans North Bus & Coach runs the scheduled public service between Cairns and the Tablelands under Queensland's qconnect banner, with routes linking Cairns to Kuranda, Mareeba, Atherton, Herberton and Ravenshoe. Services operate on weekdays and Saturdays from the Cairns CBD.
50-cent fares apply. Queensland's flat 50-cent fare covers qconnect regional bus services, including the Trans North Tablelands routes — making the bus an exceptionally cheap way to reach the plateau's towns. Check the Trans North timetable before travelling, as frequencies are limited.
Be clear-eyed about what the bus does and doesn't do: it connects the towns. It will get you from Cairns to Atherton or Yungaburra-adjacent stops affordably, but it does not detour to Millaa Millaa Falls, the crater lakes or the Curtain Fig. If your goal is the natural sights rather than the townships, pair the bus with local taxis, or take a tour instead.
🚞 Kuranda Scenic Railway & Skyrail
The plateau's eastern rim has the most spectacular arrival in Queensland. The Kuranda Scenic Railway climbs 34 kilometres from Cairns through 15 hand-carved tunnels past Barron Gorge and Stoney Creek Falls to Kuranda village, while the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway glides 7.5 kilometres over the Wet Tropics canopy from Smithfield. The classic day trip takes one up and the other down.
Treat this as a destination experience rather than transport into the wider Tablelands — Kuranda sits on the plateau's edge, and there's no onward sightseeing network from the village. It pairs beautifully, though, with a separate Tablelands waterfalls day.
🚍 Coach day tours & charters
For most visitors without a car — and plenty with one — a guided coach tour is the best way to see the Tablelands. A well-run day tour from Cairns covers the Waterfall Circuit (Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Ellinjaa Falls), the Curtain Fig Tree, Lake Barrine or Lake Eacham, and a village stop in Yungaburra or Malanda, with local commentary and zero range-road stress.
Cooee Tours arranges Tablelands touring at every scale: seats on day tours from Cairns, private vehicle-and-driver days built around your interests — coffee farms, wildlife, swimming holes — and full coach charters for groups, clubs and seniors travel from anywhere in Queensland.
💡 Local transport tips
- Taxis are thin on the ground. Small local taxi services operate around Atherton and Mareeba, but don't plan a sightseeing day around them — pre-book anything you need.
- Fuel up in the towns. Mareeba, Atherton and Malanda all have fuel; stations are sparse on the back roads between waterfalls.
- Winter mornings mean fog. The plateau regularly wakes under heavy fog from June to August. Build slack into morning drives and use headlights.
- Phone coverage drops out in the gullies and on parts of the Waterfall Circuit. Download offline maps before leaving Cairns.
- Dawn and dusk are wildlife hours. The same timing that's perfect for platypus-spotting at Peterson Creek puts wallabies on the roads. Slow down.
- Cyclists: the Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park is a serious drawcard, and quiet plateau roads suit confident road riders — but the range roads themselves are narrow and winding, so most riders drive up with bikes racked.