Mareeba Coffee Country

Mareeba sits in the drier northern part of the Atherton Tablelands, and for decades it grew tobacco under a quota system; when that ended in the 1990s growers switched to other crops, and coffee became the district's signature. Estates such as Skybury and Jaques grow, process and roast on site, offering tastings and plantation tours, and the region produces a substantial share of Australian coffee alongside mangoes, avocados, sugar and bananas. Mareeba also holds one of the country's larger rodeos each July, the Mareeba Wetlands reserve nearby is good for birds, and Granite Gorge has a colony of habituated rock wallabies.

What you actually see

• The coffee estates - plantations with processing, roasting and tastings on site.
• The tropical orchards - mango, avocado and banana farms across the district.
• Granite Gorge - rock wallabies among granite boulders nearby.
• The Mareeba Wetlands - a reserve with waterbirds and lagoons.

When to go

April to October for the dry season; the coffee harvest runs roughly May to August, when processing is visible. Mango season falls in the wet months. The rodeo in July fills the town. Summer is hot and humid.

Honest expectations

Estates are spread out and a car is needed. Tours run at set times and some require booking. Mareeba itself is a working farm town with limited visitor facilities, and the district is hot and dusty in the dry season.

Nearby

Atherton and the crater lakes lie south; Chillagoe is far west.