Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

Skyrail runs about seven and a half kilometres of gondola between Smithfield, on the northern edge of Cairns, and the village of Kuranda on the tableland above. The line crosses forested slopes and the Barron Gorge, and because the cabins sit only a little above the canopy you look down into the structure of the forest rather than at a distant green mat. Two mid-stations break the trip: Red Peak, where a boardwalk loops among tall trees and a guide points out epiphytes and strangler figs, and Barron Falls, where boardwalks lead to platforms above the gorge and the falls. Many people ride up on the gondola and return on the historic railway through the same gorge.

History

The cableway was first proposed in 1987, and building it took approval from 23 local, state and federal agencies, an environmental impact study and an agreement with the Djabugay Tribal Aboriginal Corporation to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage. Construction began in June 1994, and the AU$35 million line opened on 31 August 1995 with 47 gondolas - at 7.5 kilometres, the longest gondola cableway in the world when it was completed. An upgrade in 1997 brought the fleet to 114 gondolas; glass-floored cabins followed in 2013, and the Edge Lookout at Barron Falls opened in March 2019 (Wikipedia, Skyrail Rainforest Cableway).

What to look for

• The gorge crossing - the section where the line passes above the Barron Gorge.
• Red Peak boardwalk - a short guided loop through rainforest at the upper mid-station.
• Barron Falls lookouts - platforms facing the falls, spectacular in the wet and thin in the dry.
• The railway return - the descending train through tunnels and along the gorge wall.

When to go

May to October is the dry season with clearer skies, though the falls are at their weakest then. The wet months turn Barron Falls into a genuine torrent but bring cloud and downpours. Ride early to avoid both the midday heat inside the cabins and the tour-group blocks that arrive later in the morning.

Good to know

It is expensive, especially as a combined ticket with the railway, and the whole loop takes most of a day once transfers are counted. Cabins get hot and stuffy in the middle of the day and there is no air conditioning. Kuranda at the top is heavily geared to tour buses. High winds can close the line at short notice.

Nearby

Cairns and its northern beaches are below, with the Atherton Tableland and Barron Gorge National Park around Kuranda.

Key facts