Underrated engineering marvel should be a top Queensland attraction

You’d be hard stuck to find any visitor to Far North Queensland who hasn’t heard of the Kuranda Skyrail, the cableway that climbs above the rainforest north of Cairns. It’s reputedly one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions.

Yet even my sister, who’s lived on the Atherton Tablelands for years, had only vaguely heard of the Mamu Tropical Skywalk: a sign off to the right somewhere on her many drives to Innisfail. So it was with some smugness I was able to recount my unexpected find that afternoon, exploring the little towns and curiosities of the Tablelands.

Literally a turn-off from the Palmerston Highway, this incredible engineering feat uses a combination of walking tracks, elevated steel walkways and viewing platforms to place you in the heart of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, leading you on a carefully curated path through a rainforest thankfully protected from future logging or farming. The standout of this easy 2.5-kilometre amble (lack of crowds aside) is that the views are revealed in tantalising vignettes, the opening stroll through the forest floor giving no hint as to the remarkable views ahead.

The first is the long cantilever that gently wavers 20 metres above the canopy. Unnerving at first, its immersive quality can soon be appreciated. It juts out over an unruly tangle of greenery, with the tallest trees at eye level, their broad trunks covered in moss and creeping vines. In the distance are the wet tropical forests and dense mountain ranges that dominate the landscape.

Today, the succession of peaks are buried in light mist and you can clearly hear the gush of a river gorge above the sounds of twittering birds. A sign later tells me it’s the North Johnstone river gorge, the one famous for its crocodile-infested waters. If you’d been airdropped into the Amazon, I doubt you’d feel more among it (this ancient rainforest is 80 million years older). It’s hard to believe we were pulling into the car park only 20 minutes earlier and even harder to fathom that this gem isn’t right at the top of Far North Queensland attractions.

Next up along the trail is the 350-metre long elevated walkway that’s like a suspended bridge through the canopy, the adventure culminating in a dizzying 37-metre-high viewing platform that gives the final birds’ eye view of this rugged wilderness.

In an area known for its cyclonic winds and rainfall, I’m curious to find out how these steel structures withstand the onslaught and indeed, how the project came about. Located within Wooroonooran National Park, the attraction opened in 2008, built in clearings in the rainforest caused by Cyclone Larry two years earlier. It turns out the ground-level forest walk is an old forestry track used for access to the construction site.

Unpainted galvanised steel was used for the supports and beams of the skywalk, cantilever and observation tower – not just cyclone-proof, they require little ongoing maintenance and hence human intrusion into the delicate ecosystem. Prefabricated skywalk sections, for ease of transport and access, were then put in place over the supporting structure. That first cantilever is 40 metres long and extends 10 metres beyond the last supporting tower. No wonder it feels like walking the plank. Reassuring to read it can hold the weight of seven small cars.