Gillies Highway Gillies Range Road | |
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Gillies Range Road (black and green) | |
General information | |
Type | Highway |
Length | 56 km (35 mi) |
Route number(s) | ![]() |
Major junctions | |
NE end | ![]() |
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SW end | ![]() |
Location(s) | |
Major settlements | Yungaburra |
Highway system | |
The Gillies Highway is a road that runs from Gordonvale in the Cairns Region through the Gillies Range (part of the Great Dividing Range) to Atherton in the Tablelands Region, both in Queensland, Australia. [1] Its official name is Gillies Range Road, and it was originally known as the Cairns Range Road.
It is a state-controlled regional road (number 642). [2] [3]
The highway is known for its 263 corners, and 800 m elevation change in only 19 km of road. [1] It is a popular tourist drive and has a number of lookouts. [4]
Commencing from the Bruce Highway in Gordonvale the road runs south-west, following the Mulgrave River, to the foot of the Gillies Range. It climbs the range by a winding route, generally westward, and then proceeds south through the Little Mulgrave National Park before turning west to ascend to the Atherton Tableland. It then passes north of Lake Barrine and south of Tinaroo Dam before reaching Yungaburra, where it passes the exit to Malanda-Lake Barrine Road to the south-east. From here it proceeds west to Atherton, which it enters from the north, after passing the exit to Tinaroo Falls Dam Road to the north-east. [5]
It also provides the only road access to the locality of Goldsborough. [5]
In September 1922, the Shire of Eacham decided to use £10,000 of funding provided under Australian and Queensland Government unemployment schemes to construct the Cairns Range Road to provide a short route from the Atherton Tableland to the Cairns hinterland. [6] There were immediate objections to the proposed route from Gordonvale to Atherton on account of the difficult terrain with a counter-proposal to build a road from Smithfield in Cairns to Mareeba via Kuranda, [7] [8] but this route would be more beneficial to the Shire of Mareeba rather than to the Shire of Eacham, so the original plan proceeded (although the Kuranda Range Road would later be built in 1940).
By March 1925, 150 men were employed building the road. [9] It was officially opened on Saturday 10 July 1926 allowing travel between Cairns to the Tableland in 2½ hours. [10] However, as the road was only wide enough for one-way traffic, it would flow in different directions at various times of day according to a timetable with vehicles wishing to travel in the other directions being held at Top Gate or Bottom Gate. [11]
The Gillies Highway was named after William Gillies, a former Premier of Queensland and the local Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Eacham. [12] It was proposed to name the Cairns Range Road (as it was then known) after him following his sudden death in February 1928 but it was not made official until March 1934. [13] [14] [15] [16]
On 4 February 1987, a bus carrying Year 12 school students and teachers from the Cairns State High School came off the highway and fell down 20 metres into rainforest, killing 8 students. [17] An inquiry established the brakes of the bus were faulty. [18]
A project to improve safety on sections of the road, at a cost of $19.341 million, was scheduled for completion in December 2022. [19]
The following state-controlled road intersects with Gillies Range Road:
Tinaroo Falls Dam Road | |
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Location | Gillies Range Road, Atherton to Danbulla Road, Tinaroo |
Length | 16.4 km (10.2 mi) |
Tinaroo Falls Dam Road is a state-controlled district road (number 6425) rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS). [2] [3] It runs from Gillies Range Road in Atherton, via Kairi, to Danbulla Road in Tinaroo, a distance of 16.4 kilometres (10.2 mi). The only major intersection on this road is with Tolga-Kairi Road in Kairi. [20]
LGA | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
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Cairns | Gordonvale | 0 | 0.0 | ![]() | North–eastern end of Gillies Highway (State Route 52) |
Tablelands | Yungaburra | 40.1 | 24.9 | Lake Barrine Road – south – Malanda | |
Atherton | 53.6 | 33.3 | Tinaroo Falls Dam Road – north–east – Tinaroo | ||
56 | 35 | ![]() – east, then south – Evelyn | South–western end of Gillies Highway. State Route 52 continues south–west as Atherton Herberton Road. | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
Yungaburra is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Yungaburra had a population of 1,272 people.
Gordonvale is a rural sugar-growing town and locality situated on the southern side of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Gordonvale had a population of 6,944 people.
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau, which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River, which was dammed to form the irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinaroo. Unlike many other rural areas, the Tablelands is experiencing a significant growth in population.
Atherton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Atherton had a population of 7,724 people.
Lake Barrine is a freshwater lake on the eastern parts of Atherton Tableland in the locality of Lake Barrine, in the Tablelands Region of Far North Queensland, Australia, close to Lake Eacham. The lake and surrounds are protected within the Crater Lakes National Park and are accessible via the Gillies Highway.
The Gillies Range is a mountain range in Queensland, Australia. It is a chain of summits south of Cairns that separate the Far North Queensland coastal plain from the interior Atherton Tableland. At the foot of the range is the town of Gordonvale.
The Tinaroo Dam, officially the Tinaroo Falls Dam, is a major ungated concrete gravity dam with a central ogee spillway across the Barron River located on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. The dam's purpose includes irrigation for the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Scheme, water supply, hydroelectricity generation, and recreation. Completed between 1953 and 1958, the dam creates the impounded reservoir, Lake Tinaroo.
Kairi is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Kairi had a population of 490 people.
The Shire of Mareeba is a local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, covered an area of 53,491 square kilometres (20,653.0 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several councils in the Atherton Tableland area to become the Tablelands Region.
The Shire of Eacham was a local government area of Queensland. It was located on the Atherton Tableland, a plateau forming part of the Great Dividing Range west of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Malanda, covered an area of 1,126.4 square kilometres (434.9 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several other councils in the Tableland area to become the Tablelands Region.
The Shire of Herberton was a local government area of Queensland. It was located on the Atherton Tableland, a plateau forming part of the Great Dividing Range west of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Herberton, covered an area of 9,607.0 square kilometres (3,709.3 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1895 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several other councils in the Tableland area to become the Tablelands Region.
The Shire of Atherton was a local government area of Queensland. It was located on the Atherton Tableland, a plateau forming part of the Great Dividing Range west of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Atherton, covered an area of 623.1 square kilometres (240.6 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1881 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several other councils in the Tableland area to become the Tablelands Region.
The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 January 2014, one of those local government areas, the Shire of Mareeba, was re-established independent of the Tablelands Region.
The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. However, following public protest and a referendum in 2013, on 1 January 2014, the Shire of Douglas was de-amalgamated from the Cairns Region and re-established as a separate local government authority.
The Mulgrave River, incorporating the East Mulgrave River and the West Mulgrave River, is a river system in Far North Queensland, Australia. The 70-kilometre (43 mi)-long river flows towards the Coral Sea and is located approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Cairns.
Malanda Falls Swimming Pool is a heritage-listed swimming pool at Malanda Falls Park, Malanda, Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1906 onwards. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 February 2010.
Lake Eacham Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 6–8 Kehoe Place, Yungaburra, Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1910 by Side Brothers. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Lake Barrine is a rural locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Lake Barrine had a population of 170 people.
Lamb Range is a locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Lamb Range had "no people or a very low population".
Danbulla is a locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Danbulla had a population of 88 people.
Media related to Gillies Highway, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons