About Wangetti Trail

Park features

The Wangetti Trail covers a highly significant cultural area – it follows the ancient Trail used by the Djabuganydji, Yirrganydji, Nyagali, Buluwanydji and Guluy people as traditional walking tracks through the Country to connect, trade, celebrate together and conduct cultural practices.

Macalister Range National Park is located within the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area, home to a diverse range of unique plants and animals that can only be found here and nowhere else in the world.

The Macalister Range National Park is part of a diverse, forested range along the far northern coastline of Queensland. A picturesque park, rising steeply from the shoreline, it overlooks the tropical islands and waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The Park offers fantastic views of the imposing mountains on one side and inviting beaches, rocky headlands and tropical reefs on the other.

Wangetti Trail

The first stage of the Wangetti Trail is a 7.8-kilometre hiking and mountain biking trail connecting Palm Cove and Ellis Beach.

The Trail starts with 1,300m of local multi-use pathways from the Palm Cove Esplanade through the streets across the Captain Cook Highway.

From there, users turn northwards, and over the next 2.5 kilometres, the Trail climbs in elevation, winding through shady rainforest before reaching the top of the range. Take in the views of the coastline from the ridge.

As the Trail descends, users will enjoy a change of pace as they twist and turn back down the range.

Along the Trail, you’ll cross gullies and creeks that run rapidly during and after the wet season.

Finally, this stage of the Trail finishes along the Ellis Beach foreshore. Ellis Beach is known for its pristine sandy beach and coastal beauty, providing a perfect spot to relax.

Coastal wet tropics areas

The Wangetti Trail takes you through Macalister Range National Park and the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area. Stand among the remnants of the ancient Gondwanan rainforests that once covered Australia.

In far north Queensland, you will encounter some of the world’s oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforests with small pockets along the trail.

More than 3,300 species of plants and 700 species of animals call the Wet Tropics home. The landscape provides critical habitat for the endangered southern cassowary Casuarius casuarius johnsonii, rufous owl (southern sub species), Ninox rufa queenslandica and grey goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae.

This World Heritage Area is a living record of the evolutionary history of animals. Animals like the musky rat-kangaroo Hypsiprymnodon moschatus are part of an ancient lineage going back 26 million years or more.

Looking after the park

While on the Trail, be constantly aware of the physical effects on the environment and help protect the World Heritage Area.

• Take rubbish with you when you leave.
• Keep your dog at home. Dogs are not allowed on the Trail.
• Leave plants and animals undisturbed.
• Fires are not permitted.
• Please stay on the trail. Cutting corners and creating new tracks causes erosion and visual scarring and may misdirect following hikers.
• All plants and animals are protected. Do not remove plant material, living or dead.
• Feeding wildlife is not allowed as it can affect their health and alter the natural population balance.

For your safety, watch out for cycads, sting trees and wait-a-while growing on the Trail’s edge.

Cycads are incredibly slow-growing and can take years to regenerate. Please take care not to damage these plants.

Park management

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) manages Macalister Range National Park to conserve the area’s natural and cultural values. The majority of the 5,563 hectare national park remains undisturbed and preserved under various acts, legislation and management plans.

The area is also managed in collaboration with the Wet Tropics Management Authority, for the purposes of nature conservation and nature-based recreation. It is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area and is adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Tourism information links

Rainforest and Reef Information Centre
www.greatgreenwaytourism.com
142 Victoria Street
Cardwell QLD 4849
Phone: (07) 4066 8601
Email: info@greatgreenwaytourism.com

For tourism information for all regions in Queensland see Queensland Holidays.