TNQ Writer
Welcome to Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, an aerial experience through Australia’s most famous rainforest, the Wet Tropics.
It’s like a capsule connection from Cairns with Kuranda, through a rainforest whose ancestry predates dinosaurs and is home to 15 of the 26 families of ancient flowering plants in the world, just to name a few accolades.
If you were needing more excuses to join the green gondolas from Smithfield to Kuranda, we’ve got you covered with these six reasons to see the rainforest with Skyrail Rainforest Cableway
1. You can see plants and animals found nowhere else on earth
Explore the rainforest from the sky and the forest floor at Skyrail Rainforest Cableway
When you’ve got the chance to get amongst an ancient tropical landscape that has evolved over hundreds of millions of years, it pays to explore it from a couple of angles. Skyrail Rainforest Cableway isn’t just an aerial rainforest experience, it’s a ground level one too. Across an hour and a half (one way), you’ll glide metres above the canopy, before descending to the forest floor where you can further explore on foot, with guided ranger tours at Red Peak and The Edge Lookout, which overlooks Barron Falls.
2. Your trip will go ahead rain, hail or shine
A perfect misty and mysterious day
Rainforests don’t earn their name by being dry all the time, so it pays to book a tour that goes ahead regardless of the weather. From the comforts of your “naturally air -conditioned” gondola, you’ll be connected from five metres above sea-level to 545 metres above it, without any of the associated sweat you’d experience if you had to tackle the incline on foot. Even if you did find yourself in Cairns on a wet, drizzly day, don’t rule out your rainforest day trip. You’ll get to see the ancient tropical rainforest in misty Jurassic Park-like conditions, the kind that make this rainforest so special.
3. It’s totally accessible
The close proximity of the ancient rainforest and gondolas
The thing about rainforests is that you normally need to be of sure foot to get amongst it. With Skyrail you don’t need to be an avid bushwalker, or even wear sneakers for that matter, to enjoy the experience. You can really dial up the action as much as you want to with a day trip through the oldest living rainforest in the world. The only walking that’s required is at mid-stations, with less than 600m walking between the two stops. For the rest of the time, the gondola will be doing all the huffy puffy, gliding you gently over the rainforest canopy.
4. You can be hosted the whole time… or not
Meet the rainforest’s biggest advocates on a Ranger Guided tour
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes to explore at their own pace, you’ll be happy to know Skyrail has self-guided tour options to help punctuate your visit. There’s interpretive signage, an app and audio guide to fill in the blanks as to why these plants and animals who existed long before the dinosaurs roamed the earth are still alive. Of course, if you prefer something a little more hosted, you can opt for a one-on-one Skyrail experience. Join a Ranger Guided tour at Red Peak Station to truly unlock the secrets of the world’s oldest tropical rainforest.
5. It’s damn Instagrammable
The Diamond View provides a unique birds-eye view as you glide metres of the rainforest
Brace yourself, big nature and a camera-roll full of photos of this ancient tropical rainforest are coming on this 7.5km trip which glides straight over #theancientrainforest. The views are spicky thanks to the cableway’s height, which at its tallest point is 40.5m above the forest floor. If you’ve been stalking #rainforestroad on Instagram, you’ll find this money shot on the descent from Kuranda to Smithfield. Of course, if you’re worried about gondola’s solid floor getting in the way of your Instagram-banger, upgrade to the diamond view for a glass-bottom gondola or the Canopy Glider, which is completely open-air.
6. It’s completely sustainable
Barron Falls
When you’re visiting a World Heritage-listed icon, you’ll want to put thought into what impact you leave behind. Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a sustainable tourism leader, holding EarthCheck’s Master Certification (making it one of less than 10 operators who have achieved their highest accolade in the world). Everything down to the boardwalks which are elevated off the ground have been designed to create the lowest possible impact on the rainforest and its inhabitants. You can rest assured, the only thing you take away from this natural environment is memories (and maybe a souvenir or two).
