Mt
Carbine is a tiny community just south of Cape York peninsula.
It is on the
Peninsula
Developmental Road, north of Mt
Molloy and south of Palmer River Roadhouse.
It is a lot smaller than Mt Molloy - it mainly only exists for its
wolfram mine.
You can drive through
it almost without noticing - it only has a pub and a roadhouse (UPDATE - that burned
down in late 2013, getting rebuilt as of late 2014) on the
main road.
But there are a few
things to see and
do around it!
From the
main
road you only see the pub,
... and
the (UPDATE 2013
- now ruins of the) roadhouse
(UPDATE 2014
burned down last year but now being rebuilt),
and the signs of the caravan park. UPDATE since 2015
- the roadhouse is open again!
If you
turn into the caravan
park your first come to a mining
monument.
There are a few old
mining relics around - an old crusher, a dam wall and an old well but
they are a bit trickier to find.
The caravan park
itself is nice, on large grounds and there are a lot of different
species of birds flying around that you can see and hear almost any
time of the day.
There is not much more of the township, but there are some great
swimming holes around, and a great four wheel drive track
- Mt Spurgeon Track
- up to Mount
Lewis National
Park.
It's a steep track but beautiful, with some great views over the
surrounding landscape.
Mount
Lewis
National Park and Mt
Spurgeon Track
Mt Spurgeon Track, in
Mount
Lewis National Park, is a hidden gem of Mt Carbine.
The main
access to the
national park is actually from the Mossman - Mt Molloy Road, via a
turnoff north of Julatten.
But if you are heading north to the Cape, you are probably more likely
to drive through Mt Carbine,
and you can
access the park from here as well.
There is a track that starts behind the caravan park and heads up to
the mountains. It goes
through open eucalypt
woodland ...
... and is for starters not so steep ..
but gradually gets steeper (actually steeper than on any of the pics
here) ...
..
goes past a beautifil lookout point ...
... and keeps winding until you come to a creek and a beautiful
swimming hole.
Mount Lewis is a great place on a hot day as both the air and the water
are so cool here thanks to the altitude.
If you have a spare hour or two in Mt Carbine or Julatten for a side
track, it's a nice one!
More
Mount Lewis National Park
Facts
* It has
been a national park since 2009.
* It is a
biodiversity hotspot with over 40 threatened or rare species.
* A species found nowhere else is the Mount Lewis spiny crayfish.
* Birds in the park include blue faced parrot finch and golden
bowerbird.
* Mammals include masked white tailed rat and cinereus ringtail possum.
* Reptiles include red bellied black snake.
* The tracks are not only popular with four wheel driving but also
walking.
* There is no camping or day use facilities within this park.
* The park is located on Mt Carbine Tableland, within Daintree, Mossman
and Mitchell River catchment areas.
* It is in two different environments - the Wet Tropics in Douglas
Shire and the Einasleigh Uplands in Mareeba Shire.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.