Located near Mareeba in Northern Queensland, Granite Gorge is a great brown sign destination with beautiful scenery and friendly wildlife. We were drawn in for scenery of the granite rock formations, and as a bonus we looked forward to experiencing the rock wallabies.
Having left the precipitous Wet Tropics rainforests of the Daintree, the blue skies was a welcome break from the wet weather. It could be a quick stop for an hour to meet the very tame rock wallabies that Granite Gorge is known for but there is more to see and experience. Naturally, we did visit the rock wallabies and handed out some Wallaby Food available from the office.
Before heading to see the wallabies, we had a quick look around the grounds where you can camp to stay the night. Had our itinerary allowed for it, we would have been quite happy to stay to enjoy the park for longer. There are facilities at the camp include hot showers and flushing toilets, as well as two camp kitchens and open fireplaces to make the stay enjoyable.
A family of ducks followed us around, along with a couple of chickens, seemingly wanting to know if we had any spare wallaby food to share with them. Two peacocks wandered around looking for pellets dropped on the ground. There are some aviaries on the grounds and at the office with a variety of Australian birds. Lizards and hamsters were also near the office to look at.
Mareeba Rock Wallabies
After purchasing our day entry tickets and given a briefing and a map, we headed down into the Granite Gorge to see the Mareeba Rock Wallabies. The main congregation is a short walk from the office, welcomed by several wallabies scattered around a large open rock space.
A lot of the wallabies kept their distance. Some were timid while others were keen to come over to see what we had brought them. There were a few with joeys which tended to be shyer than the others. Some stayed well away and up on rock spaces that would have been difficult for us to get to if we tried. Of the wallabies that came closer to us, there were only a couple of extra brave wallabies who would eat from our hands.
Granite Gorge
After spending time with the wallabies, we continued the walk into the Granite Gorge. The first part was a small creek area. A large chunk of the granite rocks is a pseudo-island, with Granite Creek splitting in two paths. A walk bridge heads over the water to then head to where the creek branches. You then follow back towards the bridge and follow yellow markers, walking between towering granite rock formations.
The trail opens out on the top of a large rockface area, where you then walk down the face towards the creek. There are pockets that trap water when it isn’t flowing on top of the rocks. The rock formations have various names to represent the shape of them, such as Turtle Rock. The path isn’t fully formed, especially on the rock face, but is well enough marked out so you don’t get lost.
We were greeted with another Mareeba Rock Wallaby. Even though we had no food left to offer it, she was happy to come over to us. She was especially friendly and all but cuddled me when I sat down in front of her. Her joey was poking out to look around at what was going on. It is wonderful to have this experience but I also wonder how much they have become dependent on tourists buying wallaby food. Could they survive by themselves without us?
The climbing of rocks is not really necessary for the main walk but as you get towards the bottom of the main walk there is an optional extra part that becomes more difficult. The dinosaur footprints requires some clamoring and hopping over the rocks to reach them. Dinosaur Rock, named for its shape rather than marks from the presence of past reptiles wandering the land, comes complete with rock wall climbing grips to assist passing a narrow footing with a close drop into a waterhole.
We love to get out in nature but we’re not rock climbers. Still, we were able to get through a fair bit without too much drama, taking our time with caution. We used the rock wall grips and saw Dinosaur Rock and I went a little further on where it started to get more difficult.
I decided it would be better left to younger and fitter people than myself. I would have preferred to take my time without knowing my time is limited with an itinerary needing us to continue to other places in Tropical North Queensland. A couple of people did continue on to see the downstream parts of the water and returned before we finished looking around, but I don’t know how far they went.
The main walk is a predominately a loop. From the Dinosaur footprints, we head back the same way to the main walk, then the loop turns to return to the main campground and office area a different way. There are some rocks to climb over without scrambling and foot bridges over larger gaps. There are some additional rock formation features to look at before walking through a grass trail area and to another large open granite rock face.
The rock formations are less distinct for this part of the walk, with the most interesting features along the earlier part of the walk. The large expanse of granite rock isn’t without features. One feature is what looks to be an ancient lava flow that stopped on top of the existing rock bed, leaving a separate layer of rock on top. The edge of the lava flow is distinctly visible and the layer of rock on top is cracked and splitting separately to the rock beneath it.
We enjoyed our visit to Granite Gorge Nature Park and could have easily stayed longer if our itinerary allowed us to. The 2.5 hours we were there was enough to appreciate the gorge and experience the Mareeba Rock Wallabies and not feel rushed doing so.
Accommodation
The camp fees are extremely reasonable, considering they include entry to the granite walk. It is only a few dollars more to stay the night in an unpowered camping site than paying the entry fees alone. Powered sites cost a few dollars extra per adult. Safari tents using the camp kitchen and facilities, or fully self-contained cabins with kitchen and bathroom are other options available to stay at Granite Gorge Nature Park.
