Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park – Bicycles and Balloons

Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park, Atherton Tablelands

The Atherton Tablelands is famous - and becoming more popular for a new reason beyond the waterfall circuit and the Curtain Fig Tree - with cyclists, particularly thanks to the Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park, home to magnificent flowing single track, family trails, epic mountain bike rides and scenic back-country road rides. The Tablelands sit west of Cairns, up in the highlands, well into the tropics - its elevated position provides a climate suited to both dairy farming and cycling. As the locals say, it's naturally air-conditioned.

The Atherton Tablelands has something for everyone, whether you ride for fun or push yourself to the limit. Riding in the Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park, spanning Baldy Mountain Forest Reserve and Herberton Range State Forest, is a great way to spend your day - ride some of the newest single track in Australia, just 2 kilometres from the main street of Atherton. The majority of trails are easy (green level, per the IMBA standard) and well suited to mountain bike beginners. All trails on the Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park map are rideable on a hardtail cross-country bike, though an all-mountain bike is recommended for Trail 6, a newer 6km section known as "Ridgey Didge," which is very exciting.

Winding paved country roads on the Atherton Tablelands lead to spectacular lookouts and waterfalls, including the world-famous Millaa Millaa Falls. Traffic is light on these roads, and with mild temperatures, it's easy to see why the Tablelands is increasingly recognised by cyclists from interstate and overseas.

There's so much else to see and do on the Atherton Tablelands - bushwalking, mountain bike riding, bird watching, hot air ballooning and water sports. Camping, fishing and sailing at Lake Tinaroo are also popular with visitors and Cairns locals alike. Hot Air Balloon Cairns operates balloon tours every day of the year from Mareeba, as the northern Tablelands' drier climate makes take-off conditions for the balloon fleet at sunrise much more reliable. If you're staying in Atherton, Yungaburra or Mareeba, drive to the Mareeba Heritage Centre, where your balloon trip starts. After a short drive aboard a Hot Air coach, you'll arrive to see the spectacular sight of hot air balloons being inflated at dawn, then hop aboard to experience the magic of floating gently up, up and away over the Tablelands, with views as far as the eye can see. As the ballooning tour takes place early in the morning, return time to the Heritage Centre is 9am - giving you a whole day to explore the Atherton Tablelands after enjoying its views from above.

The Atherton Tablelands is a popular holiday destination in Tropical North Queensland for its cooler climate, majestic mountains, beautiful ancient lakes and unique villages. If you're into cycling, this is one of the best places in Australia for its roads and tracks - and there's so much more to do besides. And did we mention the coffee is excellent, and grown locally too?

🗺️ Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park Location Map