Mission Beach City Guide
A complete accommodation and tour guide in Mission Beach
Mission Beach is about an hour to hour an half drive south of Cairns. Mission Beach offers two World Heritage areas side by side, as the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park meets the rainforest of the Wet Tropics.
Things To Do In Mission Beach At No Cost
Licuala State Forest
A 1.25 km (30 min) Licuala Fan Palm Walk and 350m (20 min) Children's Walk loops through rare Fan Palm forest. The Children's Walk follows cassowary footprints to eggs in a nest. A "Cassowaries for Kids" brochure makes learning about these big birds a lot of fun. Getting There: Take the Tully-Mission Beach Road and watch for signs for the turnoff. The carpark is about 1km down an unsealed road.
Licuala Rainforest Walk
Despite its length, this 4.6km (2 hour) walking track is a fairly easy walk along an overgrown forestry road. Gradient is minimal. The only difficulty may be in arranging a vehicle pick-up at the other end of the track. Getting There: The track is accessible either from the carpark at Licuala State Forest or from the other end on the El Arish-Mission Beach Road about 2km southeast of the Lacey Creek Walk.
Kennedy Walking Track
In 1848, the Tropical North's first European explorer Edmund Kennedy landed at Tam O'Shanter Point to begin his ill-fated expedition north to Cape York. Take a walk in his footsteps south of Mission Beach. The full track length is 7.8km (nearly 5 miles) round trip but walkers can turn around and retrace their steps whenever they're tired. The track is narrow and rough in places and there are some sandy stretches and rock hopping along the beach. Getting There: Park at the boat ramp on the southern end of South Mission Beach.
