Welcome MAMU to the Cairns & Tablelands displays.The Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway will offer a unique experience. Visitors will get close to rainforest plants and animals, from the forest floor to the forest canopy. They will also enjoy sweeping vistas of World Heritage-listed landscapes. Information signs will help visitors to understand the rich cultural history of the area and the complex web of rainforest life.
The site is on the escarpment of the North Johnstone River gorge, offering spectacular views over a sharp bend in the river and beyond to rainforest-clad mountains. The entire area has cultural significance for the Ma:Mu Aboriginal people.
The walkway will include: a 1km forest walk at ground level, leading to the elevated walkway
a 324m elevated walkway, high in the canopy of this lush tropical rainforest
a 40m-long cantilever and a 37m-high observation tower with two viewing decks, providing spectacular views over the North Johnstone River gorge and surrounding Wet Tropics World Heritage Area seats, information signs and artworks in shelters along the forest walk and on the elevated walkway an entry building, office building, toilets, bus shelter and a combined bus and carpark.
Forest walk
From the entry building, which is a short walk from the carpark, visitors will stroll along the ground-level forest walk to the elevated walkway. This will give a first close-up look at this rich tropical rainforest, part of one of the largest remaining continuous stands of complex vine forest on basalt soils. The walking track will be an easy walk, suitable for wheelchairs and visitors with vision-impairment.
Cantilever
Visitors will arrive at a shelter with seats and information signs. From the shelter a 40m-long cantilevered structure will rise gently as the ground drops away steeply, providing visitors with their first experience of the rainforest canopy. At the end, a viewing platform will offer a magnificent view of the valley below, featuring a sharp bend in the North Johnstone River. Visitors will then return to the shelter and continue along the forest walk to the start of the elevated walkway.
Elevated walkway
The elevated walkway meanders through the rainforest canopy. Along the way visitors will be able to view rainforest plants and animals at close quarters and gain tantalising glimpses of the river valley far below. Two small shelters will provide rest areas and three linking sections will offer the choice to leave the elevated walkway and return to the ground-level forest walk, where two shelters will provide seats and information signs.
Observation tower
At the end of the elevated walkway a short section of the forest walk will bring visitors to the final information and rest shelter. From here a short elevated walkway will lead to the lower viewing deck of the 37m-high observation tower. The top of the tower will be reached by an external stairway (not accessible for wheelchairs) and will provide visitors with spectacular, uninterrupted vistas of the North Johnstone River gorge and surrounding landscapes. Information signs will help visitors to learn more about this landscape.
