Mount Molloy



An historic timber milling and mining town. Cattle grazing is now the dominant local industry.

Location: 106 km north west of Cairns.

Places of interest: Mount Molloy; McAlister Range; Southedge Lake; Mount Danbulan (732 metres); Lake Mitchell; Hann Tableland National Park; Mount Molloy Hotel; localities of Julatten and Mount Carbine; mining relics including an old steam engine

Brief history: At its height Mount Molloy was a copper mine in the 1890s. It was commonly used as camping grounds and Chinese market gardeners used to grow grain and other foodstuffs for the miners nearby.

A private railway was constructed to Mount Molloy, junctioning from the Cairns to Mareeba line at Biboohra, opening in August 1908. It was built by Mount Molloy Limited to serve its smelters. The line was transferred to Queensland Railways on 1 March 1917 following the liquidation of the company and was extended to Rumula on 5 December 1926. The branch closed on 1 May 1964.

Molloy Post Office opened by July 1905 and was renamed Mount Molloy in 1982. Mount Molloy was named after Patrick Molloy, an early teamster for a stock route and the person who discovered copper at what was to become Mount Molloy.

Today the dominant industry of Mount Molloy is now cattle grazing and consists of a few shops and an old hotel.



Mount Carbine
Mount Carbine is ideally located for the traveller wishing to explore Far North Queensland - whether it be the Palmer River Gold Fields, Lakeland Downs with its vast cropping areas, the Annan Gorge, the mysterious Black Mountains, the Mt Mulligan Coal Free Van Storagefield or the beautiful Daintree Rainforest. There are a few old mining relics around towns, including an old crusher, a dam wall and an old well that is a little hard to find. The small wolfram mining township lies on the Peninsula Developmental Road, north of Mt Molloy and south of Palmer River Roadhouse.


Mount Lewis dam

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. 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. Along the the upper reaches of Mt Lewis Rd you will find some of the most significant highland rainforest in Australia. It is accessed via the Mossman-Mt Molloy Rd, a couple of km north of Kingfisher Park.

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