Addressing my fears on Mt Edith Road — David Taylor - Master Jeweller

22nd February & 1st March 2026

Danbulla Road weaves it’s way around the back of Lake Tinaroo. It is a well maintained gravel road that is easy and fun to ride even in the wet.

Mt Edith road turns off Danbulla Road and heads out to Mt Edith and then back onto Danbulla Road at Kauri Creek via Kauri Creek Road. I think the total journey is about 35 kilometres. The road was closed for a long time after Cyclone Jasper and has recently been reopened. In the wet season it can be extremely slippery.

Mt Edith Road in it’s slippery state on ride 1, February 2026.

I have travelled this road for the last two weekends to address my fears of slippery red clay and wet rainforest foliage covered tracks. With all the rain we have been having I knew it would still be wet.

A week later and the sun out on ride 2. A beautiful day!

On the first weekend the track was extremely slippery but by the following weekend it was no practise at all. I was a little disappointed that it had dried our so much.

Slippery wet season roads are something I need to learn to deal with better so I have decided to hit them head on when I get the chance.

Most of the road was still very slippery on ride 1 in late February but in spots the sun had cut through the rainforest canopy and dried the track. I still needed to concentrate as one minute there would be grip and the next very little. Sometimes what looked dry on the top was still very wet underneath,

Time to sit and have a read and think about what was to come that day.

During a break near the Mt Edith lookout I sat and read my book for a while whilst enjoying the stunning views down into the valley below. Off in the distance there was a sign that things were about to get very slippery on Mt Edith Road.

I could see rain clouds heading my way and shortly after that the thunder started. I quickly packed up and got on the bike again to do the last third of the journey into Kauri Creek. Or so I thought.

A couple of kilometres down the track a large fallen tree was blocking the track and I had to backtrack all the way out in heavy rain! Oh the joy.

Taking a Milo break once I made it back to Danbulla Road.

By the time I made it back to Danbulla Road it was bucketing down so I headed to the day picnic area at the Chimneys to take a break and enjoy a Milo before heading home down Gilles Range….in the rain on the black top on offroad tyres. Oh even more joy!

Ride number 2, what a difference a week makes!

Exploring the creek that runs along part of Mt Edith Road.

By the time of my second ride Mt Edith Road was pretty much dried out. Nothing to challenge me at all. On this trip I parked the bike to the side of the track when I spotted a section of the creek running alongside that I thought looked pretty. It was a wonderful day of stopping and starting and playing with the camera again.

Stopping for a break on Tinaroo Creek Road.

When you get to the end of Mt Edith road you can either go left down Kauri Creek Road and head back to Danbulla Road or turn right to head towards Mareeba via Tinaroo Creek Road. From the previous week I knew that Kauri Creek Road was blocked from a large tree fall so I headed down Tinaroo Creek Road.

This is indeed a very good dirt road, quite well maintained at the time you could travel quite fast on it. You soon leave the rainforest canopy and ride out onto the open and more dry areas surrounding Mareeba.

Visiting Davies Creek back in 2019 with my wife.

I decided to follow Tinaroo Creek Road all the way out to the Kennedy Highway. From there I would ride down to Davies Creek to have lunch at a spot I have not visited since 2019. Davies Creek is a very popular swimming spot for locals and on a Sunday I expected it to be packed….and it was.

I made my lunch and then headed out to Black Mountain Road near Kuranda to travel Quaid Rd for the first time.

The view from Macalister Range Lookout on Quaid Road.

About half way along Black Mountain road a very poorly maintained bitumen Quaid Road intersects it and will take you back to the coast. I had always avoided it as I try to stay off the black top, but it was time to see what was down that road.

There is a stunning view of the coast to be had from Macalister Range Lookout, so I stopped and spent some time there. You can also see Double Island and the road on which I would travel back to Cairns shortly.

A heavy crop on the previous photo showing Captain Cook Highway, the road home for the day.

If you look closely in the previous photo you can see the Captain Cook Highway cut along the coast back to Cairns. This would be my final leg of the ride today travelling along the stunning coastline back to Cairns.