The Atherton Tableland Rail Trail runs for 35km from Mareeba in the north to Atherton in the south. The effective trailhead is the popular Mareeba Heritage Museum.  It is a great start to the ride and offers tours and activities, visitor information and events calendar. It is possible to add a further 1.5km if you start from the site of the railway station in the middle of Mareeba. The current end of the trail is at Peter St, 3.2km south of Platypus Park, on the southern outskirts of Atherton.

The regional towns of Mareeba (population 11,500) and Atherton (8000)  have all facilities and services. There are two small settlements on the rail corridor. Walkamin is 14km south of Mareeba and has toilets, parking and a small store. Tolga is 6km north of Atherton outskirts and has toilets, cafes and pub.

Mareeba to Walkamin (14.6km)

• Heading south from Mareeba to Mareeba Airport the trail has an excellent trail surface with eucalypt groves providing morning and afternoon shade.
• The Department of Main Roads Qld recently completed the 7km section between the airport and Walkamin to a high standard.
• This section runs gently uphill and passes through some attractive eucalypt country as well as agricultural properties. The Walkamin store and cafe is 300m to the west of the trail.

Walkamin to Rocky Creek (7.8km)

• From Walkamin head south on a gentle grade for 6km with mixed shady eucalypt copses and open farmland which stops at the Kennedy Hwy. Turn left and negotiate the short downhill, an underpass and low-level bridge before following the signs back onto the rail corridor. We are advised by DTMR that this section will be repaired in the next few months and we trust that it will be made safe for users.
• Head up the gentle winding trail for 1.6km to Rocky Creek. During World War II it housed the largest military hospital complex in the Southern Hemisphere with some 60,000 Australian soldiers treated there for war-related conditions.
• The restored Rocky Creek Igloo is one of the complex’s remaining buildings. If inclined, cross the Kennedy Hwy or use the subway which connects to Barney Springs to visit the Rocky Creek campground and War Memorial Park, the focus of Victory in the Pacific celebrations each year. There are rest and toilet facilities at Rocky Creek.

Rocky Creek to Atherton (12.6km)

• Continue heading south for 6km to Tolga through agricultural holdings. For the history buffs, the Tolga Museum is in the station building as you enter town. Just past the museum there are directional signs to the quiet 28km State Farm Loop. The trail continues adjacent to the Tolga Scrub, a remnant of endangered Mabi forest that once covered most of the Atherton Tablelands. Continue south for 7km into Atherton on the rail trail and finish at Platypus Park.
• Now that the link between Mareeba Airport and Walkamin has been upgraded, the Atherton to Mareeba Rail Trail is 35km – the fourth-longest one in Qld.
• From here the Atherton-Herberton Historic Rail Trail runs for 3.2km to Peter St and the intention is to extend this railside trail for 22km to Herberton, where there are steam trains and more bike trails  – see https://www.athrail.com/
• For keen mountain bikers there are more than 55km of trails in the Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park, about 2.3km from Platypus Park.