Camping at Granite Gorge

Camping at Granite Gorge Review in Mareeba, on the Tablelands

The Granite Gorge Caravan Park is located on Paglietta Road in Chewko, 12km from Mareeba, just over a 1 hour drive from Cairns. The caravan park is set on a large private property, which has established trees for shade and is bordered by Granite Creek. Campers can choose between powered sites and unpowered sites. The powered sites are located near the Reception hub, in close proximity to the camp kitchens, laundry facilities and amenity blocks. There are also unpowered sites in this area, but many not needing power choose to move down to select a spot right by the creek. The Reception hub is where you check in and is adjacent to the pathway down to the rock wallabies, it has a selection of cold drinks, chips and ice-creams and is only open during the day. It also has some wildlife exhibits, including blue tongue lizards and several colourful parrots.

“This camping review of Granite Gorge has been written following our stay in November 2024. We’ve been several times in the past as day visitors, but this was our first time with the caravan. We stayed in a powered site, which was partially shaded by mango trees and close to the amenities. Getting up early in the mornings we took our dog for a walk on some of the bush tracks, before settling him into the caravan and heading over to the rock wallabies for some selfies. They are SO CUTE!!! Other highlights included having a waddle of ducks parade past our campsite, and enjoying the walks over the giant boulders. The amenities were clean and well maintained.” – Julie Johnston

Granite Gorge Caravan Park Facilities and Activities

The Granite Gorge Caravan Park is privately owned and operated and is popular with locals and tourists alike, for its relaxed ambience, resident population of rock wallabies and shaded sites. There are no specific designated camping sites (as in numbers and lines), but all of the powered sites are together and near the park amenities. Unpowered campers can also be in this location, but most prefer to head over to the banks of Granite Creek for proximity to the water and water views. In addition to the campsites, Granite Gorge also has a limited number of bush cabins and safari tent accommodation. The park facilities include 2 amenity blocks with hot showers, 2 camp kitchens with some appliances – fridge/freezer, kettle, toaster, microwave and gas burner cooktops – and picnic tables, laundry facilities and BBQs. Granite Gorge Caravan Park is pet friendly and if you are camping, you can bring your dog, but must make sure it is restrained at your site. Dogs are not permitted in the gorge where the rock wallabies are (for obvious reasons), but there’s plenty of walking tracks and trails you can take them on. [*If you do not have your own caravan or campertrailer, then you can hire ours – see below for more information.]

The caravan park itself has two distinct camping sections. There is the ‘main’ area, which is adjacent to the Reception hub and has powered and unpowered sites, all of the amenities and the safari tent accommodation. This area has established pine trees for shade and some smaller trees, including mango trees. This area has somewhat of a farm ‘vibe’ thanks to the wandering array of ducks and chickens. The second area is a short / drive walk away and stretches out along the banks of the Granite Creek Weir. This area has more of a bush camping ‘vibe’, thanks to the lack of amenities and large paperbark trees. You can swim, canoe and fish in the creek. There are fire pits in both camping areas. The rock wallabies are in the gorge itself, which is separate to both camping areas and just a short walk from the Reception hub.

Granite Gorge Mareeba Rock Wallabies and Walks

Back to the oh so cute Mareeba Rock Wallabies, one of the rarest species of rock wallabies in the country and so named for where they live – Mareeba – although they are also found around Mount Garnet, Mount Carbine and even Chillagoe. They were classified as a different species back in 1992 and have adapted to living in tough rocky outcrops and are quite nimble navigating slopes and boulders. They have short feet, compared to other macropods, and pads which provide good grip. The best place to see them in the wild is in the gorge, at Granite Gorge Caravan Park. This is on a private property and there is an ‘admission’ fee for day visitors, but guests can visit the gorge for free during their stay. We went down to the gorge in the early morning and spent at least 40 minutes with the wallabies, getting some selfies and just admiring these lovely little creatures. We saw wallabies of a range of ages, with some of them having joeys in their pouches.

If you want to explore the gorge and this landscape more, you can follow the clearly marked walking trail to the Weir and around the boulders. There’s some rock hopping involved and bridges over seasonal streams, the reward is enjoying panoramic views over the surrounding bushland. The longer walk is classified as a Grade 3, probably due to the rock climbing and hopping, but it’s not a difficult or long walk. We do recommend doing it in the cooler parts of the day as there isn’t much shade, wear sun protection and take water.