Gillies Range Road
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Gillies Highway Queensland |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Gillies Range Road (black and green) | |
| Type | Highway |
| Length | 56 km (35 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
 State Route 52 |
| NE end |
 Bruce Highway, (State Route A1), Gordonvale, Queensland
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|
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| SW end |
 Kennedy Highway, (National Route 1), Atherton, Queensland
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| Major settlements | Yungaburra |
Lake Barrine RoadThe Gillies Highway is a road that runs from Gordonvale in the Cairns Region through the Gillies Range (part of the Great Dividing Range) to Atherton in the Tablelands Region, both in Queensland, Australia. It is also known as the Gillies Range Road and was originally known as the Cairns Range Road.
The highway is known for its 263 corners, and 800 m elevation change in only 19 km of road. It is a popular tourist drive and has a number of lookouts.
Commencing from the Bruce Highway in Gordonvale the road runs south-west, following the Mulgrave River, to the foot of the Gillies Range. It climbs the range by a winding route, generally westward, and then proceeds south through the Little Musgrave National Park before turning west to descend to the Atherton Tableland. It then passes north of Lake Barrine and south of Tinaroo Dam before reaching Yungaburra. From here it proceeds west to Atherton, which it enters from the north.
It also provides the only road access to the locality of Goldsborough.
In September 1922, the Shire of Eacham decided to use £10,000 of funding provided under Australian and Queensland Government unemployment schemes to construct the Cairns Range Road to provide a short route from the Atherton Tableland to the Cairns hinterland. There were immediate objections to the proposed route from Gordonvale to Atherton on account of the difficult terrain with a counter-proposal to build a road from Smithfield in Cairns to Mareeba via Kuranda, but this route would be more beneficial to the Shire of Mareeba rather than to the Shire of Eacham, so the original plan proceeded (although the Kuranda Range Road would later be built in 1940).
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Wikipedia