If you are driving up to Kuranda or the Tablelands in the next few weeks, this one matters. The Kuranda Range Road is closing overnight, five nights a week, and it will keep doing so until late September.
The closure times
According to the Department of Transport and Main Roads, the range closes at 9pm and reopens at 4am, Sundays through to Thursdays, continuing until Thursday 24 September 2026.
There is one concession. Traffic is let through once in each direction at midnight. If you miss that window you are waiting until 4am, so do not plan on it as a backup.
Friday and Saturday nights are not affected.
Why
Crews are fixing the downslope slip below Henry Ross Lookout, which has been the source of the range’s problems since the cyclone damage. The current works involve paving and installing a new guardrail.
What this actually means for your trip
The practical upshot is simple: if you are coming back from Kuranda, the Tablelands, Mareeba or Atherton on a Sunday to Thursday, be off the range before 9pm or you are not getting down until midnight at the earliest.
That has a few knock-on effects worth thinking about:
- Evening dining on the Tablelands is off the table midweek unless you are staying up there. A long lunch is the safer play.
- Late flights out of Cairns are fine, but do not cut it fine coming down the range beforehand.
- The Gillies Range is the alternative if you are heading to the southern Tablelands, Yungaburra, Lake Eacham or Malanda, though it is a longer, windier drive from Kuranda.
- Skyrail and the Kuranda Scenic Railway are unaffected, since both finish well before 9pm.
Allow extra time generally. Organisers of events up on the Tablelands have been telling people to budget 90 minutes from Cairns rather than the usual hour while the range works are running.
The bigger picture
These closures are one piece of a long programme of safety and resilience upgrades on the range. Expect more disruption in stages rather than one clean finish, and check Transport and Main Roads or QLDTraffic before an evening trip, because dates move.
For the other main route up, see our guide to the Gillies Range roadworks. If you are heading up for the day, our Kuranda guide and Atherton Tablelands guide cover what is worth your time once you are up there.
Source: Transport and Main Roads via Newsport, 7 August 2026. Roadworks dates change, so confirm on QLDTraffic before you travel.
Header photo: Bahnfrend via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictured is Henry Ross Lookout on the Kuranda Range Road.
