Short Walks

Parking at McLellands Lookout

McClelland's Lookout (100m) is a National Park picnic area adjacent to Paluma. Turn right into the carpark as you reach the top of the range. Wheelchair access to McClelland's Lookout is available from the passenger set-down area above the carpark.

McClelland's Lookout has ample car parking, bus parking, wheelchair accessible toilets, a shelter shed, free gas barbecues, picnic tables and potable water. You will need to take your rubbish away with you, as no bins are provided. The Lookout itself provides a panoramic view of Halifax Bay and the Palm Island group and was the site of the US Army's radar station during the Second World War.

Paluma Rainforest Walk (580m) is a circuit walk through rainforest south of the village. Limited parking is available at either end of the track. At the eastern end of the track is Paluma's 'Village Green', an excellent venue for a family picnic (shelters, tables, toilets, playground).

This walk takes less than half an hour but unfortunately has no interpretive information provided. Features to look for (from east to west) are - buttress roots, the layers of the rainforest (forest floor, understorey, canopy), strangler fig, king fern and a 'tin race' (beneath the western boardwalk).

A tin race is a stone-pitched channel constructed by tin-miners to move permanent water through the forest, either to deposits of soil for washing, or to reduce the flow where the creek bed itself was being mined for alluvial tin. There are possibly hundreds of kilometres of tin race along Paluma's rainforest creeks. Some of these artefacts are now more than a hundred years old. The creek and the steps above the boardwalk are a good spot to view glowing fungus at night. You may even spot a glow worm! Remember, nothing can be taken from the rainforest - only memories and photographs.

Paluma Historical Walk (2km)
For an introduction to Paluma's history, there are 10 interpretive storyboards throughout the village, each with a photograph taken during the 1930s or 1940s from the location and direction of the sign. Eight of the storyboards are along Mt Spec Road, the main road through Paluma. Of the other two storyboards, one sign is in Lennox Crescent along from the Paluma Pottery, and the other is in the National Parks carpark. Park your car near one of the signs and complete the round trip walk of the village at a leisurely pace.

Birthday Creek Falls Track (500m) is a short walking track in National Park branching off the gravel road to Lake Paluma, a water storage facility for Townsville-Thuringowa operated by NQ Water.

NQ Water Rangers patrol the road and the Lake's recreation area daily. Allow about 15 minutes to walk down to the Falls. Car parking is available just off the access road. While all the walking tracks around Paluma offer excellent opportunities for serious or casual birdwatching, the Birthday Creek Falls Track is favoured by those keen to see a Golden Bowerbird. Several active bowers exist in the vicinity of the track.

Birthday Creek Falls only flow following rain, when they form another good swimming spot. In the tropical rainforest, it rains often! Take your binoculars. Look for the striped tail of the Eastern Water Dragon near water, or Boyd's Forest Dragon along the road. You may even see a cassowary. Care for this part of the Wet Tropics by observing but not interfering with the area's flora and fauna.