Cycling & walking
Enjoy an active lifestyle
Cairns is a great place to get outdoors and be active. There are a range of paths and cycle ways that allow you to explore this beautiful region at your own pace. Unless otherwise marked, the cycle ways are also walking paths.
We have some great off road tracks for cycling, but keep in mind when riding on the street that we all need to get along and share the road safely.
Cairns Tracks for Kids – Explore your neighbourhood paths
Council understands young families value safe places to teach children to ride a bike or scooter in the natural surrounds of their local neighbourhood.
Learning to ride a bike or scooter is an important skill every child should learn. Council has been on the look-out for fun neighbourhood paths for kids to practice their skills away from the road where they can enjoy exploring their neighbourhood. The routes are generally less than 5km, pass through fun things such as playgrounds, creeks, large trees, and cane rail tracks. Neighbourhood paths have minimal road crossings, but please be aware of the surroundings and any possible road crossings.
Visit the My Cairns app to discover a neighbourhood path near you. You can take a virtual tour which provides a quick overview of what you may find. A brief description will let you know basic details about the path. Enjoy exploring!
Proudly supported by the Queensland Government Bike Riding Encouragement Program Community Grants Scheme.
Recreational bicycle routes
If you'd like to try a new bike route in your area, we've got some easy-to-follow maps for you below.
Cairns Cycling and Walking Strategy
Active travel is any mode of travel that relies on human powered mobility and includes both cycling and walking.
The Active Transport Strategy ( PDF, 15.03 MB ) (the Strategy) has been developed to provide a clear, coordinated and strategic approach to guide Cairns Regional Council’s planning, development, management and promotion of future region-wide walking and cycling networks. These active transport routes are increasing in popularity.
The Strategy identifies proposed future networks, and strategic missing links, to the existing active transport network. Since the development of the previous Cycling and Walking Strategy in 2010, cycling participation across the Cairns local government area (LGA) has continued to outperform both the Queensland and regional Queensland averages. To ensure continual improvement, Council has developed a new strategy to guide its decisions on walking and cycling development and infrastructure for the future.
The Strategy is informed by community needs ( PDF, 22.98 MB ), regional growth and new developments, combined with previously identified projects and extensive community consultation. It provides recommendations for achieving strategic directions as well as a framework for implementation.
The Strategy aligns with Council’s Local Government Infrastructure Plan (LGIP) for the trunk aspects of the networks. The LGIP integrates infrastructure planning with the land use planning identified in the planning scheme and provides transparency regarding Council’s intentions for the provision of trunk infrastructure for the region.
Cairns is a world renowned tourist destination uniquely positioned around the diversity of its natural experiences. Recreational walking and mountain bike trails form part of this core competency and continue to grow in popularity with locals and visitors alike. Council has recognised the appeal of these assets by investing in significant new and upgraded trails in recent times and now there is a need to take a more strategic and regional approach to recreational walking and mountain bike trail provision, management and promotion.
The Recreational Trail Strategy ( PDF, 13.34 MB ) seeks to respond to the expectation and appetite for trail experiences with sensible recommendations framed according to the following key elements:
- provision and management standards for diverse trail infrastructure in a variety of locations
- promotion and awareness of trail opportunities
- community engagement, involvement and partnerships.
Cycling & Walking Network Implementation Plan: Map Portfolio
The following maps show the on-road and off-road networks throughout the Cairns region.
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Last Updated: 8 November 2023
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