Mount Lewis National Park is national park in both the

Shire of Mareeba The Shire of Mareeba is a local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from ...

and

Douglas Shire The Shire of Douglas is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mo ...

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

, Australia. It is adjacent to both

Daintree National Park The Daintree rainforest is a national park in Far North Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane and northwest of Cairns. It was founded in 1981 and is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland. In 1988 it became a World Heritage Site. The par ...

and Mount Spurgeon National Park. It is part of the

Wet Tropics of Queensland The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

and

Einasleigh Uplands The Einasleigh Uplands is an interim Australian bioregion, with vegetation consisting of savanna and woodland located on a large plateau in inland Queensland, Australia. It corresponds to the Einasleigh Uplands savanna ecoregion, as identified ...

bioregions. The park lies within the catchment areas of the Mitchell River,

Mossman River The Mossman River is a river located in the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. The headwaters of the river rise under Devils Thumb on the Mount Carbine Tableland in the Great Dividing Range. The river flows through a dee ...

and

Daintree River The Daintree River is a river that rises in the Daintree Rainforest near Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river is located about northwest of Cairns in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Wet Tropics of Queensland. The area ...

s. Mount Lewis National Park preserves part of the

Mount Carbine Tableland The Mount Carbine Tableland is a plateau in Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, it lies in the Shire of Mareeba 15 km west of Mossman, and 1,460 km north-west of Brisbane, reaching an altitude of 1,383&n ...

. In 2009, Mount Lewis Forest Reserve and Riflemead Forest Reserve were combined to form Mount Lewis National Park. The landscape is mountainous and covered by forest. About half of 1% of the national park is classed as

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

Environment

The area is a

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the co ...

. In total, 43 rare or threatened species have been identified in the park. The Mount Lewis spiny crayfish is an endemic species. Also found in the park are

golden bowerbird The golden bowerbird (''Prionodura newtoniana'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae, the bowerbirds. It is endemic to Queensland in Australia, where it is limited to the Atherton region. Distribution This species has a patc ...

s, blue-faced parrotfinch, giant blue earthworms,

cinereus ringtail possum The Daintree River ringtail possum (''Pseudochirulus cinereus''), also known as the cinereus ringtail possum, is a species of possum found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It was long believed to be the same as the Herbert River ringtail p ...

masked white-tailed rat The masked white-tailed rat (''Uromys hadrourus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia, in north-east Queensland. Descriptive English common names for this species include Masked White-tailed Rat and Tho ...

red-bellied black snake The red-bellied black snake (''Pseudechis porphyriacus'') is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae, indigenous to Australia. Originally described by George Shaw in 1794 as a species new to science, it is one of eastern Australia' ...

as well as several species or rare frogs. In February 2017 small population of endangered northern bettongs had been discovered in the National Park.

Recreation

Four-wheel driving and trail-bike riding are the most popular recreational activities. Several clearings along Mount Lewis Road have been identified as good locations for spotting a large variety of birds.

Access

Access is provided by Mount Lewis Road. This road leaves the Mossman Mount Molloy Road just north of Julatten. A number of private tour companies operate in the park.

Facilities

Camping is not permitted. There are no dedicated day-use areas established.

References

External links