8
Stages
~225
Total km
Queensland
State
Targa Events Australia
Organiser
2008
Since
2026 (relaunch)
Next event
8 stages across Queensland
The roads
Eight stages in the tropical north, from the Atherton Tablelands down to the Cassowary Coast. The roads made famous by Targa Great Barrier Reef climb through World Heritage rainforest and drop to the coast through one of Australia's most dramatic landscapes.
The event
Targa Great Barrier Reef ran through Far North Queensland and is scheduled to relaunch in 2026, routing cars through the Wet Tropics between Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands. The stages combine mountain pass climbs with technical rainforest roads unlike anywhere else in Australia.
8 stages
SS 1 - Gillies Range
19 km7.8The benchmark mountain road in Far North Queensland. 263 curves climbing 800 metres from Gordonvale to the Atherton Tablelands through dense wet tropics rainforest.
SS 2 - Lake Morris Road
16 km7.8The road to Cairns' water supply reservoir. A 16-kilometre climb from the city fringe through wet sclerophyll forest to Copperlode Falls Dam, perched in the ranges above the coastal plain.
SS 3 - Kuranda Range
18 km7.5The main Cairns to Kuranda road. 11.5 kilometres of the Kennedy Highway climbing through World Heritage rainforest from Smithfield to the rainforest village above.
SS 4 - Mena Creek
20 km7.4Cassowary Coast sugar cane country giving way to rainforest. A 20-kilometre stage from Innisfail south to Paronella Park along the Innisfail-Japoon Road.
SS 5 - South Johnstone
80 km7.4The long connector from the Cassowary Coast to the Atherton Tablelands. Eighty kilometres climbing from sea-level cane country through the Palmerston Highway rainforest to the dairy plateau at Malanda.
SS 6 - Millaa Millaa
24 km5.3A plateau stage through the heart of the Atherton Tablelands connecting waterfall country to the dairy town of Malanda. A rhythm stage across the basalt plateau.
SS 7 - Palmerston Highway
55 km5.3The best stage in the FNQ collection. The full Palmerston Highway drops from the Atherton Tablelands through 55 kilometres of World Heritage rainforest to the Innisfail coast.
SS 8 - Little Mulgrave
13 km8.0A valley stage climbing from the Cairns coastal plain through sugarcane country before entering tropical rainforest. The Targa Great Barrier Reef ran this at 19.47 km - a finesse stage that rewards reading the road.
Start from the beginning
See Stage 1 on the map. The heatmap shows exactly why these roads are worth driving.
View Stage 1 on mapTrack your progress
