 From south to north, they are as follows: *The Palmerston Highway; *The Gillies Range Highway; *The Kuranda Range; *The Rex Range Highway  The Palmerston Highway Accessed by turnoffs from the Bruce Highway to the south and north of Innisfail, 90km south of Cairns, the Palmerston Highway slices aloft in great sweeping bends through rich, dense rainforest all the way to its ‘summit' at Millaa Millaa, some 820 metres above sea level. En route are access points to short walks, waterfalls, dairy farms, lookouts, picnic spots and camping.  The Gillies Highway Accessed via Gordonvale, 25km south of Cairns , The Gillies Highway has achieved legendary status – both through its infamy as a tortuous, single-lane goat track in the 1920s, to its current exalted status as Tropical North Queensland's most involving and varied mountain drive. ‘The Gillies', as locals refer to it, sweeps in wide, generous arcs beside the perennial Mulgrave River, flanked by the perfect volcanic cone of 922m Walsh's Pyramid and the massive flanks of 1258m Mount Massey. After an unhurried refreshment stop at the Mountain View Hotel and perhaps a dip in the adjacent Mulgrave River, the Gillies twists and winds up the steep flanks of the Lamb Range, climbing 800 metres in altitude in 263 turns over 19km, affording eagle-eye views of Queensland's highest mountain chain in the Bellenden Ker National Park.    The Kuranda Range Road is a cool and weaving tunnel of richly complex rainforest-enveloped road, delivering a feast for the senses - all the whoops, whistles, sweet aromas and visual feasts the Tropical North is famous for. Starting just 20km from Cairns city, the Kuranda Range Road offers a tremendous variety of turns, from wide sweepers; sequences of 'S' bends; gently curving blasts; while snatched views of The Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef at Green Island flood the skyline. At the top of the range is the Cairns Highlands village of Kuranda, but if you continue on your ride you will eventually reach Mareeba. The flora along this road varies from thick rainforest to Australian scrub.
 The Rex Range is regarded by many local motorcyclists as the most beautiful of the range roads. This road begins at the base of the mountains near Port Douglas (69km north of Cairns), slicing through sugar cane paddocks before climbing the mountain to Julatten and Mt Molloy.  Top Coastal Drives Chances are that Tropical North Queensland's coastal roads will present as your very first glimpses of the region at ground-level. Whether you drive out of Cairns to the south or north, the first impression is of sweeping along flowing coastal roads, drinking in endless Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef vistas. For the very best in involving and scenic coastal drives, head north to Port Douglas on Cairns ' coastal corridor - the Captain Cook Highway - a scenic ribbon of road that bursts with vistas of rainforest-smothered peaks stacked atop lush cane fields. Beach access roads sprout off roundabouts at convenient intervals, effecting an uncomplicated, unhurried ‘one road in, one road out' access that shelters coastal communities from the buzz of traffic. You need only peel off at any turnoff to access these coastal villages, each of them offering a different ambience. Machan's and Holloways Beach are low-key bohemian retreats with a distinctly traditional and local flavour, while Yorkey's Knob is quiet yet equipped with the world class Half Moon Bay Golf Course and the nearby Half Moon Bay Marina. Further north, Kewarra Beach and Clifton Beach offer a restrained, laid-back ambience , while Palm Cove – where the mountains and rainforest meets the beach - has long been the jewel of the northern beaches, winning the ‘Australia's Cleanest Beach Award' in 2003 and earning accolades for its five star resorts and fine dining. Just a short drive north of Palm Cove, the highway opens out to reveal sensational views of steep rainforest peaks tumbling down to meet lush strips of sand. One really needs to stop to take in all this riotous beauty, and the best place for this is the Ellis Beach Bar and Grill, a real coastal retreat that's so beguiling, a stay in the nearby Ellis Beach Oceanfront Bungalows might just be in order. Here, the dream of tropic seas sizzling on an ivory carpet beach is yours – all yours. The gogglingly gorgeous views are not over yet though – not by a long shot. Driving north from Ellis Beach to Port Douglas, the highway really gets into its serpentine and scenic stride – a cliff-hugging, swooping and meandering scribble of road that alternately plunges into tunnels of rainforest and bursts with blinding Coral Sea views. Simply sensational. 
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