Wangetti Trail reopened after wet season damage with full completion still unknown
An above-average wet season forced a two and a half month closure of a purpose-built $47m adventure trail, just months after it was completed.
Cairns
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An above-average wet season forced a two and a half month closure of a purpose-built $47m adventure trail, just months after it was completed.
The first 7.8km of the trail from Palm Cove to Ellis Beach opened in September last year, but was closed by the Department of Environment Science and Innovation on February 5 and reopened on April 17.
A department spokesman said the temporary closure came after sustained wet weather caused significant damage and water erosion across several sections.
The spokesman said monthly inspections of the trail would continue to “ensure safety and enjoyment of the trail”, which was expected to reopen in March but repair efforts were hindered by weather.
“The trail was temporarily closed from February 5 after sustained wet weather caused significant damage, including debris from earlier weather events, fallen trees and water erosion across several sections,” the spokesman said.
The average wet season rainfall for Cairns, between November and April, is about 1744mm and in the same period this year, the city had already recorded 2298mm before the end of the month.
Initially the entire 94km trail from Palm Cove to Port Douglas was expected to cost $21m and be completed by 2022, but construction faced a number of challenges including landslides and coastal erosion, forcing design changes.
In 2018 the cost was revised to $36m, before it was updated to $47m in July 2023, with the first 7.8km completed at $22.5m, casting doubt on whether the remaining portion could now be finished within budget.
In January Tourism Minister Andrew Powell said there was a contract in place for the remaining sections of the track, expecting works to resume at an “appropriate time” after the wet season had halted efforts.
However, when asked about the recent closure of the trail and updates on the remaining sections, Mr Powell simply offered his gratitude for the completion of the repair work.
“How exciting to have this magnificent part of the world open for Easter,” he said.
“After a decade of Labor mismanaging Queensland’s natural assets, the Wangetti Trail was set to become Australia’s most expensive footpath.
“We were serious about getting Wrong-getti back on track and allowing all Queenslanders access as we boost ecotourism across the state.”
He said there was some “work I need to do around commercialisation – working with the tourism sector around what product we’re going to offer”.
“So we’ve been looking very carefully at that next stage between Ellis Beach and Wangetti and there’ll be announcements very shortly on work commencing on that,” he said.
Under the previous state government, the complete trail was expected to be finished by 2026.
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Originally published as Wangetti Trail reopened after wet season damage with full completion still unknown
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