No power
Not at the site, not in the shed. Bring solar, bring batteries, bring a head-torch. Generators between 7 am and 6 pm only, please.
Off-grid camping · Far North Queensland
A quiet acre at the end
of the red-dirt track.
Tarakwet is two unserviced camping sites on a working tea estate in the Atherton Tableland — big sky, endless green, and the Bellenden Ker Range on the horizon. If you ever attempt the Big Lap, this is the sort of stop you remember.
The place
A working tea estate
on the Atherton Tableland.
Tarakwet sits inside a family-run tea farm above the coastal wet tropics — rolling green rows of camellia sinensis, wide open sky, and the escarpment of the Bellenden Ker Range on every horizon.
We keep two unmarked pitches at the far edge of the paddock, well away from the homestead and the working sheds. You’ll hear wind through the tea, the occasional tractor at dawn, and — if the wet season’s been kind — frogs after sundown. That’s about it.
This is not a caravan park. There is no camp kitchen, no ablutions block, no wi-fi, no shop. Come self-contained, and the Tableland gives back something you can’t buy back home.
What to expect
Unserviced means unserviced.
Please read this before you book. Tarakwet is beautiful because we haven’t bolted a caravan park onto it, and we’d like to keep it that way.
No water
No taps, no drinking supply. Fill up in Malanda or Millaa Millaa before you come up the range. We suggest at least 20 L per person per day.
No toilets
Your rig’s onboard toilet, a portable, or a proper bush loo kit. If you can’t manage that, this isn’t the right stop.
No bins
Everything you bring in leaves with you. That includes greywater, food scraps, and cigarette butts. The paddock is a working crop.
Fires by season
Contained fires in the supplied ring May–October only, and never during a total fire ban. Firewood is provided; do not gather from the estate.
Two rigs, one paddock
A maximum of two vehicles across both sites, so you’re never on top of your neighbour. Rigs up to 8 m; low-clearance vans not suitable.
The paddock
A quick flyover.
Filmed from a small drone last week. Everything you see is what you’ll wake up to.
Book a night
Two sites. Direct booking only.
A flat fee per site, per night. Payment on arrival by transfer or cash — we hold the site with your confirmation. Minimum one night, maximum four.
- Site 1 · hard-stand, room for a 4WD + camper$45 / night
- Site 2 · grassed, room for a small van or tent set-up$40 / night
- Extra vehicle (day visitor)$10 / day
- Firewood bundle (winter only)$15
Finding us
Up the range,
past the last cane.
We’re on the Atherton Tableland, between Malanda and Millaa Millaa — about 90 minutes inland from Cairns via the Gillies Range Road, or two hours south of Mareeba. The last kilometre is unsealed but well-graded; dry-season 2WD-friendly.
We’ll send the exact pin and the gate code the morning of your arrival. Please arrive between 1 pm and 5 pm so we can meet you at the shed.
stay@tarakwet.au- Nearest town
- Malanda, 18 km
- Fuel
- Malanda, Millaa Millaa
- Groceries
- IGA Malanda
- Fresh water
- Malanda town tap
- Dump point
- Malanda RV stop, 20 min
- Nearest medical
- Atherton Hospital, 45 min
- Elevation
- ~760 m ASL — bring a warm layer
- Best months
- May – October (dry season)