Mount Garnet

Steam train, possibly for carrying copper to and from the copper mines at Mount Garnet, going across the Return Creek Railway Bridge, around 1906.

Image sourced from Picture Queensland, State Library of Queensland
This image is free of copyright restrictions.

Mount Garnet
Sleepy town on the southern edge of the Atherton Tablelands.
Located approximately 165 km, 185 km or 205 km (it depends which route you want to take - the time is about the same) from Cairns, Mount Garnet is one of those towns that is easy to pass through without stopping. To the traveller it looks like nothing more than a couple of pubs and service stations and a few shops and houses in the middle of nowhere. Why slow down? There's nothing to see.

In fact the miners who first settled the town hardly slowed down as they moved through the area. It is said that when, in about 1904, a rumour went round that the original copper mine was going to close down half the men didn't wait for their notice to quit. They simply packed up their few belongings and were gone by lunchtime.

Mount Garnet was first settled around the turn of the century when copper was found in the area. Within months the Mount Garnet Freehold Copper and Silver Mining Company Ltd had built a smelter and was busy hiring men to dig the valuable mineral out of the ground.

At first the smelted copper was shipped out by camel (there are some interesting photographs of the camel teams on the walls of the Norwestgate Cafe) but by 1902 a branch line connecting the town to the line from Mareeba to Chillagoe had been built and the copper was being railed out to Lappa Junction and then to the coast.

At the time it looked as though the town had a future. Then, quite suddenly, the price of copper dropped and the company, eager to cut its losses, closed the mine.

A few remnants of the mine are still in evidence. Take the road opposite Norwestgate Motel and follow it south on a dirt road which leads past the old Assay House (which is currently being restored). Little is left but there is enough to show the scale of the operation at the turn of the century.

The town did not die. After 1904 the miners turned their attention to the excavation of tin. Today Mount Garnet has a reputation as a good starting place for gold prospectors and gem collectors.

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Things to see:

Bill Brotherton and His Rocks
The best collection of rocks and gems in town belongs to Bill Brotherton. A real outback character with a flowing white beard and a compulsively interesting line of conversation, Brotherton has spent over 20 years collecting every kind of rock from the local area as well as working some of the local woods and collecting some fascinating specimens - including the foetus of a two-headed guinea pig which he claims to be the result of Agent Orange. He is an avowed conservationist. Having grown up in the area he can remember the tall stands of trees which were once part of the Atherton Tablelands rainforests. Now at least 80 he has no desire to be inundated with visitors but you can have a look at the rock collection on the verandah of his house in Opal St. Bill does not object if you wish to leave a coin as a donation.

Wurruma Swamp
Just before entering the town from the north there is a dirt road which heads east to Wurruma Swamp. Although little known, this is one of the wonders of the Mount Garnet area. The swamp retains water long after other local wetlands have dried up. Consequently it draws an amazing range of birdlife from the surrounding region. Edged by lilies and with dozens of varieties of birds the swamp is something special. At certain times of the year there are literally thousands of black swans present.