Content may contain affiliate links.
Julatten isn’t a town, it’s an area or local on The Tablelands in Mareeba Shire, about a 40 minute drive from Port Douglas Queensland. There isn’t much in Julatten, but what’s there is nice. I’ve lived in Julatten for 3 years now, so you found a great website to tell you all about it! Some other websites have very inaccurate information, some are AI, this one is a good one! Subscribe.
What’s In Julatten?
Julatten has scattered houses, most on acreage, a small junior school, a community centre, an old people’s home, a barramundi farm, a rural fire station, a pub and Geraghty Park, home to various events. There’s no centre of Julatten, these things are all spread out, you need a car. There is some accommodation in Julatten, we’ll list those later.
Julatten is about a 10-minute drive from Mt Molloy, Mt Molloy is a small town, this is where Julatten residents have to go for the post office. There are also fuel stations, another pub, a cafe or two, a church, and a community centre.
Julatten is mostly farmland. You’ll see fields of sugar cane, plenty of beef cattle and lots of small hobby farms or homesteads with horses, sheep, goats and poultry. The countryside is extremely scenic. Try to get off the main road and loop around Euluma Creek Rd for the views. This will take you past the tip to the school, where you can rejoin the main road and continue to Mt Molloy.
This area is well known for bird watching and there are birding tours available in the area. Julatten is the border between the rainforest that cloaks the side of the mountain range, and the savannah landscape of the interior. As you drive up the range road to Julatten you will drive through rainforest, as you continue to Mt Molloy, Mareeba or Atherton, the landscape changes. You’ll see dry grass and endless termite hills in the dry season.
The rainforest is part of the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland Heritage Area, that includes the Daintree Rainforest, further north.
In the wet season there can be some roads closed by flooding in Julatten, particularly Bushy Creek, between Julatten and Mt Molloy.
If you walk The Bump Track from Port Douglas, you will eventually pop out in Julatten. It’s quite a long steep climb through the rainforest. There is a chance of encounters with cassowaries, wild pigs, and snakes. There is a lovely waterfall on the way up, but you may struggle to find it without a guide.
Watch out for gympie gympie, stinging plant, it’s quite common around Julatten.
Horse riding, mountain biking and motorbike riding are popular in the Julatten area.
There are places to swim in creeks and swimming holes, and places to spot platypus. There are plenty of platypus in the creeks around Julatten. You also may spot a pelican or the many local species of kingfisher.
There are a couple of gorgeous lookouts on the drive up to Julatten from Port Douglas or Mossman, you can stop and take in the view of the Coral Sea and Snapper Island.
Julatten has a small market at Geraghty Park once a month. Mt Molloy has a slightly bigger market. Mossman Market is only half an hour away, every Saturday morning under the rain trees.
Where To Eat in Julatten?
The only place to eat in Julatten is the Julatten Pub or Hotel. Formerly the Highlander Pub, it’s under new ownership and is a great family pub and restaurant with good pub food, pizzas, some games and live music, and gorgeous views from the deck. The menu for the Julatten hotel is here. They also have regular specials.
Nine Mile Store and Petrol Station serves take away food (good pies!) and sells basic supplies and fuel.
Alternatively, you can eat in Mt Molloy at the pub, or at one of the cafes there, or you can continue to Mossman or Port Douglas to eat.
Accommodation in Julatten
There are quite a few options for staying in or near Julatten. Unfortunately, a lot are hard to book because they’re not on the big booking platforms that most of us use. A Google search probably won’t find them for you either. That’s just the nature of Far Noth Queensland. I’ve given you links for further information, prices, and bookings where I can find them. They may be on Airbnb but we don’t recommend that platform because of the extra fees.
Piyar Tiny Haven Book here. This is a tiny home, for 2 people. You can access it via Highland Drive Julatten, near English Park.
Sweetwater Lodge. Book here. Sweetwater Lodge is on the way to Mt Molloy from Julatten along the Mossman Mt Molloy Rd (the main road). It has two person villas or bungalows in a lovely natural setting. It’s near Abattoir Swamp, another good spot for bird-watching, with a hide.
Julatten Platypus Mountain Home. Book here. This is a huge, multi-bedroom house rental, sleeping up to 13 people. It has great reviews and amazing views. It’s just at the top of the Rex Range Road as you drive up from Port Douglas or Mossman.
Mai Tai Resort. Book here. Mai Tai Resort in on the hill as you drive up the range road to Julatten. I believe it’s in The Douglas Shire rather than Mareeba Shire. It’s listed as being in Shannonvail. These are luxury villa stays for 2 or 4 people.
Feathers and Friends Cottage
Kingfisher Park Birdwatcher Cottages
Sunbird Hideaway
Black Mountain Hideaway is a horse riding service near the top of The Bump Track in Julatten. It has cabins for 2 or 4 people.
The Julatten Pub does not currently have accommodation, it used to. The pub in Mt Molloy does.
Camping. There is free camping between Julatten and Mt Molloy. Some landowners in Julatten allow camping through HipCamp. There is also a camp site next to 9 Mile Store.
Useful Information For Julatten
The nearest doctor’s surgeries for Julatten are in Mossman or Mareeba.
The nearest dentist’s office is in Mareeba or Port Douglas.
The nearest small hospital, with an A&E department, is in Mossman. The nearest large hospital is in Cairns.
The nearest airport is Cairns International Airport, about a 2 hour drive from Julatten.
The nearest supermarket is Woolworths in Mossman. There is a small Coles in Port Douglas and Mareeba.
There are various plumbers, handymen, electricians, roofers etc based in Julatten and Mt Molloy but they’re in very high demand and waiting lists are long. You figure out how to do things yourself pretty fast!
There are some local hairdressers operating from home or mobile, but there is no hairdresser’s shop.
Shopping in Julatten
9 Mile Store sells basic supplies, petrol and take-out food.
There is a farm store (Julatten Earth Foods) selling produce, eggs, some jams and plants on Churchill Creek Rd, past the pub, on the way to the creek.
The Barramundi Farm (Barramundi Gardens) sells fish and barramundi spring rolls. These are usually on the menu at the pub. It’s on the main Mossman Mt Molloy Rd.
The pub sells take-out alcoholic drinks (Bottle shop). Just ask at the bar. As does the pub in Mt Molloy. The Julatten pub has much better wine. The Julatten pub is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Mt Molloy has a slightly bigger store and petrol station at The Top Shop (which is also the post office). They also sell take-out food.
There is a local baking business (Euluma Kitchen), they sell their sourdough through 9 Mile Store or Ahoy Molloy coffee shop. They don’t bake every day.
Bush Creek Farm sells farm-raised meat, straight from the farmer. You have to arrange purchases by phone and then pick up your meat, mostly beef.
Your nearest supermarket, hardware store, feed store and pharmacy is in Mareeba or Mossman.
Climate in Julatten
Julatten is still in the tropics, and in Far North Queensland, but its elevation (about 400m) makes it cooler than the coastal towns. It’s usually 5 degrees C cooler in Julatten than in Port Douglas or Mossman.
The lowest winter temperature I’ve ever seen (at night) was 3 degrees Celsius. We don’t get a frost, but the cool winters make gardening in Julatten very different to gardening on the coast.
The creeks get very cold in winter. The best time for a swim is summer, but not when there are heavy rains, we can get flooding. The cold of the water makes Julatten unfriendly to crocodiles.
I’ve never seen a bushfire in Julatten, but I guess it could happen in some parts.
What Can You Do in Julatten?
You can enjoy the peace, the wildlife and the rainforest. As Julatten is very close to Port Douglas and Mossman, you can access all of the attractions of The Atherton Tablelands, visit The Daintree Rainforest and/or Mossman Gorge and take a day trip to The Great Barrier Reef. All of the attractions of this region are accessible from Julatten if you have a car.
There is no public transport!
One of the nicest things about living in Julatten is that there is no possibility of mass housing developments. We have mains electricity, (and a lot of power cuts) but most people in Julatten don’t have mains water. This means the area can’t support more housing. The phone coverage is very spotty. You can get wifi, but we recommend Starlink if you don’t want your internet to go down. The Julatten Pub has Starlink if you need to find a signal.
If you have a business based in Julatten and would like to be listed or make any corrections to this page, reach out. We’re here to help!
