Macalister Range, Queensland

Macalister Range Queensland
Looking down from Skyrail onto Macalister Range, 2013
Macalister Range
Coordinates	16°45′31″S 145°39′06″E / 16.7586°S 145.6516°E / -16.7586; 145.6516Coordinates: 16°45′31″S 145°39′06″E / 16.7586°S 145.6516°E / -16.7586; 145.6516
Population	0 (2016 census)
• Density	0.000/km2 (0.00/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4871
Area	26.8 km2 (10.3 sq mi)
LGA(s)	Cairns Region
State electorate(s)	Barron River
Federal Division(s)	Leichhardt
Suburbs around Macalister Range: Mona Mona Wangetti Coral Sea Ellis Beach Palm Cove Kuranda Macalister Range Clifton Beach Kewarra Beach Barron Gorge Caravonica Smithfield

Macalister Range is a locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Maclister Range had no population.

As the name suggests, Macalister Range is a long narrow mountainous locality containing the mountain range of the same name. The north of the locality extends to the Coral Sea, but the bulk of the locality sits as the backdrop to Cairns's northern suburbs on the coastal plain. Therefore the locality ranges from 0 metres above sea level (at the Coral Sea) through to 630 metres at Saddle Mountain with the bulk of the locality at altitudes of 200-400 metres.

The locality in undeveloped heavily forested land, most of which is within two national parks. In the far north of the locality, the land is within the Macalister Range National Park while the bulk of the land is within the Kuranda National Park. There is a small area of freehold land immediately west of Palm Cove, which is undeveloped. There are also some small areas reserved for other purposes by the Queensland Government, such as the Kuranda State Forest. There is no public access to the Macalister Range National Park as it protects important cassowary habitat and, although there is limited access to Kuranda National Park, this mostly occurs outside of the locality of Macalister Range.

The only roads in Macalister are not to provide access to the locality but to connect areas outside the locality. The Captain Cook Highway runs along the coastline at the Coral Sea in the far north of the locality, while the Kuranda Range Road (the unofficial name of a segment of the Kennedy Highway) connects the suburb of Smithfield in Cairns with Kuranda on the Atherton Tableland in the Shire of Mareeba.