Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat

Rose Gums sits at Butchers Creek in the Queensland highlands, where 230 acres of tropical rainforest border Wooroonooran National Park — a World Heritage area. The property holds advanced ecotourism accreditation, and the surrounding forest backs that up: researchers and guides have recorded over 160 wildlife species on and around the land.

You stay in pole-and-timber treehouses, each one private and set into the canopy. Each has a fireplace — useful at altitude, where nights can be cool even in the tropics — and a veranda facing the mountain ranges. The elevation is the defining fact of the place: the air is cooler than the coast, the forest is dense, and the light comes in layers through the canopy.

From the property you can walk directly into the rainforest on several kilometres of tracks, crossing streams and moving through terrain that connects without a road crossing into the national park. Guided birdwatching is available for guests who want a ranger's eye on the canopy. Lake Eacham, one of the volcanic crater lakes of the Atherton Tablelands, is ten minutes by road.

The property is run by Jon and Peta Nott, who operate it as a family business. Treehouses suit both couples and families.