Mt. Carbine is a small town situated on the Mulligan Highway, approximately 1 hour West of Port Douglas, near the Mt. Carbine Tableland. It is a useful stop on the way to Cooktown, and Cape York Peninsular, providing fuel, food, accommodation, and basic amenities between Mt. Molloy and Palmer River.
Mt. Carbine has an annual rainfall of approx. 40 inches, which mostly falls between January and April. The area is classified as Tropical Savannah. The main types of trees are Iron Bark, Box & Tea Tree. The country varies from river flats along the Mitchell to very steep Granite country.
Mt.Carbine is surrounded by Brooklyn Station, which covers approximately 600 square kilometers. Once a cattle station, in 2004 Brooklyn Station became a nature sanctuary managed as Brooklyn Sanctuary, and owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. The sanctuary is home to 299 bird species, 88 mammal species, and 140 species of reptiles and amphibians.
There are interesting 4x4 tracks, good fishing in the Mitchell River, where you can catch Bream, Fingermark, Sleepy Cod, Jew Fish, Cat Fish & Barramundi. There are also red-claw crayfish, and the and the unique and elusive Mitchell River Prawn.
Mt Carbine was established in the 1890s to exploit wolfram (tungsten) deposits, and legend has it that the outpost was named after the winner of the 1890 Melbourne cup.
Mining entrepreneur John Moffat was a major investor and developer of mines and related infrastructure via the Irvinebank Mining Company.
The main industries around Mt. Carbine are cattle raising for the beef industry, mining, and tourism. Tungsten is still extracted there by the Carbine Tungsten mining company.
Mt. Carbine is host to an annual rodeo.
Camping and caravan park accommodation can be found at the Mt Carbine Caravan Park.
