The Mulligan Highway is a new state highway

Highway

A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...

 in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It runs for approximately 270 km between Mareeba

Mareeba, Queensland

Mareeba is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. The town is above sea level on the confluence of the Barron River, Granite Creek and Emerald Creek. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning meeting of the waters...

 and Cooktown

Cooktown, Queensland

Cooktown is a small town located at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs in 1770. At the 2006 census, Cooktown had a population of 1,336...

, on the east coast of the Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

 where it terminates.

Named after bushman James Venture Mulligan

James Venture Mulligan

James Venture Mulligan was a bushman and prospector. He was born in Drumgooland, County Down, Ireland and emigrated to Australia in 1859...

 the sealed Highway follows the old Cooktown Developmental Road and was completed in 2006.

Since it has replaced the old unpaved track, travel times from Cairns

Cairns, Queensland

Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...

 to Cooktown have gone down from 6 to only 3½ hours.

List of towns along the highway

• Mount Molloy
  Mount Molloy, Queensland
  Mount Molloy is a historic mining and timber town lying 160 kilometres north of Cairns. At the 2006 census, the town and surrounding area had a population of 276.At its height it was a copper mine in the 1890s...
  
  
• Lakeland
  Lakeland, Queensland
  Lakeland, Queensland - also known as Lakeland Downs - is a small farming centre in Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.It is at the junction of the main Peninsula Development Road , and the Mulligan Highway. It is located in the Shire of Cook.It contains a hotel, a cafe, and roadhouse and a...
  
  

See also

• Black Mountain National Park
  Black Mountain National Park
  Black Mountain National Park is a 781 hectare protected area in the Queensland, , 25 km south west of Cooktown. It is managed and protected as a national park under the Nature Conservation Act 1992....
  
  
• Highways in Australia
  Highways in Australia
  This is a list of highways in Australia, listed alphabetically along with each highway's route number and location. Note that some highways service more than one state or territory.-Route numbering systems:...
  
  
• List of highways in Queensland