The Spiny Cray Ultra is the third and final event in the Dirty Northern Trail Running series. Mount Lewis National Park (Wet Tropics World Heritage Area) protects upland rainforests and a variety of rare and threatened wildlife, including the Golden Bowerbird, Southern Cassowary, Mount Lewis Spiny Cray, Lemuroid Ringtail Possum and Daintree River Ringtail Possum.

The Spiny Cray Ultra is a simple out and back event over Mt Lewis Road and through Mount Lewis National Park. A Total elevation gained (and descended) is 1553 meters in the premier 57km event.

This event starts and finishes at the Julatten ‘Highlander Tavern’. Initially bitumen (for 1km), Mt Lewis road soon becomes a single vehicle width dirt road mostly suited to 4wd vehicles. This track meanders up to over 900meters asl before entering cloud forest, so named because the forest is often shrouded in cloud, mist and fog. The high moisture level and cool year-round temperatures of this forest type foster plant communities rich in mosses, ferns and epiphytes.

Winding through rainforest-clad ridges and spurs, Mt Lewis Road climbs to over 1200 metres before following the contours around the chain of peaks that form the watershed of the Mossman and Mitchell rivers.

The Spiny Cray Ultra event is a seriously scenic tropical test.
- part of the Adventure Sport NQ series Entry Fee( AUD ) 15

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