Kanimbla is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Kanimbla had a population of 2,827 people. It is home to the Cairns Baptist Church.
Geography Kanimbla is west of the city centre.
The suburb straddles the upper reaches of Moody's Creek and is bordered to the north by the Cairns Western Arterial Road (state route 91). The main road that goes through Kanimbla is Ramsey Drive. Along the middle of the northern boundary is Whites Gap. In the south west elevations reach heights greater than 500 m towards the summit of Mooroobool Peak.
History
Kanimbla is situated in the Yidinji traditional Aboriginal country.
On 11 February 1989, the suburb was created from land previously in Manoora and Mooroobool. The new suburb was named for the MV Kanimbla, a coastal passenger ship which had serviced Cairns before being pressed into military service during World War II (Manoora and Mooroobool also being the names of other coastal passenger ships). This ship again was named for the Kanimbla Valley, west of Blackheath in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. — includes a map
The Blue Mountains Library explains the origin of the name Kanimbla as follows: A noticeable instance of this was the Kanimbla estate, an Aboriginal name derived from ‘kanim’, the head of one tribe, and ‘bula’, and the head of another, both of which roamed these valleys. [Kanimbla was the name of the local Aboriginal band of the Gundungurra tribe and apparently means camping or fighting ground]"Some History of the Parishes of Hartley, Kanimbla and Ganbenang ", Blue Mountains Local Studies, Blue Mountains Library, 17 December 2014
Cairns Regional Council announced in 2013 that land had been purchased in Kanimbla to build a detention basin to alleviate seasonal flooding in suburbs downstream.
During the real estate hausse of the early 2000s the median price for a three bedroom house was $ 558,000 during the financial year 2020-21 and rose by the financial year 2025-26 to $ 816,000.Kanimbla, QLD 4870, property.com.au (per 10. June 2026)
Demographics In the , Kanimbla had a population of 2,670 people.
In the , Kanimbla had a population of 2,827 people.
Education There are no schools in Kanimbla. The nearest government primary schools are Whitfield State School in neighbouring Whitfield to the north and Cairns West State School in Manunda to the east. The nearest government secondary school is Trinity Bay State High School in Manunda. There are also a number of non-government schools in nearby suburbs of Cairns.
Attractions Campbells Lookout is on Lake Morris Road, which leads to Copperlode Falls Dam. It offers views across the Cairns suburbs to the Cairns CBD and Trinity Bay beyond, and has acquired a reputation as a lovers' lane. There are three more lookouts on Lake Morris road. All of them are accessible from eight o'clock in the morning until eight o'clock in the evening.
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