[1] Craiglie is bounded by the Cassowary Range to the southwest, Mowbray River to the southeast and the Coral Sea to the east.

The Captain Cook Highway and the cane tramway to the Mossman sugar mill form part of its boundary with Port Douglas to the north.

A village formed there to supply services needed by the teamsters, such as hotels, a blacksmith, a saddlery, and a butcher shop.

[5] Today the Mossman Mount Molloy Road provides a range crossing from the Captain Cook Highway at Shannonvale/Cassowary to Julatten,[3] and The Bump Track is no longer in use (except for bushwalking and mountain biking).

Local people wanted to have a state school, but the Queensland Government was not convinced that Craiglie would become a permanent settlement, anticipating that the construction of a future railway line would remove the need for teamsters.

[7][8][9][10] However, the Queensland Government's prophesy was correct, as, in 1893, the Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line bypassed Port Douglas and the Craiglie settlement gradually diminished as businesses and their premises were relocated to more prosperous areas such as Mossman.