[2] Most of the locality forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of Queensland, In the 2021 census, Shannonvale had a population of 194 people.

[1] The ridge of the Great Dividing Range forms the southern and western boundaries of the locality, which has the following named peaks:[3] The South Mossman River rises on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range in the north-east of the locality and flows through the locality exiting to the north-east (Bonnie Doon); it is a tributary of the Mossman River which flows into the Coral Sea.

Both of these national parks form part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of Queensland.

[10] In the remaining area in the north-east of the locality, the land use is predominantly growing sugarcane with rural residential housing and grazing on native vegetation.

[10] There is a cane tramway network to transport the harvested sugarcane to the local sugar mill.