Cairns to Cooktown via Daintree

[Ean Austral]

Gday All,


Can I drive from Cairns to Cooktown via the Daintree without doubling back ?


I looked at a few maps but they are not clear as to where the roads go. I will be in a D3 with camper trailer. Happy to go via dirt but will be single car that needs to do 3000ks home.


Cheers Ean

[V8Ian]

You don't need to double back Ean.

[cal415]

Its a great drive through there, lots of nice spots to stop off, certainly nothing hard to drive except a few long steep gravel climbs and shallow creek crossings.

There is a really nice spot for a swim just before one of the crossings, i cant remember what creek it was now though, but its after you hit the gravel roads heading north theres a few spots to park about 20m before one of the crossings, pull up on the left somewhere and follow the track into the bush, it comes out to a nice little creek bend with crystal clear water and a nice big ledge on the otherside to climb and jump off. Great place for a short stop to cool off.

[V8Ian]

Have a beer at the Lion's Den for me Ean. :twobeers:

[Ean Austral]

Have a beer at the Lion's Den for me Ean. :twobeers:


Sounds like a great idea Ian,


Might have 2 cause im sure the first one will go down nice and easy.


Cheers Ean

[Ean Austral]

Can someone recommend a good map for that area, I have the hema maps but they are several years old now.




Cheers Ean

[komaterpillar]

Cape tribulation is an awesome spot for a camp! The Bloomfield track is a bit steep in sections but nothing serious at all, just steep gravely hills, awesome drive and scenery from Cape trib to Cooktown

[V8Ian]

Check Sunmap out Ean.

Queensland Topographic Maps SunMap (QLD) - MapsPlus (http://mapsplus.com.au/3/17484/1825.html)

http://www.abcmaps.com.au/sunmap.htm

[carlschmid2002]

If you don't want to pay for the ferry you could always do the CREB track. Drive in to Daintree township and they will point you in the right direction. When are you doing it? I could meet you and show you where to go.

[roverrescue]

Ean

Cairns to Cooktown via Daintree Village is the CREB track
Cairns to Cooktown via Cape Tribulation is the Bloomfield TRack

CREB track is definitely doable when open
Bloomfield track is now just 30km of dirt and depending on the Emmagen Ck doable in a commodore

I have crossed the Emmagen with winch rope out and pucker firmly held at about 900 and have also crossed it just a few weekends ago at about 300 and barely even changed gears

Other than that Mossman to Cooktown is nothing like it use to be

Make sure to hit me up when you get to windy rainy Cookers

Steve

[mattg]

We are coming up to the cape next week how long would it take the get to cook town from cairns via the CREB ? Just doing a bit of an itinerary. What should we stop and look at along the way?

Do you know what condition the track is in at the moment? Cheers Matt

[Ean Austral]

If you don't want to pay for the ferry you could always do the CREB track. Drive in to Daintree township and they will point you in the right direction. When are you doing it? I could meet you and show you where to go.



Thanks for the offer. We should be there around the 22/23 july. we have no set plan so if we find somewhere we want to stop for longer then we will. I am taking the car and camper to Townsville on a road train I will be driving there from Darwin, the Boss will fly over and we will leave from Townsville.


I am happy to pay for a ferry , everyone needs to make a living , but am happy to look at what options are available when we get up that way.


We are only going as far as Cooktown, then bolting across to Normanton then headed for home ( Darwin ). We only have 2 weeks so not planning on busting our guts and not enjoying the places to see.


Cheers Ean

[Ean Austral]

Ean

Cairns to Cooktown via Daintree Village is the CREB track
Cairns to Cooktown via Cape Tribulation is the Bloomfield TRack

CREB track is definitely doable when open
Bloomfield track is now just 30km of dirt and depending on the Emmagen Ck doable in a commodore

I have crossed the Emmagen with winch rope out and pucker firmly held at about 900 and have also crossed it just a few weekends ago at about 300 and barely even changed gears

Other than that Mossman to Cooktown is nothing like it use to be

Make sure to hit me up when you get to windy rainy Cookers

Steve


Will certainly do that.


Cheers Ean

[harro]

We are coming up to the cape next week how long would it take the get to cook town from cairns via the CREB ? Just doing a bit of an itinerary. What should we stop and look at along the way?

Do you know what condition the track is in at the moment? Cheers Matt


Access to the Creb track is controlled by Douglas Shire Council.
There is a status page on their website.
With the amount of rain we have had recently I am not surprised it is closed.

You can also ring them (07) 4099 9444 if you have any queries.

Road Conditions - Douglas Shire Council (http://douglas.qld.gov.au/road-conditions/)

Cheers,
Paul.

[carlschmid2002]

We are coming up to the cape next week how long would it take the get to cook town from cairns via the CREB ? Just doing a bit of an itinerary. What should we stop and look at along the way?

Do you know what condition the track is in at the moment? Cheers Matt

CREB is closed until the end of June but you can still do the Bloomfield track via Cape Tribulation. It will take the best part of a day to get to Cooktown via Cape Trib, probably a full day if you go via the CREB. A rough itinerary could be.

-0800 Depart Cairns
-0825 Stop at Ellis Beach.
-0900 Stop into Port Douglas.
-0930 Have a coffee at the Raintrees Mossman.
-1015 Go into Daintree Township.
-1100 Double back to ferry for Cape Trib
-1200 -1230 Stop at Thorntons Beach or Cape Trib near backpackers for lunch.Walk on Cape Trib Beach
-1330 stop at Emmagen Ck and various lookouts on the Bloomfield Track
-1430 Stop at Bloomfield Falls.
-1530 Stop at Lions Den for a beer.
-1630-1700 Arrive Cooktown.

Obviously timings to vary depending on lengths of stops.

[harro]

CREB is closed until the end of June but you can still do the Bloomfield track via Cape Tribulation. It will take the best part of a day to get to Cooktown via Cape Trib, probably a full day if you go via the CREB. A rough itinerary could be.

-0800 Depart Cairns
-0825 Stop at Ellis Beach.
-0900 Stop into Port Douglas.
-0930 Have a coffee at the Raintrees Mossman.
-1015 Go into Daintree Township.
-1100 Double back to ferry for Cape Trib
-1200 -1230 Stop at Thorntons Beach or Cape Trib near backpackers for lunch.Walk on Cape Trib Beach
-1330 stop at Emmagen Ck and various lookouts on the Bloomfield Track
-1430 Stop at Bloomfield Falls.
-1530 Stop at Lions Den for a beer.
-1630-1700 Arrive Cooktown.

Obviously timings to vary depending on lengths of stops.

Not a bad plan Carl:D
And if you have one too many you can always camp out the back of the Lion's Den;)
The meals there aren't too bad either.

Paul,

[cal415]

We will likely cross paths, i leave for darwin tuesday week, then crossing the gulf over towards kurumba and likely head for cooktown or cairns before heading down the coast back to home at the end of july arriving home in the first few days of august.

[Ean Austral]

We will likely cross paths, i leave for darwin tuesday week, then crossing the gulf over towards kurumba and likely head for cooktown or cairns before heading down the coast back to home at the end of july arriving home in the first few days of august.


Will keep a look out , We will be in a silver D3 with a silver camper trailer. Always have Ch 40 on the UHF.


What way are you planning on going from Karumba to cooktown.?


Cheers Ean

[cal415]

We will be in a orkney grey 130 with a big alluminium checker plate canopy, plates LRD-130, towing kimberly camper trailer.

After leaving the darwin area we will be head to lorella springs, then lawn hill and surrounding area, then kurumba, depending on how much time we have left we might head up Yagoonya and then follow the mitchell river towards Chillagoe then cut our way up to Maytown and out to Laura from there.... but thats if we get really adventurous!
Otherwise we might just take the gulf developement road and go to cairns and miss cooktown this trip, but i do love going to cooktown.... it all depends on timing.

what route are you planning to follow?

[LRD414]

This thread has been great because I was just considering options for travelling Cairns to Cooktown on 21st July, in the D4 towing a camper trailer. Meeting others and heading to the Cape from Cooktown.

Would it be fair to say that I should have no troubles taking the Bloomfield Track around that time?

Also, at the sites along the way, is there generally enough space to park up for a look around if towing a camper trailer?

Cheers,
Scott

[Ean Austral]

We will be in a orkney grey 130 with a big alluminium checker plate canopy, plates LRD-130, towing kimberly camper trailer.

After leaving the darwin area we will be head to lorella springs, then lawn hill and surrounding area, then kurumba, depending on how much time we have left we might head up Yagoonya and then follow the mitchell river towards Chillagoe then cut our way up to Maytown and out to Laura from there.... but thats if we get really adventurous!
Otherwise we might just take the gulf developement road and go to cairns and miss cooktown this trip, but i do love going to cooktown.... it all depends on timing.

what route are you planning to follow?


I would say once we leave Cooktown it will likely be bitumen for us. Will see if there is a way to cut the corner and come out somewhere near Croydon or out that way. Would like to follow the gulf from Normanton to the Roper bar then head for the highway but with limited time, we will just play it as we go.


Cheers Ean

[cal415]

This thread has been great because I was just considering options for travelling Cairns to Cooktown on 21st July, in the D4 towing a camper trailer. Meeting others and heading to the Cape from Cooktown.

Would it be fair to say that I should have no troubles taking the Bloomfield Track around that time?

Also, at the sites along the way, is there generally enough space to park up for a look around if towing a camper trailer?

Cheers,
Scott

We towed our camper through, was a bit tricky to find a spot to park at times with the overall length of my 130 and the kimberly being quite long but still managed to find a spot when needed and drove the bloomfield track easily, high range no CDL required.

Creb was a tad more challenging though, but still the pick of everything thing i drove north of cairns was old coach road from Laura out to maytown.

[LRD414]

[QUOTE=cal415;2377634]..... the pick of everything thing i drove north of cairns was old coach road from Laura out to maytown.[QUOTE]


Thanks Cal. When you say old coach road was "the pick", do you mean best part, most scenic or hardest part ?

Scott

[cal415]

a bit of fall of the above, certainly worth a look and the hardest section can be avoided if your not game. It would be a challenge in places towing a camper though.