Some are tiny,
others
are some of the largest in Australia.
Some cover tropical
rainforests,
others cover savannah grasslands,
tropical woodlands, coastal headlands or tidal wetlands.
Some are well
known and easy to access,
while others are remote
and not so well known.
Many have lately been given
Aboriginal names, and I guess they all soon will.
Daintree
National Park
The best
known is Daintree
National Park in
the Wet Tropics. It protects lush, dense tropical
rainforests, which you will
drive through. There are also a few walks, but the whole park,
particularly the northern, Cape
Tribulation section, is quite
commercialised compared to the other parks further north.
Cedar
Bay National Park (Ngalba Bulal)
The next
park to the north is Cedar
Bay north of Bloomfield. As you drive the Ayton
Rossville Road, you drive through the
park, but to enjoy the park it's one of the hardest. There are two long bushwalking
tracks only for experienced walkers, and that's the only
way to get to the actual bay.
Black
Mountain National Park
South of
Cooktown is Black
Mountain National Park along Mulligan Highway,
north of the turnoff to Wujal
Wujal. It is a very unique black mountain, looking like a heap of large
granite
boulders, which you can have a look at from the highway car park. And
that's all you can do - there
are no bushwalks or camping.
Annan
River National Park (Yuku Baja-Muliku)
North of
Black Mountain is Annan
River National Park - the largest in the area but with no access and no facilities. The
closest you get to it (unless boating or flying) is Walker Bay in the
mouth of Annan River, and Fisherman's Bend just north of the highway
bridge across the same river, south of Cooktown.
Mount
Cook National Park
Just
south
of Cooktown is Mount Cook National Park. It is a
small national park, and it protects Mount
Cook. There is a walk
to the top of the mountain, but there
is no camping
in this park. The walk is quite a climb in places and
recommended for people with at least medium level of fitness.
Endeavour
River National Park
Endeavour
River National Park is just north
of Cooktown, and it protects the mangrove
habitats of Endeavour River - one of the two large rivers of Cooktown
(along
with Annan). There is no
bushwalking,
camping or any visitor facilities in this park, and the best way to
discover it is by a boat.
Lakefield
National Park (Rinyirru)
Lakefield
National Park is north-west of Cooktown, and it is the
largest
one of all the peninsula's national parks. It covers savannah
grasslands, wetlands,
mudflats and floodplains, and it also has shady camping sites and two walking
tracks. It is quite easy to see brolgas, jabirus, and
crocodiles.
Cape
Melville National Park
North-east
of Lakefield, Cape
Melville National Parkcan be reached from the west
via Lakefield
NP and Musgrave, or from the south via Starcke - Wakooka Track.
There are
plenty of very nice camping
and fishing
spots, and consequently the park is most popular with Australians doing
long time camping and fishing.
Mungkan
Kaanju National Park (Oyala Thumotang)
Mungkan
Kaanju
is one of the larger national parks on the peninsula, covering
a fair area between Coen and Archer
River. It
mostly covers dry open
woodlands, and looks like that during the whole 60km drive in to even
the closest camping
spots, where
there are rivers and lusher vegetation. There are no walking tracks in
this park.
Iron
Range National Park (Kutini-Payamu)
Iron
Range National Park is
the most special of all of our national parks. It covers the largest
area of lowland rainforest left in Australia, and is the only pocket
inhabited by many birds and animals that Cape York shares with Papua
New Guinea. It is the only
place to see eclectus parrots, green pythons and many
other species. There is nice camping, and two bushwalking tracks.
Jardine
River National Park
Jardine
River
National Park is
another large park, near the tip of Cape York. You drive through it in
the northern end of the Old Telegraph Track, and you can drive through
it for a long while if you do the 60km drive to Sadd
Point and Ussher
Point. There is some camping, but no
bushwalks. The
vegetation is tropical savannah woodland with many blackboys and Zamia
Palms.
Cape
York
National Parks
Camping
National
parks camping in Cape York changed in February 2012.
And it
changed to the worse
for us Cape York travellers.
No longer can we pull up,
pay at the
self registration station and put the tent up.
We now have to plan all our national parks camping, which on a Cape
York trip is next to impossible.
We all
know how hard it
is to plan a Cape York trip with such
detail, and even if
you tried, having to keep the schedule while travelling would be
stressful and take the joy out of the trip. Unless, of course, there is phone
or internet reception so that you can
book at your arrival - but in most Cape York national
parks that
is not the case.
Camping rules before 2012
Until February 2012, all
you had to do
was to put cash into an envelope at a self registration
station
and put the envelope into a box.
A piece that you could rip off went to your windscreen so that rangers
who check in the mornings knew you had paid.
Camping
rules
after 2012 Now you have to book on
the phone or
online, and your best hope is, like the sign above says,
'Some
mobile phone networks may be available' (in most places not).
Solution?
Camp outside - perfectly
legal if you know the spots.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
If
you liked the books or
this website, let others know about it!
Link to it from your website, your blog, your forum post... Share it on Facebook, Tweet
about it...
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Thank you for doing the
right thing and letting others know :-)
This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.