Peninsula
Developmental Road is the main road up north.
However, it does not go
up all the way to
the Tip.
It goes to Weipa.
After the Weipa turnoff, or rather the intersection where the Peninsula
Developmental itself turns west to Weipa, to head to the Tip you turn
onto the Telegraph
Road.
That is a smaller road. The peninsula's
best and most maintained road
- the Peninsula Developmental goes to Weipa.
A lot of the time it
is a very straight
road, red-soiled, unsealed, and can be corrugated.
South of Cooktown
South
of Cooktown you have the small townships of
Lakeland and Laura.
Lakeland
After Palmer River Roadhouse the Peninsula Developmental Road crosses
Byerstown Range with a lookout point on the top of it, and then
descends
to flat country again before it comes to the small township of Lakeland
Downs.
Laura
Lakeland Downs is on the crossroads where you can also turn into
Mulligan Highway to the coast and Cooktown.
But continuing on the Peninsula Developmental Road you come past Laura
Festival Grounds and Split Rock Art Gallery to the small town of Laura.
North of Cooktown
North of
Cooktown you have Hann River and Musgrave, and they are only
roadhouses, not small towns.
Hann
River
Roadhouse
After Laura the road is unsealed (as of 2014 - they are gradually
getting on with sealing it).
You drive past the turnoffs
to Jowalbinna and Lakefield
National Park, then the Fairview Outstation
near the southern turnoff to Alice River Goldfields before you get to
Hann River Roadhouse.
Musgrave
After
Hann
River Roadhouse the strait stretch of road (with some views like on the
large photo in the beginning of this page) continues north past the
northern turnoff to Alice
River Goldfields,Artemis
Station, and then Musgrave.
Central Cape York
North of
Musgrave you start coming into central Cape York, and you
first have the small township of Coen, then the Archer River Roadhouse.
After that the Peninsula Developmental Road turns off to Weipa where it
ends, never entering northern Cape York.
Coen
After Musgrave (which is on the crossroads to Lakefield National Park
to the east and Pormpuraaw to the west) the Peninsula Developmental
Road continues north past the turnoffs to Kendall
River Road
and Port
Stewart to
the small town of Coen.
Archer
River
After Coen you drive past the Coen Quarantine Station (do read the
rules) and the turnoff to Mungkan
Kaanju
National Park
(now Oyala Thumotang CYPAL) to Archer River Roadhouse - a pleasant
place to stay and enjoy the famous Archer River burger with chips.
Weipa
Turnoff
After Archer River Roadhouse you first pass the turnoff to Iron
Range National Park, Portland Roads and Lockhart
River, before you come to the
intersection where the Telegraph
Road turns off to go north, and the Peninsula
Developmental continues to Weipa.
Weipa
The road to Weipa gets first a little smaller but later gradually
better after it passes by the turnoffs to Merluna Station, Aurukun and Batavia Downs, and soon you are at the peninsula's northernmost traffic lights
as you cross the hauling road of Weipa Mine.
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how to deal with the national
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Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
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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.