HINCHINBROOK ISLAND WILL QUICKLY MAKE you realise Australia is more than just beaches and red dirt. Just off the coast from Cardwell in Tropical North Queensland, the island offers a unique and diverse combination of landscapes: Tropical rainforests; crystal-clear swimming holes; huge waterfalls; rugged mountain peaks; pristine beaches; and intricate mangrove estuaries. It’s one of Australia’s wildest places.
Hinchinbrook is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel, and the complex tidal inlets that lace the island’s west coast are lined by mangrove forests known to be some of the country’s richest and most varied. These mangroves provide a crucial breeding ground for a diverse range of species, from juvenile fish to saltwater crocodiles. In contrast, the east coast is made up of vast beaches and rocky headlands.
There is a truly wild, land-out-of-time presence here. It’s less than 10km from the mainland, but it feels like worlds away. And if you’re on the island’s east—where all the hiking trails and campgrounds are located—the towering mountain peaks of up to 1,100m above sea level block phone service to the mainland; you feel totally isolated from the modern world as soon as you set foot on the island.
But this feeling of isolation in an untouched, wild landscape forces you to disconnect from the overstimulation of modern living and tap into a more primitive mental state. You can feel grounded here. With hardly a soul around—just the sounds of waves crashing, mountain streams and birds chirping—the distractions of our modern society are stripped away so you're forced to just be present and live in the moment. There’s nowhere else in Australia where you can be isolated on a tropical island and separated from the ‘real world’ by 1,000m+ mountain ranges and crocodile-inhabited waters. Welcome to Australia’s Jurassic Park!
THE THORSBORNE TRAIL
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM A LOCAL
Internationally regarded as one of the ‘Top 10 walks on the planet’, Hinchinbrook Island is well known for the Thorsborne Trail. It’s a 32km-long, multi-day journey running almost the entire length of the island’s east coast,
