GETTING HERE
relax | explore | discover
Driving to Cooktown
open year round
Getting here is very easy year-round. A superb drive from Cairns Airport on the Mulligan Highway is a nice way to travel and suitable for conventional vehicles.
The road to Laura is totally sealed so why not slip up to the Split Rock Art or visit the Quinkan galleries (Queensland’s most famous Aboriginal Rock Art) from Lakeland Downs on your way here or on your return.
Flights to the village of Cooktown are offered x 2 per day Monday-Friday and 1 on Saturday and car rentals are available from the airport when booked in advance.
There is a private airstrip available near the lodge for private charters. Helicopter transfers along the reef & rainforest coast are awesome and can land at the lodge.
GETTING HERE
Travelling to Cooktown,
S.E Cape York & Mungumby Lodge
Cooktown 28 25 min yes
Rossville 22 17 min yes
Lakeland 47 35 min yes
Laura 118 50 min yes
Mossman 258 2.5 hrs inland
Cairns Airport 305 3.5 hrs inland
Reef & Rainforest Coastal Road - Cape Tribulation & Bloomfield
4WD between Cape Tribulation & Wujal Wujal.
Picturesque waterways, world heritage rainforest, magnificent beaches, and rugged mountains make for a magical drive along the coast road to the village of Cooktown. Allow 5 hours from Cairns to enjoy the scenery. Distance approximately 234km (32kms gravel between Cape Tribulation & Wujal Wujal). From Cairns follow the Captain Cook Highway past Port Douglas, Mossman and on to the Daintree River – a stunning coastal drive. It is 105km from Cairns to the Daintree Ferry and 51km from Port Douglas. The road is sealed from the Daintree Ferry, which operates 6 am to midnight, 7 days per week, to Cape Tribulation (38kms). This is a spectacular drive along the Great Barrier Reef Coast and through the World Heritage-listed rainforests, one of the largest rainforest wilderness areas in Australia with many beautiful rest stops, walking tracks, swimming holes, and wilderness beaches.
After Cape Tribulation take a walk along the many unique tropical beaches, ‘where the rainforest meets the reef’ at many places along the coast. “I named the north point Cape Tribulation because here began all our troubles,” wrote Lt. James Cook in 1770 after his ship, the HM Bark Endeavour, foundered on a reef north of Bloomfield River. Emmagen Creek is a popular picnic spot and a great photo stop. After South Cowie Beach you will come to a unique bridge at Woobadda Creek. Take care in crossing the Cowie and Donovan Ranges as there are steep descents. 4WD is preferred beyond Emmagen Creek and the route often closes during the wet season.
The best information on current road conditions is available from operators north of the Bloomfield River. This very scenic road takes travellers on an amazing journey to the Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal and villages of Ayton, Rossville and Helenvale. Stop and take time to visit the wonderful Bana Yirriji Art & Cultural Centre open Monday-Friday. This trip makes a great day out from Cooktown down Shiptons Flat Road and the Bloomfield Development Road, sealed from Helenvale all the way to Wujal Wujal.
At Wujal Wujal turn left after the bridge and drive to the Bloomfield Falls car park, then a 500m walk to the falls. The falls are especially spectacular after the wet season.
Swimming is not advised due to the possibility of crocodiles in the Bloomfield River below the falls and Aboriginal cultural concerns.
Inland Road | Mulligan highway - Mareeba Palmer River, Lakeland Downs
Conventional Vehicle
The drive to our lodge from the village of Cooktown is only 25 minutes south, on the Mulligan Highway then turn into the famous Rainforest & Reef Coastal drive, the road is sealed all the way to Mungumby Road the lodge driveway which is then unsealed (4kms) to the lodge. Coming from Cairns, Helenvale is located 3 kilometres north of the Little Annan River crossing on the inland Mulligan Highway. This road is sealed all the way from Mareeba to Mungumby Road.
The inland route to Cooktown is sealed all the way – 330km and less than 4
hours from Cairns. The route from Cairns takes you over the Kuranda Range and
away from the coast via Highway 1, the Kennedy Highway, to Mareeba where you
head north on Highway 81, the Mulligan Highway. Alternatively, along the coast
to Port Douglas/Mossman to take Highway 44 via Julatten to join the Mulligan
Highway at Mt Molloy. Once over the ranges, the lush tropical rainforest is replaced by more open
tropical savannah as you travel through the tiny settlements common to Cooktown.
Mt Molloy was named after a teamster who discovered copper here in the 1880s. The Post Office, in its pretty setting, provides local information. The Mt Molloy National Hotel, built-in 1903, illustrates the township’s historic past. Mt Carbine was founded after the discovery of extensive wolfram deposits in 1890. The small community has a roadhouse (best pies in the north) and pub. Bob’s Lookout at the top of the Desailly Range offers spectacular views over remote and panoramic savannah stretching as far as the eye can see.
The Palmer River Goldfield, once Australia’s
richest alluvial field. The discovery of alluvial gold in the Palmer
River in 1872 led to Queensland’s largest gold rush. It became legendary for
its hardships and the large numbers of Chinese miners, which peaked at 17,000
in 1877.
Lakeland lies in a natural basin formed by volcanic activity millions of years ago. This is a great base to get fantastic coffee, meals, fuel, groceries and fresh snacks from the Lakeland Coffee House. There are public toilets on the highway at the vehicle wash down or at the Lakeland Coffee House. Here the Peninsula Development Road heads north and is now sealed all the way to Laura, or continue North East on the Mulligan Highway, passing the Annan Gorge and Black Mountain
We welcome your call on (07) 4060 3158 for details or email us relax@mungumby.com. To make things streamline we need to know as a minimum the dates of stay, the number of guests, and the room type of interest. Please note as we are a small team and have no crystal ball so please give us as much detail as possible, if not your mail might be treated as TRASH. We respond within 24 hours to requests to genuine emails, so if you do not receive a reply from us please check your SPAM mailbox!
RACQ road updates over the wet season cannot be trusted to be up to date. A
good HEMA Map is available at most roadside stores or downloads them online.
Even better get the Explore Cooktown
tourism guide.
Our GPS = 15 deg 70’5921″min S – 145 deg 25’54.99″
min E.
Our Street Address is 388 Mungumby Road Rossville, Qld 4895
