European discovery of the Daintree River

When gold was discovered on the Palmer River, in September 1873, a new port was needed and had to be established quickly to service this newly discovered field. The Queensland government telegraphed George Elphinstone Dalrymple, the Gold Commissioner on the Gilbert goldfield, to proceed east to Cardwell (the nearest seaport). Once there, he was to sail north to the Endeavour River and determine if it was a suitable site and, while on the way north, to thoroughly search the coast for any new rivers and fertile farmland.

On October 24th, while camped on Snapper Island (just off shore from the mouth of the Daintree River) on his way north, Dalrymple named the Alexandra and Dagmar ranges and Cape Kimberley. Because he was in such a hurry to get to Endeavour River, he delayed any exploration of the surrounding areas and actually missed the opening of the Daintree River. He continued on to the Endeavour River and concluded that it was indeed an appropriate place to establish the new port (today's Cooktown). He then returned to Cardwell where he sent his report to the government. After a short time he assembled men and vessels for a second exploration trip north. By the time he started his second voyage the government had already decided, that the Endeavour River was the place for the new port, and had put their plan into action.

It was on this second voyage that Dalrymple finally noticed a new river mouth inshore from Snapper Island. As Dalrymple and his men rowed into the river he was delighted to find that a broad and deep river soon opened up not far upstream from the mouth. He named this new river ‘Daintree’, after an old friend, Richard Daintree, who had spent several years in Queensland as the Government geologist.

As they continued further up the river they found that, 25 kms inland from the river mouth, the surrounding mangroves and rainforest (with its huge stands of red cedar) quickly changed into rich grass land which later proved to be very suitable for cattle grazing.

With this important discovery, and because the wet season was due to start soon, Dalrymple quickly returned south back to Cardwell to report on the newly discovered red cedar and fertile lands. This report was responsible for a second northerly rush of men - timber cutters coming from the south where their stands of red cedar were rapidly becoming depleted.

In his later writings about the Daintree Dalrymple said: “no river in North Australia possesses surroundings combining so much of distant mountain grandeur with local beauty and wealth of vegetation”.

During 1874 - 1880 there were many men cutting cedar in the Daintree area. The red cedar logs were floated down to the river mouth where they were loaded onto ships and taken away (some as far as England). As the red cedar became more difficult to find, some retired from their timber-cutting, to select farming land along the river. They were soon joined by other pioneers from the south who settled the upper reaches of the river (the first probably being John Stewart in 1876).

Crossing the Daintree River

In 1954 a steel punt was constructed, and used as a ferry, to cart timber trucks south from the timber mill located on the north side.

In 1958 the Douglas Shire Council built an outboard-driven ferry to service the people living north of the river. After several years it was replaced by a new privately-owned cable ferry.

The present ferry is now much larger and caters mostly to tourist buses, self-drive tourists, locals and supply trucks. The ferry makes continuous crossings of the Daintree River throughout the day from 6:00am until midnight.

Daintree River today

The Daintree River is famous for its wildlife, including the Estuarine Crocodile. There are a range of river tours available on the Daintree River, from several places along the river’s picturesque banks, covering all the varied habitats.

All of the boats with outboard motors are environmentally friendly using either 4-stroke, electric motors or high tech 2- stroke outboards. There are tours available that will cater to anyone’s requirement - croc spotting, bird-watching, frogs, snakes, photography, mangrove ecology, children, wheelchairs or just plain relaxing and looking.