Walking & Hiking - Cow Bay
Each walk starts at the airstrip in Cow Bay. Distances are approximate only.
The Beach Walk - 6 km plus 1.5 km for the loop (one way)
Turn left after the war memorial and follow the foot/bicycle path along Buchanan Creek Road.
After 3 km, there is a second road on your right past Crocodylus Village and you can add a loop to this walk by turning right into Spurwood Road. When Spurwood Road comes to an end, turn left into Quandong Road. Quandong Road then crosses Buchanan Creek Road. Turn right here to walk to the beach or, continue on Quandong Road. Turn right before the waste transfer station at Cedar Road. The second road on the right is Bloodwood Road, which meets up with Buchanan Creek Road again. Turn left to do the final kilometre to the beach. It is not very obvious that people live here, but please do not enter any driveways/ properties.
Once you reach the beach, walk north and climb around the headlands to find small isolated bays.
This walk brings a lot of different environments to the visitor from heavy forested to fully cleared, from farm land to fully revegetated areas in the residential parts. You have different elevations, some beautiful creeks and can sneak some good views of the surrounding mountains. This is the Daintree lowland rainforest and you can see how it spreads from the mountains to the sea.
The Alexandra Range to the south, or the right, as you walk towards the beach and Baileys Hill/range to the north are the main ranges here, with Thornton Peak providing a stunning back drop on the return to the airstrip.
The Mountain Walk - 5.5 km (one way)
Walk past the war memorial, cross Buchanan Creek Road and use the foot path past Flora Villa and the Cow Bay Hotel. Walk up past the sign to the Discovery Centre and it is 2.5km to the Alexandra Range look out. On the way back turn right to the Discovery Centre and follow the road, Tulip Oak Road to Jindalba National Park walk. After completing the loop here walk back to the airstrip.
Most of this walk is on the main road, but this is a spectacular part of Cow Bay. Walking up to the look out, you can see mighty trees, fantastic vines and… just listen to the birds. During the wet there are creeks cascading from the steep slopes over boulders and under the road. At Jindalba the board walk makes it easy to experience the normally inaccessible dense rainforest. This area is very different to the beach walk as it is elevated and provides quite different vegetation and creek environments.
The Creek Walk - 6-7 km plus 1.5 km for the loop (one way)
Head north from the airstrip and cross Hutchinson Creek. Walk past Alexandra Bay State School and the ice-cream factory and turn right into Palm Road . At Palm Road you can see old fan palm forest, which is highly concentrated in this area. This loop brings you back to the Cape Tribulation Road, where you turn left. Walking back south, you can go for a swim in Hutchinson Creek, before arriving back at the airstrip.
This walk will show you part of the community infrastructure, with the school located next to Hutchinson Creek, and Diwan Community Centre in Tea Tree Road. The green tunnel you walking through was planted by the Cassowary care Group. There is some farming here and you can see the fruit orchards around the ice cream factory. 20–30 years ago this area was totally cleared for various pursuits in farming. Around the wilderness lodge there is some amazing stand of undisturbed forest with extensive wild life.
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