Last visited: 28 March 2021
Danbulla National Park and State Forest is most well known for hosting the popular Tinaroo Dam. Less known for its hikes.
We were looking to do a hike we hadn’t done before after a last-minute decision not to go ahead with hiking Broken Nose due to wet weather. (We feel that Broken Nose is really one best done with several clear days leading up to it due in large part to how many leeches are in the area). So, our trusty google resources at 10pm the night before suggested we take a trip up to Danbulla National Park and State Forest to check out the area.
Danbulla National Park is home to Lake Tinaroo, a dam built primarily for irrigation which is also popular for recreation activities such as jet-skiing, canoeing and stand-up paddle-boarding. There are numerous camping options too, including Platypus camping area, Downfall Creek Camping area, Kauri Creek camping area and School-Point camping area, amongst others. These are managed by QLD National Parks and can be booked via their website. The Danbulla forest itself covers 12,000 hectares of the Atherton Tablelands. There are numerous hikes and short walks to be done in the area, catering to a range of abilities.
We decided on two separate hikes, the JungalJungal Walk and Torpedo Circuit.
JungalJungal Hike
Rating: 2/10
The JungalJungal walk can be undertaken as a 7.6km or 5.1km circuit. QLD National Parks Website rate this hike as ‘Moderate’ (personally we rate this hike as easy). Aside from a couple of short, steep (ish) inclines, the hike is relatively flat and well tracked-> we feel it would be manageable for anybody with a reasonable level of fitness. Whilst it is always nice to walk through the rainforest (unless you are wearing thongs and there are leeches about), apart from the creek that can be easily accessed without doing the hike, there really isn’t much reward on this hike. We personally preferred the Torpedo Bay walk due to the superior rewards (and no leeches). However you can easily do both tracks whilst in the area as we did.
How to get to the start of the hike
To get to the start of the JungalJungal Walk, we drove from Cairns to Atherton via the Gillies Range. Once at Gordonvale, hop onto the Gillies Range and drive approximately 30 km. Turn right onto Boar Pocket Road and follow for 13km. Turn right to stay on Danbulla Rd. Continue for a further 9.8km until you reach Kauri Creek day-use area, which signals the start of the hike. The road is sealed most the way so no need to own a 4WD. Our driving time was approximately 90-min from Cairns.
Often one of our biggest obstacles is finding the hiking start point so we were relieved to find the start of this hike with no troubles at all. Turns out there is no such thing as too much luck and our high fives quickly turned to dismay when we realised Rochelle had forgotten her hiking shoes. She was wearing thongs but had forgotten to bring closed in shoes. With no spare shoes sometimes lurking in the car boot (not that it would have helped, Sarah’s foot size is disproportionate to her height and would have been too big) Rochelle decided she was committing to wearing her thongs throughout.
What you need to know
We started this walk from the Kauri Creek day-use area. There are toilets and a parking area off the road which signals the start of the track.
The walk recommends a clockwise direction of travel. It starts in the rainforest and there is a well-formed track and it is easy to navigate for most of the hike.
There are leeches. We usually have a reasonable walking pace but were slowed down by the leeches’ excitement at easy access to the flesh of Rochelle’s feet and Rochelle’s hatred for the little blood suckers meant frequent stops to pull them off before they became engorged with blood (how pleasant!).
There is a longer circuit and a shorter one. We were originally committed to doing the longer one, but we still had a second hike we wanted to check out and with Rochelle in thongs we decided against extending this one. The longer circuit is either 7.6km or 8.2km long (depending on what resource you read!). If you want to just walk the shorter circuit, follow the sign stating Kauri Creek. It is about 5km long. (We forgot to turn off Strava immediately after finishing the hike to give a more accurate indication of time and distance.
If you are hiking the shorter circuit, you will need to cross Kauri Creek by foot. It is shallow (even after wet season) and there is no current. If hiking with family, it would be a good place to stop for a break, have a snack, cool down wade in the creek, etc. This is also accessible by road.
After crossing the creek, you will walk along Kauri Creek Road until you see a sign to your right stating ‘return track to carpark’. Here you go back onto track, endure one more creek crossing (just after you manage to completely dry your shoes off) and walk for no more than about 20 minutes back to the starting point.
Whilst it’s a relatively easy hike we truthfully didn’t find it a very exciting hike. The creek itself is… nice… and pretty. But that’s really the only thing the hike has going for it. We wouldn’t be rushing to do it again or recommend it as a must do but if you were in the area or camping for the weekend and wanting to get out in nature, then by all means go check it out. '
Trail Notes
The below sign signifies the start of the hike. The information board specifically states, ‘Wear closed in shoes.’ But Rochelle did prove this hike can indeed be undertaken in thongs (she doesn’t advise!)
The track is easy to follow until you come across this fallen down tree. It will require a bit of scrambling/ climbing/ ducking, but this is really the only obstacle you will encounter. It may even have been cleared by now, we did this walk after a big storm.
Continue along the track until you come across the sign for Kauri Creek. If hiking with family, this is a good place to stop and have a rest and snack. To continue the track, it will require a creek crossing. When we visited, it was in the peak of wet season and most the water came to mid-shin. Depending on how averse you are to wet shoes, you can either take them off or just grin and bear it! They dry pretty quick in North QLD weather, so we tend to just wear our shoes in to avoid sand and grit when putting our shoes and socks back on. If you are really prepared and hike in thongs, taking your shoes off really won’t inconvenience you. The best part about this creek is that it is sand based and not muddy.
Metres from the creek crossing, you will reach the road where you follow it for about 1km. Look for this sign to your right which indicates where the track re-starts
Follow the track back to the car. This part of the hike takes about 30 minutes and is pretty and rainforest-y. Make sure you take the left at the fork.
Torpedo Bay Circuit
Rating: 6.5/10
Our second hike of the day was Torpedo Bay Circuit. Rochelle’s shoes hadn’t miraculously found themselves in the car, so thongs it was again. We found this hike on All Trails, and due to our lack of preparation and research, we didn’t realise there are two different tracks in this area- Torpedo Bay Circuit and Torpedo Bay South Circuit. Who would have guessed these were different routes? Not us… clearly. But this is partly why we write this blog, to share our learnings (mistakes and stuff ups) so you can get it right the first time!
Torpedo Bay Circuit is 4.8km. Torpedo Bay South is 7.6km. With slightly combining routes, Strava had us walking 6.39km, elevation gain of 289m and took 1hr 40 minutes. If we were both wearing boots we would have been keen to do the longer south circuit, however by this time, Rochelle’s feet were a starting to get a little sore.
How to get there
As we had just completed the JungalJungal Hike, we continued to drive along Danbulla Road for approximately 10km. There is a sign for the Barrabadeen Scout Camp on the left and about 100m further down the road, the track begins from the right. There is no specific place to park but plenty of room to pull off on the side of the road.
What you need to know
It is well marked, and the hike starts steeply, with rough gravel underfoot. In comparison to the JungalJungal walk we had just completed; this hike was less rainforest and more dry forest (which meant no leeches despite the rain).
It is also rated ‘moderate’ which is probably a more accurate representation of the term ‘moderate’. Don’t be scared off by this term, we still think this walk is manageable for various fitness levels.
There are several large granite boulders offering some good photo opportunities. We took the chance to grab some pictures as the rain clouds were rolling in and we were assuming a whitewash was about to occur.
After the boulders, the hike turns inwards, away from the damn and you follow an easy, marked track and continue a gentle climb. By this stage, it started raining and the rain and clouds blocked what would have been a good view once the track levels out again.
We landed ourselves in a bit of doubt when we reached a fork in the road with two distinct tracks and no indication of which way we should go. It had been so well marked until this point! If we had realised there were two separate tracks in the same area we probably wouldn’t have gotten as confused. We continued the track straight ahead of us, as opposed to going down the 4WD road.
Turns out this then formed park of the ‘Torpedo Circuit South Track’ when we pulled up our All Trails App (which in reality we should have had on the whole way) and meant another several kilometres to get to the lookout and back down. With Rochelle’s feet starting (continuing) to hurt, and no real prospects of further views for the extras km’s due to the weather, we (Rochelle) decided to backtrack and head down the 4WD track.
We followed the 4WD track all the way to the bottom and then followed the road around the dam and back towards the car.
Although we didn’t complete the South Circuit, from my research since, it appears like this would offer better views of Tinaroo Dam and Danbulla National Park, on a sunny day of course! We will have to go back on a sunny day.
Track Notes
Look for this sign to signify the start of the Torpedo Bay Circuit. It is located on the opposite side of the road from Tinaroo, approximately 100m down the road from Barrabadeen Scout Camp
First look out point. Clouds started coming over quickly, so we took a couple of quick snaps
After the boulders, the track turns inland, where you gradually ascend. There are several viewpoints that would have been beautiful photo opportunities on a clear day.
We continued to follow a well formed track until we reached this junction. Turn left down the wider track (big enough for a 4WD) if you want to complete the Torpedo Circuit or continue right along the narrow track if you want to merge onto the South Torpedo Circuit.
At the bottom of the range, there is a massive puddle (at least there was when we did it). Trust us there are ways around it without getting too wet! Try heading around the right side as there are smaller branches and boulders you can balance on. In dry season we imagine it would be dried up. We also came across these signs towards the bottom-> slightly concerning and a reminder of the atrocities of Cambodia on a lesser scale. Stick to the track and you should stay safe.
Follow the road by foot around until you reach your car. Soak in some views of the dam whilst you’re at it!
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