Distance: approx. 12 km return
Time: approx. 4-5 hours
Difficulty: 6/10
Work/Reward: 6/10
Last visisted: May 2022
Mowbray Falls is one of the lesser known waterfalls, located in Mowbray, just out of Port Douglas.
Alllow around 1 hour to travel to the start of the trail from Cairns. The trail starts from the "Bump Track" which can easily be found on Google Maps. The Bump Track is also a horse riding and mountain biking trail, so keep an eye out!
There is a sign that easily identifies the start of the track:
The bump track is a wide and well trafficked path, so you won't get lost on this part of the trail, it is basically just straight up ( a real calf burner).
There is a decent size creek crossing (Robbins Creek) towards the top of the Bump Track. Word of caution, I would suggest that you don't walk on the metal grate as it is very slippery! The creek itself has always been low flowing when we have crossed (even after a lot of rain fall).
As can be seen on the map (pictured above on the sign), the trail head for Mowbray Falls can be found on the right-hand side of the bath, not long after this creek crossing so keep you eye out. Unfortunately, being a little rusty from having not been hiking or blogging much in the last 6 months, we unhelpfully did not measure in distance how far to the right-hand turn (our bad).
When we did this trail in May 2022, the track did not seem to have been cleared for some time. There was actually a very large tree fallen on the Bump Track at tehe start of the trail, which made it difficult to find the pink tape. We then had to scrmble through the rainforest to avoid the tree and find the trail. Hopefully if you are reading this blog and planning on taking on this great hike, the tree will be cleared and the pink tape easy to find!
Once you turn off the Bump Track, the trail is less-worn and more difficult to follow. There is however still a defined path. The track winds through the rainforest for a while, until the rainforest thins out and you start your descent to the falls.
It is a relatively steep descent into the falls, you will pop out onto the creek. Follow the creek the way that it runs (to the right) and you will easily reach the top of the falls.
We have previoulsy done this hike before and scrambled our way down beside the falls on the right-hand side. I would not recommend this as it is quite dangerous. The last time we visited it was after a significant amount of rainfall and so we opted not to try to scramble down towards the bottom of the falls (safety first).
The trail is not a circuit, so you go back to way you came in.
This trail is also accessible from the otherside of the Bump Track, which leaves from Black Mountain Road, instead of Connolly Road (this would most likely be shorter) we haven't done it this way before (I guess Sarah just loves the Bump Track too much).
There is another great hike in the area, Spring Creek Falls, which we have also done and intend to write a blog on in the future.
Enjoy!
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