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CREB Track
Just over 60km long, the CREB Track is one of the best, and most challenging 4WD trips in north Queensland.
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Essential information
| Grading | Difficult. Low range gearing and high ground clearance: take traction aids and recovery gear. |
|---|---|
| Time | Day trip or overnight camp |
| Distance | 137km, Cooktown to Daintree |
| Longest drive without fuel |
82km, Wujal Wujal to Wonga Beach |
| Best time of year | May to November. Not surprisingly, the CREB Track is closed during the wet season and at other times if the situation warrants it. |
| Warnings | Don’t drive on the track when it has been closed by the Council. The top of Roaring Meg Falls is a recognised women’s site for the Buru people, so signage asks men to not visit the site. No alcohol is permitted in the Roaring Meg Falls area. Camping is only permitted in the designated zone: do not camp at the swimming area (beach) or beside the river’s edge. |
| Permits and fees | Visitors are asked to contact a representative of the Burungu Aboriginal Corporation (traditional owners) prior to accessing Roaring Meg Falls. |
| Facilities | Cooktown, Lions Den Hotel, Wonga Beach, Wujal Wujal (no fuel weekends), Home Rule Rainforest Lodge (no fuel), Ayton (no fuel), Daintree (no fuel) |
| Important contacts | Douglas Shire Council Ph (07) 4099 9444; Burungu Aboriginal Corporation Ph (07) 4098 6248 |
The Track
Hidden by deep rainforest, the CREB Track’s red clay surface and very steep angles mean that the slightest rainfall, even days old, can render the Track nearly impassable. A brief drizzle mid-trip, not unlikely in this coastal rainforest, and going downhill becomes an exercise in careful braking and steering. Even mud tyres have a hard time with this stuff.
With World Heritage listing, this area is particularly sensitive, and travellers should respect the land and stay on the Track.
From Cooktown the Mulligan Hwy heads south until you get to the Helenvale turn, which takes you past the legendary Lions Den Hotel. About 33km later you arrive in Ayton.
From here you can travel down the CREB Track, or the Bloomfield Track if the CREB is closed.
The first 15km or so of the CREB are relatively easy, a winding gravel road through the rainforest, with great views and waterfalls along the way.
As you get into the heart of the McDowall Range, the track shows its true colours. This continues until you drop out of the Range to the Daintree River, a broad shallow crossing, and find yourself in the sleepy town of Daintree.
In the old days, when this was the only road up the coast, everyone would fit chains to their tyres to cross this range. Now, the Douglas Shire Council closes the Track for much of the year, with warnings that if you travel on a ‘closed road’, you’ll have to pay for your own rescue.
The Council does not recommend towing, but the careful driver, on a very dry day, can make it through unscathed, although not unnerved.
It’s worth planning your Cape York trip carefully, because what looks like a two or three hour trip can actually become a much longer drive if conditions are not optimal.
The ultra-steep clay slopes of the CREB Track render it unsuitable for novice four-wheel drivers. When dry, the track offers experts an enjoyable drive, but after a shower of rain – and it often rains in these parts – it becomes extremely difficult if not dangerous, and can be impassable. Many vehicles have had to be recovered at significant cost to the owners.
Even in dry conditions the track is unsuitable for vehicles lacking low-range gearing, good ground clearance and/or appropriate tyres. Heavily laden vehicles and trailers are not recommended. Parts of the track cross private land and travellers are requested to stay on the main track and to leave gates as they find them.
Camping
The only camping along the Creb track is at impressive Roaring Meg Falls, where there is a campground by a magnificent waterhole – the falls are along the road/walking track off to the left as you arrive at the campground, the swimming hole is down the closed-off road to the right.
Things to do
The driving is worth travelling for, and this Wet Tropics World Heritage area is a jewel that shines brightest when you slow down to smell the flowers.
There are waterfalls to explore at Bloomfield and Roaring Meg, however the local Aboriginal people request that men do not visit the top of Roaring Meg Falls, as it is a sacred women’s site. A lookout 35km down the Track affords a rare view out over the Thornton Range, and several river cruises depart Daintree.
History
Originally carved through the Daintree rainforest by the Cairns Regional Electricity Board (CREB), the Track became obsolete when the Bloomfield Track was cut closer to the coast, and now operates solely as a recreational track and southern access to the Burungu land at China Camp.
For thousands of years, Aborigines have lived in this region. The path of the CREB Track mostly follows ancient Aboriginal foot trails. After Cook and his crew took refuge in Cooktown in 1770, few white men visited for almost 100 years. Kennedy’s expedition in 1848 bypassed this section of coast, highlighting how difficult the terrain was, and still is.
The 1873 discovery of gold in the Palmer River essentially built Cooktown and plenty more ghost settlements like Maytown, but the area around the CREB Track was primarily mined for tin.
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