North of Cape Tribulation, the
Bloomfield Track is an interesting drive through the Rainforest. Numerous improvements have been made over the last few years, including a 3.5m bridge above the Bloomfield River (2014). There are still several creek and river crossings and some steep climbs and descents so while it was once strictly for 4WD vehicles only and quite challenging after rains, it is now far more accessible to a wider range of tourists. The track is now well graded and as such is now considered a "road". The steep ups and downs are now concrete and the river crossings are hard bottom. Be aware however that the track is still narrow and unsuitable for large caravans but is ok for more maneuverable camper trailers.
The
Bloomfield Track ends near the Aboriginal Community of Wujal Wujal and travellers can either continue north using our
Ayton to Cooktown Trek Note, pickup the more challenging
CREB track, or retrace their steps south.
How to Use this Trek Note
Click the "Map" tab below to see the route we've provided. Icons on the map are the POIs you'll need for navigation purposes. Be sure to check the list of Nearby
Places on each POI page.
If you'd like to save this information there are a couple of ways to go about it, depending on what you're actually after:-
- Ideal solution - download the ExplorOz Traveller App from Google Play or the App Store. The app enables you to carry the ExplorOz Places, Treks, & Maps data offline in your mobile device ready for your adventures. It is a complete mapping, navigation and tracking app. For more details, read our ExplorOz Traveller page.
- You can print a paper copy of the text using the print icon button shown above, near the social media buttons. For the best output it is advised to open each tab/section to load all images and artwork. You will still need to click open each Place page (listed in Where to Stay, What to See) to print off all available information.
- If you have a Hema Navigator or use Mapping Software such as OziExplorer, or TrackRanger AND you are an ExplorOz Member, then you can click the Download Trek button at the top of this page to obtain the raw data files (eg. GPX) for this Trek.
- If you're not a Member, or you'd like to batch download the entire Treks database you can obtain this by buying a product called EOTreks Route Files from our online shop.
Environment
Being a true Rainforest Habitat it is normal to expect some level of wet conditions during the trek - ranging from drizzly rain and wet sections of track at the beginning of the trek at
Cape Tribulation to a drier and more barren environment towards the end.
History
Cape Tribulation was so named by Captain James Cook after his ship ran aground on Endeavour Reef. Aboriginals however, called the area Kulki. The first track through the Daintree was an Aboriginal footpath, that with the arrival of settlers and miners, was later upgraded to a packhorse track. In 1983 the
Bloomfield Track was formed for vehicles by bulldozers, attracting international attention to the fight to save the lowland Daintree rainforests. The conservationists lost that battle, but the publicity generated by the blockade indirectly led to the Federal Government's moves in 1987 to nominate Qld's wet tropical rainforests for World
Heritage listing. Despite strenuous resistance by the
Queensland timber industry and state government, the area was inscribed on the World
Heritage list in 1988 and one of the key outcomes was a total ban on commercial logging in the area.
