- Where
- North of the Daintree River,
Far North Queensland - Coordinates
- 16.17° S
145.41° E (the coastal forest, approx.) - Key Biodiversity Area
- Daintree, 269,041 ha;
last assessed 2018 - Jointly managed
- With the Eastern Kuku Yalanji
since 29 September 2021 - Southern cassowary
- Up to 2 metres tall
(Queensland Government) - Best visited
- No season on the pages read;
monsoonal wet and dry (KBA) - Advisory
- Australia Level 1
Crossed a brown river on a flat boat, and on the far side the forest came down the hills and kept going to the sand. Wet heat, ferns the size of umbrellas, twisted roots standing in the creeks. A bird as tall as I am, glossy black with a bright blue neck and a helmet, stepped onto the road and crossed without hurrying. I waited. It was plainly its road.
The short answer
The Daintree is an area of tropical rainforest at the northern end of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, in Australia’s far north-east. The Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership’s factsheet for its Daintree site, last assessed in 2018, describes one of the largest and most intact blocks of tropical rainforest remaining in Australia, stretching from Helenvale south to Mount Molloy over 269,041 hectares, with a boundary that matches the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Granite and metamorphic rocks form high hills that rise from a narrow coastal plain, the climate is monsoonal with a pronounced wet and dry season, and the site runs from sea level to 1,330 metres; the factsheet calls it the most intact sequence of rainforest from coast to mountain top in the Wet Tropics. Its best-known coast lies north of the Daintree River, which a vehicle ferry crosses about 50 kilometres north of Port Douglas, linking the Lower Daintree with the rainforest and Cape Tribulation. Daintree National Park is one of four national parks the Queensland Government handed back to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people on 29 September 2021, and the parks are now jointly managed by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji and the state.
Why it's worth knowing
The birds on the list. The Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership lists the Daintree as a site of international significance under its global standard and names the species that trigger its criteria. Eight are birds: the golden bowerbird, the tooth-billed bowerbird, Victoria’s riflebird, Macleay’s honeyeater, the Atherton scrubwren, the chowchilla, the pied monarch and Bower’s shrike-thrush. Three more qualify as threatened species: a freshwater crayfish, Euastacus robertsi, and the beautiful nursery-frog, both listed as critically endangered, and the endangered mountain-top nursery-frog. The factsheet also lists the fernwren, the bridled, white-streaked and yellow-spotted honeyeaters, the pale-yellow robin, the mountain thornbill, the lovely fairywren and the southern cassowary. In 2018 the site was confirmed as an Alliance for Zero Extinction site, and the forests of the Carbine Tableland and Mount Lewis Forest Reserve were merged into it, so it takes in high forest as well as the coast. The factsheet names weeds, feral animals and growing development pressure among its threats, and asks that public access to the high-altitude forests be managed with care.
A gardener the size of a person. The southern cassowary of the Wet Tropics, Casuarius casuarius johnsonii, lives from Cooktown to the Paluma Range, the Queensland Government says, mainly in rainforest but also in woodland, melaleuca swamp, mangroves and even on beaches. Adults grow up to two metres tall; females weigh up to 76 kilograms and males up to 55, which makes it Australia’s heaviest flightless bird, though the emu is the tallest. It has a tall brown casque on its head, a vivid blue and purple neck, glossy black plumage, long drooping red wattles and amber eyes. It needs fruiting trees through the year, swallows fruit whole and passes the seeds in large piles of dung, often hundreds or thousands of seeds at a time. The government calls it one of only a few fruit-eaters able to disperse large rainforest fruits and the only one that carries them over long distances, and says some rainforest seeds need its digestion to help them germinate. Its threats are habitat loss, road accidents, dog attacks, human interaction, pigs, disease and natural disasters, and roads cut through its territories.
Country returned. On 29 September 2021, at a ceremony in Bloomfield, north of Wujal Wujal, the Queensland Government and the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people signed an agreement returning more than 160,000 hectares of land, from north of Port Douglas to south of Cooktown, the government said. The Daintree, Ngalba-bulal, Kalkajaka and Hope Islands national parks became Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land, jointly managed by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people and the Queensland Government; a member of the Traditional Owners’ negotiating committee said the parks would eventually be managed solely by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji Bama. The state’s minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships said it was the first place in Queensland and Australia where Traditional Owners would take on ownership and a significant role in the joint management of a UNESCO World Heritage Area at the same time.
The field notes
Crossing the river
The Daintree River ferry runs continuously from 5am to midnight every day, Christmas Day included, says Birdon, which has operated it for Douglas Shire Council since 1 July 2026. The crossing takes about 15 minutes with boarding, the present ferry carries about 27 standard vehicles, and the service gives emergency services, ambulances included, round-the-clock support. River and tidal conditions can affect it. A new four-lane cable ferry, about 49 metres long and able to carry up to 36 vehicles, is being built to replace the present three-lane vessel at the end of its service life; its keel was laid at Birdon’s shipyard in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, in June 2026, with a commemorative coin set into it.
Cassowary manners
The Queensland Government asks people in cassowary country to slow down when driving and not to stop to watch the birds, to keep dogs restrained, and to let cassowaries find their own food: feeding them, it says, can make them depend on people and become aggressive towards them. It also encourages planting the trees whose fruit cassowaries eat. The Australian Government has a recovery plan for the species, and the Queensland Government has mapped its habitat so that state and local governments can take it into account when they assess future plans.
A southern cassowary with its chick on a road in the Daintree.
Photograph: Jesper van der Pol via Unsplash · Unsplash licence · cropped
Looking up into the canopy of a fan-palm forest in the Daintree.
Photograph: David Clode via Unsplash · Unsplash licence · cropped
September 2016A rainforest creek in the Daintree.
Photograph: Felix Dance · 20160923113050 - One of the many rivers in the Daintree (29917413112) · CC BY 2.0
- Drive slowly everywhere. When a very large bird steps out, let it cross, then carry on without stopping to stare; it has things to do.
- This forest is somebody’s Country. Keep to the tracks, and read every sign as if it had been written to you personally.
- Keep your lunch to yourself, and keep out of the rivers and creeks however hot the afternoon gets.
- Write down every bird you hear. (Tried. The forest is full of calls and nearly empty of birds, which I have entered as one item and underlined twice.)
- Stand still at the edge of a clearing for a good while and let the forest decide you are a tree.
The Daintree River ferry. A vehicle ferry crosses the Daintree River about 50 kilometres north of Port Douglas, linking the Lower Daintree with the rainforest and Cape Tribulation; its operator says it shuttles back and forth continuously from 5am to midnight every day, Christmas Day included, takes about 15 minutes to cross with boarding, and carries about 27 standard vehicles. Its replacement, a four-lane cable ferry about 49 metres long, is being built at Port Macquarie in New South Wales, where a commemorative coin was set into its keel in June 2026 as a blessing on the vessel.
Tally, in the marginA flat boat that goes back and forth across the same brown water all day and well into the night, with the whole forest waiting on the far side. I spent the crossing peering at floating logs, and only on the far bank did it occur to me to wonder which of them had been peering back.
Getting there
How to get there. The Daintree River ferry spans the river about 50 kilometres north of Port Douglas, its operator says: heading north, turn off the Mossman Daintree Road onto Cape Tribulation Road and follow it for 3.8 kilometres to the tollbooth and boarding ramp. Fares are set by Douglas Shire Council and change each year on 1 July; tickets can be bought online, at the tollbooths on the southern bank or on board. The official pages read for this entry give no airport or public-transport route, so we give none here.
When to go. The pages we could read give no best season. The Key Biodiversity Areas factsheet describes the climate as monsoonal, with a pronounced wet and dry season, and the ferry’s operator says river and tidal conditions can affect crossings.
What to arrange ahead. The ferry’s operator recommends buying tickets 24 hours ahead and warns of long queues in peak seasons such as school holidays; between 9am and 4.30pm in peak season a priority lane is kept for local residents with a Douglas Card or concession card, tourism buses and emergency vehicles. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service publishes the national park’s walks, camping and alerts, but its pages refused our requests, so no park facilities or opening details are given here: check its Daintree National Park page before you go.
Access. As read on 29 October 2026, QLDTraffic, the Queensland Government’s traffic service, listed roadworks with lane reductions on the Mossman–Daintree Road at Daintree and no closures on the roads to the ferry or to Cape Tribulation; it described the Bloomfield Road from Cape Tribulation north to Wujal Wujal as open, with four-wheel drive advised. Daintree National Park is Aboriginal land, jointly managed by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people and the Queensland Government.
Safety. The US State Department has Australia at Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 18 August 2026). The Queensland Government’s Be Crocwise advice says estuarine crocodiles can be found in any waterway and in the sea from near Gladstone north to the Torres Strait, an area that takes in the Daintree, and that they can stay underwater, out of sight, for hours. In cassowary country the government asks drivers to slow down, and everyone not to feed the birds.
Mark this place
Common questions
What birds is the Daintree known for?
The Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership lists eight birds as reasons for the Daintree’s listing in Queensland: the golden and tooth-billed bowerbirds, Victoria’s riflebird, Macleay’s honeyeater, the Atherton scrubwren, the chowchilla, the pied monarch and Bower’s shrike-thrush. Its factsheet also lists the southern cassowary.
Are there cassowaries in the Daintree?
Yes. The Queensland Government says the southern cassowary lives in the Wet Tropics from Cooktown to the Paluma Range, which takes in the Daintree, mainly in rainforest but also in woodland, swamp, mangroves and on beaches. The Key Biodiversity Areas factsheet for the Daintree lists the species as vulnerable.
How big is a southern cassowary?
The Queensland Government says adult southern cassowaries grow up to two metres tall, with females weighing up to 76 kilograms and males up to 55 kilograms. That makes the cassowary, found in the Daintree and the rest of the Wet Tropics, Australia’s heaviest flightless bird; the emu is the tallest.
Why should you not feed cassowaries?
The Queensland Government asks people in cassowary country, including the Daintree, to let cassowaries find their own food, because feeding them can make them dependent on people and aggressive towards them. It also asks drivers to slow down and not stop to watch the birds, and dog owners to restrain their dogs.
Who manages Daintree National Park?
Daintree National Park in Queensland has been jointly managed by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people and the Queensland Government since 29 September 2021, when the state handed back four national parks, more than 160,000 hectares, as Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land, the government said at the time.
How do you cross the Daintree River?
A vehicle ferry crosses the Daintree River about 50 kilometres north of Port Douglas, linking the Lower Daintree with the rainforest and Cape Tribulation. Its operator, Birdon, says it runs from 5am to midnight every day, takes about 15 minutes with boarding and carries about 27 standard vehicles.
Is the Daintree a Key Biodiversity Area?
Yes. The Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership lists the Daintree in Queensland as a site of international significance, last assessed in 2018, covering 269,041 hectares from Helenvale to Mount Molloy with a boundary that matches the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. It was confirmed as an Alliance for Zero Extinction site in 2018.
Are there crocodiles in the Daintree?
The Queensland Government’s Be Crocwise advice says estuarine crocodiles can be found in any waterway and in the sea from near Gladstone north to the Torres Strait, an area that includes the Daintree, and that they can stay underwater and out of sight for hours.