Hiking the Mount Sorrow track

Mount Sorrow towering over Cape Tribulation

Bushwalking in Cape Tribulation is one of the best ways to see the Daintree rainforest and the only real challenging walk in the Cape Tribulation area is the Mount Sorrow track, on the picture above you see Mount Sorrow, towering over Cape Tribulation.

Although Mount Sorrow is located just above Rainforest Hideaway you can not simply walk up the hill from here, you will find the start of the Mount Sorrow walking track on the main road, just north of Cape Tribulation. Simply keep heading north until the bitumen road finishes just past the Cape Tribulation Beach turnoff, just after the dirt road of the Bloomfield Track starts there will be some space to park your car on the right. When you have parked there you will see a small sign on the other side of the road marking the start of the Mount Sorrow trail. You will miss this if you are driving so keep an eye out for the parking space first. See the map below to find the start of the track.

This trail climbs from the coastal lowlands of Cape Tribulation, up the rainforest-clad ridge of Mount Sorrow to a lookout offering views of the beautiful Daintree coastline, Snapper Island and beyond. You should count on five to six hours to do this walk, and not leave after 10 AM.
You would not be the first one to run out of daylight on the way back, this happens to people up to two times a month. The smart ones sit on the track and wait for daylight to walk out, others keep trying to find their way in the dark and get lost, and spend two or three nights out there. English backpacker Daniel Nute even disappeared without a trace up there in 1997.

Carry enough water with you, there are no creeks along the way to replenish your supplies.
During wet weather also be prepared to get covered in leeches.

To get the awesome view out to the reef you will need a clear day, and also you need to get right to the top, as the track runs through forest all the way.
For decades people used to enjoy a magnificent view sitting on a large boulder, until National Parks decided that a viewing platform was needed. A good deal of manpower and money was spent on a helicopter airlifting a platform up the mountain, but with the platform being surrounded by trees this proved to be a total waste of time and money. You can still find your way around the platform to the boulder to enjoy the proper view.

It is recommended that you let somebody know that you go up there, just in case you get lost or don't make it out that day. National Parks does not want to deal with any of this so if you stay at Rainforest Hideaway then your host will know if you made it back or not, or if you stay elsewhere then find somebody else to raise the alarm if you don't return. It is very important that after "signing in" you also "sign out" as several people have caused a great deal of stress and wasted time for locals and police by simply leaving town after the hike and incorrectly being reported as missing.

LATEST NEWS: A very territorial cassowary that used to harrass and injure hikers has been captured by National Parks rangers and relocated.

Smiling survivors

Torben above is all smiles again after surviving an encounter with a cassowary on the Mount Sorrow track in Cape Tribulation, although he still has a swollen foot and two painful fingers bandaged together.
The couple was on the way down from Mount Sorrow when they were chased by a large cassowary. When all attempts to shake off the bird or to stand their ground failed they laid down in the mud and played dead. This calmed the bird, that had been hissing and breathing heavily before. Unfortunately the bird then sat down next to them and kept them prisoner, every time they made the slightest move the cassowary would get up and make threatening moves again. After about 40 minutes of being kept prisoner two other hikers came past on the track and the cassowary got up and went after them, and the lucky couple got up and rapidly made their way down the hill.

16 June 2007; Hans Snoeck just returned to Rainforest Hideaway with the report that he cancelled his hiking plans as he met two hikers at the start of the track that did not get any further than about 200 metres when they met with the cassowary who would not let them pass so they all turned around.

15 August: the last couple of Rainforest Hideaway guests returned from the hike unharmed and had not seen any cassowary, though one family went down to the carpark at Cape Tribulation beach and saw the big one there from a safe distance.

8 October: a German lady had to be treated in the Cape Trib pharmacy after the cassowary pecked her on her behind only 5 minutes up the Mt. Sorrow track, the bite was strong enough to break the skin and convince her to abandon the walk.