Cooktown is famous for being home to Captain Cook on his first journey of discovery up the north eastern coast of Australia after he managed to hole his ship the HM Bark Endeavour in 1770.

Still a small town, Cooktown has been growing rapidly over the last few years making it one the region’s growth areas. As the first non-indigenous settlements, Cooktown came into its own from 1873-1883 during the Palmer River gold rush.

Since then the township has waxed and waned with fishing and cattle being the two major industries in the area. Now, however, Cooktown is becoming a hub town for the eco-tourism and growing natural tourism on Cape York.

With a population of about 2000, Cooktown is relatively small but also acts as a service centre for the surrounding Aboriginal communities of Hopevale and Wujal Wujal.

Visitors can fly direct from Cairns Airport or hire a car and drive on either the Bloomfield Track if they have 4WD or on the inland Peninsula Developmental Road.

There are a number of 4WD and bus tour companies who can transport visitors to isolated national parks and great fishing spots. Lizard Island, with its luxury resort, is off the coast of Cooktown.

There is relatively limited Cooktown accommodation which ranges from camp sites and caravan parks to four star resorts like Sovereign Resort Hotel, so it’s advisable to book in advance.

Grassy Hill Lookout in the town offers a fantastic 360 degree view of the surrounding landscape and a great walk from the summit to the nearby beach of Cherry Tree Bay.

For lovers of the historical Cooktown celebrates Captain Cook’s landing every year in June with the Cooktown Endeavour Festival with a hilarious re-enactment of Cook’s landing.

There six monuments to Captain Cook in the town, a lighthouse that was built in England and shipped to the town in 1885, a sun-dial and a cannon on Grassy Hill that all testify to the town’s history and worth checking out.

Nature’s PowerHouse is an Environment Interpretive centre located in the historic Cooktown Botanic Gardens and is worth a visit for the great botanical drawings collections, the gardens and great café.

Cooktown is also home to a number of excellent beaches that offer pristine wilderness without the crowds. Finch Bay is just down from the Botanical Gardens; Quarantine Bay is a great swimming spot; North Shore Bay can only be accessed by boat; Cherry Tree Bay is only accessible by foot and Walker Bay is just down from the Golf Club.

If these aren’t enough, north of Cooktown is Hope Vale and Elim Beach with its spectacular coloured cliffs and the famous Coloured Sands.

On the way to Elim Beach is the Endeavour Falls Tourist Park with a general store; where you will need to stop to ask for permission to enter. The park has camping and caravan site as well as a store.

In the same area are the Isabella Falls and more waterfalls are to the south of Cooktown, including the Bloomfield Falls at the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Community.

Cooktown is also a great spot for fishing with charter boats available for reef fishing and good local catches coming from the town’s public wharf.

However visitors should remember that this region is also home to the estuarine or saltwater crocodile and as a conservation area it is recommended that people not swim in the lagoons or lakes of Lakefield National Park.

In order to get the best out of the Cape York and Cooktown area it is worth hiring a 4WD. There are a great many spots to visit and other than a basic bus service and Cooktown tours, it is hard to get around the region.

Click here for more information on Cooktown, Cape York or other Cairns tourist attractions.

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