NATIONAL PARK: Dogs not allowed
DISTANCE: 19 km
TRACK CLASS: Rough Track
DIFFICULTY: Strenuous
TIME: 8 hours
TYPE OF WALK: One Way
WHERE: Track starts at Babinda Boulders or Goldsborough Valley.
MAP: Click here to download and print .pdf version
DESCRIPTION:
Goldfield Trail map Click to see full size
The nineteen kilometre Goldfield Track leaves the carpark at Babinda Boulder and makes its way over the saddle between Mount Bellenden Ker and Mount Bartle Frere to the Goldsborough Valley. It follows an old trail forged by miners in the 1930s. It is most often walked one way, with walkers being picked up at the other end or doing a car shuffle. There are also commercial operations which do this walk with tourists. The walk can be done as a long day walk or as an overnight camping trip.
The first kilometre of track follows Babinda Creek upstream through lowland rainforest with epiphytes and vines. Leaving the creek for a few kilometres, but still on flat ground, the track enters Wooroonooran National Park. About 4.5 kilometres along the walk, the track begins to ascend to the saddle, crossing several delightful mountain streams and taller rainforest with a dense canopy. The track can be steep in sections and slippery and rough in wet weather. At the 7 kilometre mark you will reach the saddle amidst mountain rainforest. The descending trail passes through a grove of king ferns with fronds up to 6 metres long and rare feather palms. Several vantage points along the trail provide views of the rainforest canopies covering the slopes of Mt. Bellenden Ker and the Goldsborough Valley. The pools of the East Mulgrave River are a delightful sight and provide excellent swimming. Camping is permitted here. The final 8 kilometres follows an old logging road along the river to the Goldsborough Valley campground.
Information supplied courtesy of the Wet Tropics Management Authority
Photographs supplied courtesy of ozscape.com