The Mossman Gorge in the Southern region of the Daintree Rainforest is just a 20 minute drive, although it feels like a million miles away, from the designer shops and bright lights of Port Douglas. The car park at the visitor centre near Mossman provides easy access to stunning rainforest and white water along easy trails. Whilst one option is to walk from the visitor centre up to the trail, around 30 minutes each way, we were glad we elected to take the transfer bus at a modest cost, as walking would of felt a little like sneaking in though the back door – the visitor centre is staffed almost entirely by indigenous people and is used not only as the base for this beautiful area but also as a training facility for Aboriginals wanting to work in the hospitality sector. It includes a cafe and of course the inevitable gift shop, which included some very tasteful local art.
The Gorge itself is packed full of the rainforest classics – strangling figs, huge buttress roots, epiphytes, and the different tree species you’d expect – all set within a gorge of whitewater and massive boulders. Although there were many others when we visited we soon dispelled, and found a spot to ourselves perched on a boulder in the stream for our picnic lunch. The area is nicely set up for easy access starting with an elevated walkway before crossing a suspension bridge over the gorge, before joining a relatively easy circular track walk of 3 miles / 4.7 km.
We took a leisurely 2 and a half hours to complete the circuit – which even our 15 year old son enjoyed who doesn’t usually understand the point of walking, other than to go and reset the WiFi router – scrambling on the rocks in the river was a particular favourite. Once we were done the bus took us back to the car before driving through the sugar plantations, all of which would of been rainforest as well up until the early 1970’s, back to our accommodation at Port Douglas.
We all rated it a ‘must do’ whilst in the area, and is a great half day out to combine with something else.