Here, in the park's northern district, rise Queensland's two highest peaks, Bellenden Ker and Bartle Frere, forming a rampart above the flat, steamy sugarcane fields below. Their cool summits cause moist ocean winds to condense into fog as they push up the mountainsides, leaving the whole range cloud-shrouded much of the time. The higher slopes, misty and damp, have evolved a "cloud forest" ecosystem unusual for Queensland but more common in other, higher rainforests. Bellenden Ker has no trail to the top, but Bartle Frere, Queensland's highest mountain at 1622 meters (5320 feet), does. So if you have wondered what the highest fastnesses of Australia's tropical rainforests look like, you may choose to accept the tough physical challenge of climbing Bartle Frere. If not, you could certainly walk part way up and/or saunter out to magnificent Josephine Falls. Both hikes commence from the same parking area.

Road access. From Cairns head south 66 km (41 miles) on the Bruce Highway (Route 1), turning west at the sign for Josephine Falls. A further 8 km (5 miles) of driving, including a sharp right at 6.75 km (4.25 miles), bring you to a parking lot and two trailheads.

Camping. Since the above trailhead has no campsites, hikers must either camp in the Palmerston section of the park at Henrietta Creek, or at Babinda Boulders up the road. See the previous and following descriptions for details. Another possibility would be to camp in the backcountry part way up Bartle Frere; see below for details about that option.

Season. Any for Josephine Falls, but dry season only for Bartle Frere (see note two below).

1. Josephine Falls

Distance: 1.5 km (1 mile) round trip
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Attractions: waterfall, lookouts

This popular, paved trail gradually ascends through jungle along a creek, with the aid of steps. Before long, it reaches several lookouts, off a small loop at the trail's end. Josephine Falls is a beautiful double waterfall having a high volume year-round, because of the huge amount of precipitation that characterizes this part of the "wet tropics." Swimming is unsafe here. Backtrack to the parking lot.

2. Mt. Bartle Frere Ascent

Distance: 16 km (10 miles) round trip
Time: 9 to 10 hours round trip with a light daypack; longer with overnight gear
Difficulty: difficult
Attractions: rainforest, cloud forest, views to the coast and Atherton Tableland

Mt. Bartle Frere rises to an altitude of 1622 meters (5320 feet). Since you begin the hike at about 100 meters (330 feet), the long ascent—about a vertical mile—will challenge even strong, fit hikers. Nevertheless, if you feel up to the physical ordeal, you should consider attempting this hike. You will get to glimpse some unusual environments unlike anything in other parks: cloud forest, dwarf vegetation and wildflowers near the summit, as well as extensive talus slopes. Moreover, the Bartle Frere hike has endless vistas, provided the clouds part.

Do not even consider this hike in rainy weather. The steep trail would become nightmarishly slick, and the boulders would no longer offer stable landing points for leaps.

The hike breaks down into four distinct sections. The first, from the trailhead to what the park calls Big Rock Camp, should not overtax anyone. You ascend only 300 meters (1000 feet) over perhaps 2.5 km (1.5 miles). The heat and humidity may make hikers perspire, but the trail never becomes terribly strenuous; instead, it rises gradually with many ups and downs for creek crossings en route. Notice the damage in this stretch from previous "cyclones" (i.e., hurricanes) that show up as areas of dense, low vegetation overgrown with lawyer vines and other opportunistic climbers. After about 1 km (0.62 miles) the trail will steepen a bit as it mounts onto a ridge between two major creeks, Majuba and Kowadji. At times, the ridge narrows nearly to knife-edge proportions, so you have to inch your way over sprawling buttress roots of rainforest giants. This part of the hike affords only occasional, obscured glimpses of the gorges below, but plenty of towering rainforest to admire. Look too for the great number and variety of fruits littering the trail—food for myriad rainforest birds.

Once you reach Big Rock Camp, after perhaps one hour and fifteen minutes, be sure to fill up your canteens. You will find no more water until you return to this spot, unless you make a detour near the summit. Notice a sign here indicating that the trail splits, with one branch heading to Broken Nose (3 hours) and the other to Bartle Frere Summit (4 hours). Broken Nose, at 962 meters (3155 feet), would make an easier alternative hike for anyone not keen on continuing up Bartle Frere.

If you are going on to the summit, cross the creek and prepare for the second and toughest segment of the hike. You must ascend from

about 400 meters (1300 feet) to 1100 meters (3600 feet) in the next 2.5 km (1.5 miles). To gain that much elevation so quickly, the trail becomes cruelly steep, in places so precipitous that you will climb by hanging onto roots and saplings. Few hikers will have energy for anything but the task at hand here, so depictions of scenic charm would be pointless. The most demanding section comes close to the top. Called "the landslide," it forces you to ascend a roughly 60° dirt chute by the aid of protruding roots. Along this second segment, the orange markers—ribbons, blazes, triangles, arrows—grow more numerous as the trail becomes less distinct and makes sudden, unexpected turns. Watch carefully for them, as losing the trail on this steep section could be hazardous.

Above the landslide, and after a few more horrendously steep slopes, the trail's gradient eases and turns rightward. At this point, a bit less than two hours from Big Rock, you embark on the third segment of the trip: Bartle Frere's South Ridge. A gentler ascent than the previous one, it takes you up about 500 meters (1600 feet) in roughly 2 km (1.25 miles).

Though far from easy, the ridge segment offers enchanting hiking through the first true cloud forest you encounter on the journey. The mist closes in as you climb, creating an eerie atmosphere of subdued light and silence, broken only by the loud calls of unseen birds. Now palms and ferns predominate, while the often moss-covered trees grow less tall than at lower elevations. The cloud forest is the haunt of the golden bowerbird, a striking and rare species that inhabits only Far North Queensland forests above 900 meters (3000 feet). High on a ridge, but still in forest, you may notice a small, unofficial camping area to the left of the trail.

Fifty minutes from the beginning of South Ridge, the trail emerges from the forest into a zone of grasses and dwarf vegetation. Look for a sign stating: "Water 300 m." The spur trail to the water leads downhill and comes out at a small clearing the park service calls "Top Eastern Camp." Located at 1400 meters (4600 feet), this campsite attracts the many hikers who prefer to do the Bartle Frere climb in two days, but as a water source it would involve a tiring descent and reascent to fill up your canteen. To camp at Top Eastern requires a permit from the ranger's office located in Miriwinni, right near the Bruce Highway turnoff to Bartle Frere and Josephine Falls.

Beyond the water sign, you commence the fourth, and quite challenging, segment of the journey. The trail heads for a talus slope ahead and takes you among its enormous black granite boulders Your task is to "connect the dots" of the numerous orange markers on rocks and dwarf trees to make your way up the slope. Progress can be slow as you must leap from boulder to boulder like a mountain goat, often over yawning gaps and onto narrow footholds. Otherwise you need to descend one boulder laboriously, only to clamber atop the next one, sometimes by stemming. This business can get tedious and could be dangerous. One misstep could cost you an ankle sprain. Unfortunately, the top of the boulder field is a false summit. Thus, heartbreakingly, you must march down to a small saddle and then climb back up to the true summit, mostly through heath and dwarf forest. About 40 minutes after you leave the cloud forest you will stand on the "Top of Queensland" and, weather permitting, gaze out over miles of coastline to the east and westward over the emerald valley of the Mulgrave River and the Atherton Tableland. Since it is covered by pygmy forest, the summit itself lacks the premier views. A bit farther back on the trail you may encounter fewer obstructions and grander vistas.

Note that the Bartle Frere trail actually continues over the summit and down to the west, eventually reaching a camping area called "Gourka Gourka" accessed from Malanda on the Atherton Tableland. This end of the trail begins higher, at 600 meters (2000 feet), but it's the same length, so it must be generally less steep. However, the park service describes it as "undeveloped" and warns of its difficulty.

Mt. Bartle Frere