Is Cooktown Worth Visiting? (2025)

Content may contain affiliate links.

Cooktown is north of Port Douglas and Cairns on the northeast coast of Queensland Australia. Cooktown is very much worth visiting as a place of historical interest and as an interesting Far North Queensland Town. In this post, we’ll share photos of Cooktown and share our insights, so that you can decide if Cooktown is worth visiting, for you.

What’s in this post?

How to get to Cooktown, inland and coastal routes.
Things to see and do in Cooktown
Where to stay
Restaurants and dining
When to visit, and when not to go.

Cooktown

Cooktown is a very interesting place, use our post to find out more and to figure out how you will get there. More detailed posts about the drive will follow. Most visitors to Port Douglas and Cairns probably don’t go to Cooktown, but if you enjoy a road trip and maybe have a four wheel drive, a trip up north is a must.

Part of the fun of visiting Cooktown is the journey to get there. You’ll see interesting and beautiful places, way off the beaten track on your mini road trip up the Cape York Peninsula.

How To Get To Cooktown

There are two ways to get to Cooktown by road, the coastal road (The Bloomfield Track, and The Cape Tribulation Bloomfield Rd.) and the inland road (The Mulligan Highway). Both are long drives and in an ideal world you should take both routes going to Cooktown and returning, because there are some interesting things to see along the way.

Mt Mollow to Cooktown Mulligan Highway road sign — The Mulligan Highway is the inland rout to Cooktown. From Port Douglas you would drive through Julatten, almost to Mt Molloy and turn right at this junction.

The Bloomfield Track are only suitable for 4WD vehicles and is the stretch of road between Cape Tribulation town Wujal Wujal. You can check if the Bloomfield Track is open on the Douglasshire Council website, here. Beyond The Bloomfield track this route becomes The Rossville Bloomfield Rd. and then joins The Mulligan Highway 26 km before entering Cooktown.

For both routes, travel north of Cairns towards Port Douglas, either along the Captain Cook Highway or through the Tablelands via Mareeba.

You can, and I have, driven to Cooktown from Port Douglas, and back in one day, but it’s a lot of driving. You won’t have much time to explore Cooktown. 1 night at a hotel in Cooktown should be enough to see all that there is to see, to make your trip more worthwhile, stay 2 or 3 nights and explore the places of interest near Cooktown.

The Inland Route to Cooktown

Your journey to Cooktown from Port Douglas or Cairns, on the inland road, starts on the Tablelands between Mt Molloy and Julatten.

road sign — The peninsula and development rd sign on the Mulligan Highway near Mt Molloy and Julatten will tell you if the roads are open or closed

The drive time from Port Douglas to Cooktown on the inland road is about 3 to 3.5 hours, 266 km, all on a sealed road. The coastal road is shorter, but the road conditions make the drive longer.

black mountain made of piled up black rocks — Black Mountain National Park is on the way to Cooktown, via the inland route. It’s worth a stop to read the Aboriginal story.

Archer Point Lookout and lighthouse is also off the Mulligan Highway.

The Coastal Route to Cooktown

Road sign for the port douglas to cooktown drive — Port Douglas to Cooktown drive. The first part of the drive crosses the Daintree River by ferry and is through the Daintree Rainforest. This is part of the Great Barrier Reef Tourist Drive.

To travel north to Cooktown along the coast you will need to use the Daintree Ferry to cross the Daintree River. Look out for crocodiles on the banks near the ferry and never forget to be croc wise. The distance is 186 km approx and the drive time is about 4 hrs but you will need a 4 wheel drive for certain parts of the track, as we mentioned above.

Read the QLD governments advice on being Croc Smart here.

This road has been closed in the past by landslides and storms, so always check that it’s open. The Daintree Ferry also can close from time to time.

Once over the river, you will then need to drive north through the Daintree Rainforest. As this is a long drive, you probably won’t have much time to stop and explore the Daintree attractions. You could, of course, add an extra day to your trip and stay overnight at a Daintree Rainforest hotel, breaking up your drive to Cooktown.

Things To See and Do in Cooktown

Finch Bay near Cooktown — Beaches and bays to see near Cooktown include Cherry Tree Bay, Finch Bay, Quarantine Bay and Walker Bay Beach. Remember there are crocodiles!

This isn’t going to be a detailed “things to do” post, we’ll do that separately, but here are a few things to see and do in Cooktown.

There is a beach to take a look at, but be very aware of crocodiles, no swimming. Also jellyfish, of course. And snakes
For kids there is a great playground and small water play area near the river.
There is a small museum in Cooktown (Wed-Sat, 10am to 3pm low season, check opening times here.)
Visit Cooktown Botanical Gardens.
Go up to the lookout and see the historic lighthouse.
Check out the jetty, see if you can spot groupers. We’ve seen them here, plus huge game fish being landed. There may still be grouper feeding in Cooktown, but it has stopped in Port Douglas.
Be in town for The Cooktown Festival in June. (20th to 22nd June 2025) June 17th 1770 was the date Captain Cook first set foot on Australian soil, in Cooktown.
Old tanks and military gear at Cooktown’s ANZAC Park.
Fishing and boating charters
Near Cooktown, visit The Lion’s Den Hotel, Trevathin Falls, see Aboriginal rock art on The Bama Way, Lakeland National Park is not too far away.
Interesting historical buildings, statues, and displays around town.

As I said, we’ll write a full guide to things to do in and near Cooktown, it will be a separate post.

Cooktown Accommodation

Cooktown motel — Hotels, motels, and hostels in Cooktown.

Cooktown is popular with campers and there are a few large campsites on the outskirts.

There aren’t that many hotel options in Cooktown, unsurprisingly.

The best hotel is probably the Sovereign Resort Hotel, a 4 star. We have been unable to find a 5 star in Cooktown. There are a lot of apartments and suites available. This one gets outstanding reviews.

Where To Eat

parmie in Cooktown — On our last trip to Cooktown we enjoyed a parmie and fish and chips in one of the pubs. It was good! Typical Australian pub food.

There aren’t a huge number of restaurants in Cooktown, but you should be fine finding a decent meal. We need to go again and sample more local restaurants, when we do, we’ll add our reviews and photos here.

Trip advisor lists Jackey Jacket Thai restaurant as the best in Cooktown.

Best and Worst Time To Visit Cooktown

February is the worst time to visit Cooktown, or anywhere in Far North Queensland in a typical year. It’s usually the hottest, wettest month and a lot of tourist businesses will close for a break at this time of year. That said, a tropical storm or cyclone may arrive in another month, making that month the worst possible time to visit. The wet season “officially” stretches from November to April. During the summer months a serious storm could close the coastal road and maybe even the inland route. There are links in this post taking you to places to check on road openings and closures.

If you’re camping, go in the cooler months. I’ve slept in a camper van in Cooktown in February, without air conditioning, and it wasn’t an experience I’d recommend! June, July and August would be the cooler months to visit. October is usually best if you plan on boating, so that you can avoid the trade winds. If you’re undecided, go in June for the Cooktown festival, it’s a great thing to see. We’ve been, more on that later. Enjoy Cooktown!