
Thorsborne Trail Hike
Hiking the Thorsborne Trail is a wonderful experience that will see you enjoying the beautiful natural environment and scenery, challenging treks and making memories to last a lifetime!
It has never been easier to prepare for the adventure of a lifetime! We have sorted through all the information and put it in one spot!
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Reviews 1 Review5/5
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Vacation Style Holiday Type
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Hiking
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Activity Level Strenuous
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Group Size Medium Group
The Thorsborne Trail is one of the country’s most popular hiking adventures. People travel from all over the world just to complete this amazing hike!
Hiking the trail is a wonderful experience that will see you enjoying the beautiful natural environment and scenery, challenging treks and making memories to last a lifetime!
Important links to make preparing for the trail even easier!
It has never been easier to prepare for the adventure of a lifetime! We are the first company who has simplified this process, we have sorted through all the information and put it in one spot!
See the itinerary page for an idea of hiking times and how most people complete the hike. We have a section dedicated to “frequently asked questions”. This section outlines important safety information and ideas on what to pack.
Download a copy of the trail map here.
Click here for the track notes.
Need to get to Hinchinbrook Island? Click here for your complete Thorsborne Trail Transfer Options.
Don’t have all the right gear? No problems, you can hire all the essentials through us! Click on the Hire Equipment page to see our extensive range of hiking equipment. You can also purchase other essential hiking gear here too, such as gas canisters, water bladders etc.
Camping permits can be purchased from HERE.
Do you have excess baggage while on the hike? When you make a booking with us, we will store your excess gear for FREE! Just mention it when you are completing your booking!
Do you need to rent car? Are you flying into Cairns or Townsville? We recommend APEX Car Rentals when flying into Cairns OR Redspot Car Rental in Townsville.
Do you need to catch a bus from either Cairns or Townsville? We can book your bus ticket for you! Just ask!
About the Thorsborne Trail
The trail snakes its way through the tropical wilderness of Hinchinbrook Island and includes stretches along its spectacular white sandy beaches. The trail crosses a number of crystal clear mountain streams.
The trail features campsites at a number of locations.
The trail can be done in either direction – ie north to south or south to north.
It totals over 32km of country!
The Thorsborne Trail is what is known as a true wilderness walk – ie. the path isn’t graded or hardened so can be difficult to traverse in places. There are many areas on the hike where you have to walk down extremely steep embankments, boulder hop over flowing creeks and balance along fallen down trees. While the trail is better suited to experienced trekkers, children have completed the trail before. All should be aware of how hard it is going to be at times.
The trail itself is marked with triangular orange markers on trees at irregular intervals, especially on creek crossings and other places where the way to go may be difficult to determine. Rock cairns are also used to help guide walkers along the trail.
Most walkers choose to complete the trail in 3 nights (4 days).
Walkers must be totally self sufficient. Fuel stoves are required. Abundant fresh water is available at campsites, however, towards the end of the dry season, local knowledge on water availability is required.
Walkers are required to obtain a National Park permit to access this trail. And only 40 walkers are issued with a permit at any one time so booking well ahead, particularly for the Australian winter months is highly recommended.
Check out the FAQ’s section for ideas on what to pack.
If you need to clarify any of this information with someone, feel free to contact us! We are have completed the Thorsborne Trail multiple time and have all the information needed to complete the hike.
Trail Video
Some of our recent guests hiking the Thorsborne Track put together a series of videos of their trek. You can watch the first one here:
Watch the other videos on Youtube at the links:
What to bring?
- Comfortable Back Pack, Good Quality Tent – We are in Tropical North Queensland, it can rain anytime of the year, and I don’t just mean a drizzle!), Sleeping Mat, Sleeping Bag (all of which can be hired!)
- Comfortable Shoes
- Gas or Alcohol Burner (gas cylinder or metho depending on what type of cooker you have – can be hired)
- Cup/Plate/Cutlery and cooking pot (can be hired)
- Medical Kit (Panadole, Nurofen, Stingoes, band aides, alcohol wipes, tweezers, bandage, strapping tape)
- Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) is optional and available for hire at the Cardwell Information Centre.
- 1 pair of socks and fresh under wear each day, 2 sets of clothes, Poncho/raincoat
- Enough Food to last the duration of the trail (1 extra days worth of food in case of an emergency)
- Water Purification Tablets
- Tide Times
- Map and Track Notes
- Mozzie Spray & Mozzie Coils
- Enviro Toilet Paper
- Water Bladder or water bottles
Highly Recommended Things To Bring…
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- Hiking Sticks on the Thorborne Trail
Hiking Sticks are extremely useful as the terrain is not always flat. There are many areas on the hike where you have to walk down extremely steep embankments, boulder hop over flowing creeks and balance along fallen down trees. When your backpack is fully loaded it can weigh between 14-20Kg’s. This weight unbalances you and the hiking sticks helps you balance when walking in these rough conditions.
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- Boiled Lollies/Snickers Chocolate Bar/Electro-lite Powder
For those who have not done a lot of hiking we recommend to take some lollies/chocolate bars or electro-lite powder with you. After a along day hiking in quite often humid conditions, it can take the energy out of you. This will give you a much needed energy boost that will get you to your campsite that little easier!
Transfers to and from the trail on Hinchinbrook Island
There are Thorsborne Trail Transfer Options to both ends of the trail.
Please note that transfers are very tide dependent so allow for the extra time required if waiting for the tide.
Camping and Hiking Gear
Again hire packages are available for all of your needs to complete the trail. See the packages below for more.
- Ramsay Bay to Nina Bay Grade: difficult
- Nina Bay to Little Ramsay Bay Grade: difficult
- Little Ramsay Bay to Zoe Bay Grade: difficult
- Zoe Bay to Diamantina Creek Grade: difficult
- Sunken Reef Bay Grade: Easy
- Diamantina Creek to Mulligan Falls camp Grade: difficult
- Mulligan Falls to George Point Grade: difficult


On the Thorsborne Trail, you need to carry all your camping gear with you.
We have complete hire packages (see below) that include all the hiking and camping gear you will require for a multi-day hike on the Thorsborne Trail for a fraction of the cost of buying everything that you need.
Do you only need some hiking equipment? You can also hire individual items. See all the items HERE!
By hiring one of our packs you know you are getting a top quality product for a very reasonable price and packages include all of the essentials. All you need to add is your food and clothing and off you go!
Camping Permits
As the Thorsborne Trail is in the national park, permits are required for camping. You can get your camping permit online at: www.nprsr.qld.gov.au
Trail Map
Download a copy of the Thorsborne Trail Trail Map here or below.
A 65L backpack is a good size for the trail (available for hire).
Click on the dropdown above to see the full list of FAQ – Frequentaly asked questions and answers!
The trail is rated difficult. There are sections of the trail where you are wandering through lush rainforest or beautiful sandy beaches, but there are many sections where you have to climb over boulders, climb up or down very steep embankments. There are many long up hill climbs, that are extremely tiring. It is hard enough, but not that hard that it is un-enjoyable! You still need to have a reasonable level of fitness.
Walking on the beach sounds extremely relaxing, but when you have to carry your backpack that could weigh between 14-20Kg’s and the sand is soft, then it becomes a LOT harder!
Yes. Kids have completed the trail before, however, I would only recommend taking kids that are very active and have carried back packs before. The island is remote and the children must be aware of how hard it is going to be at times.
At most of the campsites there are long drop toilets. Please take environmentally friendly toilet paper with you and do not dispose of anything other than toilet paper in the toilets.
No. You MUST take ALL of your rubbish with you! Please remember this when you are preparing what food to take. ie. small tins of baked beans are great while camping, but you must remember to take the tin with you!
Hiking boots are obviously best to go hiking in, but a good set of joggers is OK or a good quality set of sandles are fine too. Keep in mind, that there is a lot of boulder hopping, creek crossings (you may need to take your shoes off) and ruggered terrain, you need something with good grip that is extremely comfortable.
Most people take 4 days (3 nights). This is a comfortable amount of time to complete the walk in. It allows enough time to relax and swim at the swimming holes. Some people do it in 3 days (2 nights) and some people do it in 5 or 6 days.
Yes. There is water available on the trail. It is recommended that you take water purification tablets with you, but quite often it is not needed. On the Thorsborne Trail Map, it is listed where water is available.
Yes. We are in Far North Qld. But don’t let this deter you though. There are plenty of places to swim along the track. We do not recommend swimming in the ocean.
Strongly recommended! There are many rats on the island that WILL eat through your bags to get to your food! Most of the campsites on the trail have food storage boxes. If you can’t fit your whole bag in the food storage box, take out your food and definitely put that in there. I would recommend to have your backpack in the tent with you.
2Ltrs is a good amount to carry. Remember to stop and fill up when ever you can. There are many freshwater little steams along the way!
Yes! We recommend to take mosquito spray/cream and mozzie coils
There are transfer packages, see outlined below.
You can get your camping permit online at: www.nprsr.qld.gov.au
The thorsborne trail, epic!!!