National Parks

Vast areas of Cape York Peninsula are protected by National Park status. These wilderness areas cover diverse habitats which are home to an abundance of bird and wildlife, with several species found nowhere else. Many of the parks are remote and the journey to reach them is just the start of the adventure.

Black Mountain National Park, (Kalkajaka N.P.)

The mysterious Black Mountains are steeped in myths and legends, and are a special story place for the Kuku Yalanji people.

Cape Melville National Park

A remote park with a spectacular coastline of rocky headlands. Massive granite boulders of the Melville range and sandstone escarpments of the Altanmoui range dominate the inland regions of the park. These features form part of a living Aboriginal cultural landscape.

Cedar Bay National Park

Located 40km south of Cooktown, this remote and beautiful coastal national park features rugged tropical rainforest hinterland and sea-sculpted headlands, fringed with expansive sandy beaches.

Flinders Group National Park

The park consists of seven remote islands with a rich cultural landscape. The islands contain important Aboriginal story and burial sites along with nationaly significant rock art sites showing early contact with Europeans.

Hope Islands National Park

Two low lying coral cays, West Hope is a shingle cay dominated by mangroves and East Hope is a sandy cay.

Iron Range National Park - Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park (CYPAL)

This remote coastal park in northern Cape York Peninsula protects the largest area of lowland tropical rainforest in Australia. Rainforest and heath shrouded hills provide the backdrop to long sweeping beaches, mangrove forests and rocky outcrops.

Jardine River National Park and Heathlands Resources Reserve

A huge wilderness area at the tip of Cape York Peninsula which includes much of the catchment of the Jardine River, the largest perennial river in Queensland. Heath, rainforest and woodlands cover low sandy ridges separated by swamps and shrublands and vine thickets cover massive coastal dunes.

Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land)

Rinyirru (Lakefield) is Queensland’s second largest National Park and the largest park in Cape York at 537,000 ha. Spectacular wetlands and extensive river systems attract a great diversity of waterbirds while estuarine and freshwater crocodiles bask along the river banks and barramundi wait in the shallows.