Bush walking Cape Cleveland

Cape Cleveland is situated between Cleveland Bay and Bowling Green Bay, near Townsville, on the coast of Queensland, Australia. It extends into the Coral Sea, home of the Great Barrier Reef. With no roads on the cape, it might not be the most popular place in the area to explore but, perhaps due to this, it is one of the most fun.

The Bios and the Geos...

To the north of Cape Cleveland is Cleveland Bay, offshore to Australia’s largest tropical city, Townsville, and it’s island suburb, Magnetic Island. South of Cape Cleveland is Bowling Green Bay.

The cape is largely unpopulated and designated a national park, except for the heritage-listed lighthouse at the very tip and the Australian Institute of Marine Science research facility on the eastern side. The oceans adjacent Cape Cleveland are a part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The area remains a special example of nature’s beauty.

Mount Cleveland has the highest elevation of the cape at 558 meters.¹ Large granite boulders protrude from the grass and hillsides.

The vegetation includes eucalypt woodlands and savannah² with sheoaks (Allocasuarina torulosa), grass trees (Xanthorrhoea johnsonii) and Imperata cylindrica grass.¹ The trees and plants can get quite dense at times, but would also thin out and give way to grassy and rocky areas. Among these grasses was one (I do not know the species) that lodged many of it’s dark coloured grass seeds into our clothing with it’s one-sided barb. Some invasive species like stinking passionfruit vines were spotted too.

Upon driving south and then east as far as possible along Cape Cleveland we already started seeing different animals to what were usual closer to Townsville. There is a high diversity of reptiles as well as many birds, mammals such as quolls, rats, bandicoots and rock-wallabies,¹ and insects. Animals in the surrounding sea include dugongs³ and turtles, whose tracks can sometimes be seen coming up onto the beaches. Paw prints in the sand we assumed were wild dogs.

A pandanus tree on an east coast beach of Cape Cleveland.

Where to go...

Cape Cleveland is about half an hours drive south of Townsville. There are a few different tracks mapped out on the app, Alltrails, which is good to use to find the starting points. We started at at point close to the beginning of the AIMS facility at the end of the road. Once we got there and found the track on the side of the road, we actually turned our phone off and focused on our walk. There are pink markers placed intermittently on trees that were enough to guide us on the walk we did this day. I am not sure who is responsible for these markers but they are a great idea. I would absolutely still make sure you have a phone or GPS handy for emergencies and if you aren’t confident going through the bush without it!

At times it was necessary to climb some of the large granite boulders.

Dense grass often made it hard to know what we were stepping on.

One of many pink arrows helping us keep on the track through the bush.

Don’t forget to bring...

There is barely any tree shade so it is a good idea to wear a hat, sunscreen and a sleeved shirt. Long pants and good hiking shoes help to protect yourself from the grass and plants that tend to slice up your skin! I learnt this the hard way by wearing low cut sneakers that exposed my ankles. Even my hands got sliced up when wading through the high grasses! Other things to bring should include mozzie repellent, a few litres of water, first aid and food.

Overlooking Chunda Bay within Bowling Green Bay, back towards the mainland.

The beginning of a much longer hike...

As we had no destination in mind on this day, we walked as far as the sunlight allowed us. We started just past noon and only explored a very small distance compared to how far is possible.

There are many different places that could be one’s destination: Castle Rock, Mt Cleveland, the many beaches or the Queensland Heritage listed lighthouse, constructed in 1879, at the very tip of the cape. Any of these are worth another adventure to Cape Cleveland, but at least an entire day is necessary!

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