Mount Sorrow Lookout

Mount Sorrow Lookout is a natural viewpoint on the ridge above Cape Tribulation, about 680 metres up. Getting there means the full 7 km return Mount Sorrow Ridge walk; allow about six hours for this Grade 4 hike. This is for fit, experienced bushwalkers ready for steep, rough going, not a quick pull-off.

The marked track has very steep sections, roots, rocks and log scrambles, and walkers have become lost here. Start well before 10 a.m., aim to leave the lookout before 2 p.m. and keep at least three hours of daylight for the return. Go back the same way. Avoid very hot, humid, wet or cloudy conditions; the trail gets slippery, and grippy footwear and leech protection are sensible. The trail is not wheelchair accessible. Park at the Mount Sorrow trailhead car park on Cape Tribulation–Bloomfield Road; the track starts across the road, about 150 metres beyond Kulki day-use area.

On clear days, the ridge-end view opens across the Daintree coast and Cape Tribulation, with Snapper Island and the shadows of fringing reefs offshore. Cloud can hide that detail, so this is a more rewarding climb when the forecast is clear and dry. For a photo, keep some of the forested slope in the frame below the coastline; it shows the drop from ridge to sea.

The trail starts in lowland rainforest with fan palms and pandanus, climbs through upland forest, then reaches a more open ridge shaped by wind. Look for Ryparosa kurrangii: this tree is restricted in Australia to the Cape Tribulation–Daintree River area, and its large white flowers can grow straight from the trunk. Cycads and orania palms are among the other plants higher on the ridge.

Look for Boyd’s forest dragons close to the track. Around the lookout, watch for spangled drongos, topknot pigeons and butterflies riding the ridge wind. Sightings are a bonus, but the change from deep rainforest to open ridge forest is part of the walk either way.