Thornton Peak

[naturelover]

Hi. I just thought I'd share the little I have managed to find out about climbing Thornton Peak.
For four years now I've stared up at that mountain, wanting to climb it, but I have always been told there is no route and I'd have to fight every inch of the way, so didn't explore options further, as I never take "fighting" gear to QLD.
This trip, however, we found a person who said there is an old track, and he told us how to get there. As it's a track we're talking about, I presume there's no harm in giving the details here.
Turn first left after you cross over the river on the ferry. This road goes along for quite a way. There's eventually a very tempting road called "Thornton Peak Rd". We hadn't been told to take it, but it sounded so alluring we tried anyway, but it was not what we needed.
Soon enough we came to a position that looks like that depicted in photo 1 below. Sorry for the lousy lighting, but we were there shortly after an early lunch, as we wanted to go up for several hours and only turn around when light forced us to, so had to face midday glare at the start. We were told it would be a 3-day hike, so this was just a recce.
Both roads tell you the property is private and that you should keep out. I went down the 'road' labelled 62, and found diamond markers that eventually turned off the road and onto a track. The track was very overgrown, and the one report I'd managed to find of climbing the mountain suggested taking secateurs, so I eventually gave up, figuring it would be fight the whole way and that I needed better gear.
In case our tiny recce helps you, I've posted it here.
I've also posted a picture of the "car on the beach" phenomenon I complained about in my blog. (See [url]natureloverswalks.blogspot.com[/url]

[Pteropus]

I just discovered your blog through this post naturelover and had a quick browse. Great stories and photos! As a recently new dad, I particularly enjoyed your family’s attitude to introducing children to bushwalking at a young age and it gives me inspiration for upcoming future adventures with my little cub

[tomh]

Get hold of the Summer 2004 edition of 'Wild' magazine - it contains track notes for Thornton Peak.

[ofuros]

Ta daa....https://www.wild.com.au/uploads/wild/ge ... ree_NP.pdf
Nice pick up tomh.

[naturelover]

My notes above give more details as to how to get to the start. Also, the report mentioned is ambiguous. If read in a hurry, it appears that you have to start at Daintree Village, which is not the case at all. (And, it is not part of this forum. I always search here as first port of call when looking to climb something, so was opening an extra possibility for people who, like me, turn to the forum first to check if there are any track notes).
I also wanted to alert people to Thornton as a possibility, as often (e.g. in this forum) the only longer walks mentioned are Thorsborne Trail and Bartle Frere (not that Bartle is long - we were up and back before lunch).

[Skid]

Yes, Thornton Peak is worth the effort!

A couple of pics....

sunset from the western ridge

Eastern ridge (summit)

fruit bowl made from lawyer cane (we left this at the lower creek campsite)

giant tree fern

[naturelover]

Great photos, thanks!! Inspired to get there. How was the track? Did you need to use secateurs?

[Skid]

Hi Naturelover (great forum name by the way),
The track was indistinct in places, particularly on the approach to the mountain. The hardest part was finding the start, but you seem to have that sorted. National Parks staff were unable to tell us where the start was, after the trip we sent them photos and a description much like yours above.
Yes, we took secateurs, and, yes, they were well used. Once you get up on the higher parts of the mountain the lawyer cane thins out and it is more rock hopping. There is some flagging tape on the trail but much of it is old and some has falled down onto the ground. We marked some parts of the trail with pink flagging tape. The section from the western ridge down to the upper creek campsite got extra attention as we came returned to camp down this section in the dark (after taking the above sunset photo).
Wild pigs have rooted up some sections lower in the track, sometimes making it bit hard to see. We found an old cane knife on the trail, we left this at the upper creek campsite.
As for all walks this far north, this is best done in the dry season.
Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.
Cheers

[Skid]

from the summit

creek crossing near upper campsite

[naturelover]

More great photos and helpful info. Thanks a mil.

[nq111]

Great work on posting the details to start the walk. Definitely one for the tropical bucket list!

[gaskella]

So you walked down road 62?

Do you need a 4wd to access the beginning of the trail?

[naturelover]

We didn't use one for what we did … over to others

[jobell]

Hey all,
My brother is up in the Daintree area at the moment and is considering a walk up Thornton Peak and is scratching around for resources. The Wild magazine website no longer seems to have those track notes available. Is there anyone out there with a copy of Wild Magazine Summer 2004 edition who could photograph the article and email it through? It would be awesome if someone does have this. My email is joanneebell@gmail.com. Failing that, if someone who has walked it would be willing to chat to him about it over the phone that would be great too. He's a moderately experienced but very well prepared bush walker keen to have a go. Thanks in advance.

[Meagaidh]

Hi all, that link above, to the article in Wild is no longer good. Anybody know where it is?
Thanks much

[naturelover]

If you go into my blog you can see how to get to the start. natureloverswalk.com

[johnw]

Hi all, that link above, to the article in Wild is no longer good. Anybody know where it is?
Thanks much

Web archive has a scanned copy:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120325015511/https://wild.com.au/uploads/wild/general/Daintree_NP.pdf

[Chriscox]

Hi all,
Planning to head up Thornton's Peak in the next week or two. Any (recent) updates about finding the start and navigation on the way up. Some notes mention tapes and triangular markers but they are a few years old. Are these OK to navigate up or is it a map and compass job? (I'm a traditionalist) Any updates from 2016-17 would be appreciated.
C

[biggbird]

Hi all,
Planning to head up Thornton's Peak in the next week or two. Any (recent) updates about finding the start and navigation on the way up. Some notes mention tapes and triangular markers but they are a few years old. Are these OK to navigate up or is it a map and compass job? (I'm a traditionalist) Any updates from 2016-17 would be appreciated.
C

Hey mate, did you manage to get up there? Would be very interested in some updated info, I'm keen to get up there soon!

[joyburton]

Any recent info on the track condition for Thorntons Peak? I'm also keen to hear if it could be done in 2 days by fit hikers. The only track notes I've found from the a bushwalking club newsletter did it in 3 days, but i suspect they were going at a more leisurely pace.

[luenwarneke]

FYI - Here's an WS article on Thornton Peak - https://wanderstories.space/thornton-peak/

[ofuros]

Thanks for the recent trip report, Luen...& to the other contributors on your website.