Four Mile Beach & Flagstaff Hill Walk, Port Douglas - May 2022

Port Douglas sunset.

Flagstaff Hill views.

Our 2022 road trip deposited us at Port Douglas for a couple of days, a place that I'd never actually been to on my travels. After doing a few touristy things I figured that a walk along Four Mile Beach near sunset might be a nice way to finish the day off - and I could then meet up with Sam for dinner in Macrossan Street when I finished the walk. So anyway after grabbing my camera and phone Sam dropped me off in the small public park on Barrier Street and I set off to walk back up to town.

I set off from the small public park off Barrier Street.

There was the usual range of signs warning of imminent death.

I'd done a little research before setting off on this stroll so I knew a couple of important things, the first was that I'd be walking the beach at low tide and the second one was that I should be able to catch sunset from the lookout near Anzac Park. Walking onto the wide open expanses of Four Mile Beach the first part of the plan paid off, the beach was wide and the sand was firm. My beach walk was a fairly uneventful stroll which I shared with many joggers, bike riders, picnickers, and the occasional sun worshipper. While the beach looks very aesthetically pleasing it's not ideal for swimming in May as there are both Box and Irukandji Jellyfish here and they'll both either kill you or make you wish you were dead if you are stung - and then there are the salties! 

Stepping onto Four Mile Beach I turned left and started my walk up to Flagstaff Hill (in the distance).

I'm thinking those big mountains in the distance is where Manal Jimalji (Devil's Thumb) is - I'd end up climbing up there tomorrow. 

Looking back over my shoulder as I walked Four Mile Beach.

Approaching Flagstaff Hill along Four Mile Beach. 

Late afternoon on Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas. 

Four Mile Beach.

At the base of Flagstaff Hill there are stinger nets.

Inside the stinger nets are the only really viable option when it comes to swimming on Four Mile Beach at this time of the year.

After passing through the stingers nets at Port Douglas where there were a few people out in the water I arrived at the northern end of the beach and the start of the track up and around Flagstaff Hill. Once off the beach my track climbed a series of staircases before starting to almost contour around the headland. After checking out a couple of lookouts I took the side trip that climbed up to the Flagstaff Hill Lookout, the view from here being mainly back along the length of Four Mile Beach and is a bit of a Port Douglas iconic shot. 

There is a well engineered track up to Flagstaff Hill...

... with some nice views both back down Four Mile Beach...

... and out towards the Coral Sea...

... as I climbed. 

Looking east out across the Coral Sea.

I'm thinking that the view from the Flagstaff Hill Lookout back down along Four Mile Beach is the classic Port Douglas photo.

The flagstaff on Flagstaff Hill was used for shore to ship communication in the ye olde days. 

Leaving the Flagstaff Hill Lookout I re-joined the track contouring around the cliffs of the headland. I was now slowly swinging around to be heading west and the sun setting behind the distant Great Dividing Range was slowing me down a little now. My track now started dropping back down to water level again and I arrived at the Palm Tree lined Rex Smeal Park just in time for the sun to do it's magic, part two of my cunning plan also coming off. With the sun disappearing behind the mountains all I had to do was to shuffle my way along Macrossan Street to find out which of the many cafés Sam had chosen for dinner.

Continuing around the slopes of Flagstaff Hill.

Don't tell Dutton about this one.

Dropping down to water line as the sun was disappearing behind the Great Dividing Range.

Sunset views from near Rex Smeal Park.

Rex Smeal Park. 

Sunset from Rex Smeal Park.

Sunset from Rex Smeal park - another Port Douglas iconic experience. 

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked 6.8 kilometres and climbed about 119 metres on this easy stroll. As I've already waffled on about the beach section is best at low tide and swimming would be a little dodgy. The track around the Flagstaff Hill Headland is a peach - it's well built and never overly steep and to top it off there are quite a few good lookouts along it. Sunset at Rex Smeal Park is a Port Douglas staple I think and shouldn't be missed. This walk has been written up in the Woodslane book Best Walks around Cairns & the Tablelands and I used those notes along with my Alltrails App and my GPS topos.

Relevant Posts.

Manjal Jimalji (Devil's Thumb) Walk, 2022.

Heading into town I passed by the historic Port Douglas Sugar Wharf...

... and meandered through Anzac Park.

Port Douglas.

The old fishing town has certainly been gentrified!

Port Douglas streetscape.