Australia
Hinchinbrook Island
Tidal creeks, rainforest and granite ridges turn one island trail into a self-sufficient expedition.
The Thorsborne Trail crosses mangrove creeks, beaches, rainforest and granite ridges with only a limited number of walkers on the island. Its beauty cannot be separated from its self-sufficient logistics, tidal crossings and serious crocodile awareness.
Hinchinbrook Island's Thorsborne Trail crosses beaches, rainforest, tidal creeks and granite ridges over several self-sufficient days. Permits cap numbers, but they do not guarantee easy crossings or rescue; walkers carry their own shelter, food and communications. Estuarine crocodiles inhabit tidal waterways, making tide planning, wide margins and conservative camps fundamental.
Solo
Attempt the trail alone only with remote-walking experience, communications, tide knowledge and a conservative crocodile plan.
Friends
Share food, shelters and emergency equipment across a small permitted group while keeping every creek crossing cautious.
- The Thorsborne Trail runs about 32 kilometres through beaches, rainforest, mangroves and granite country.
- A permit quota limits numbers but does not guarantee solitude or remove the need to share camps responsibly.
- Estuarine crocodiles inhabit tidal creeks, making crossing advice and conservative timing essential.
- No shops operate along the route, so walkers carry food, shelter, communications and waste.
Every Thorsborne meal is cooked on a fuel stove and kept covered and off the ground at night, away from the island's giant white-tailed rats.
Across the channel, crab pots set in the mangroves are the local route to mud crab.
Dempster Highway
Canada
Canada's only all-season Arctic road runs 740 unpaved kilometres to the Mackenzie Delta.
Krafla
Iceland
Boiling mud pots and steaming lava fields that still radiate heat decades after erupting.
Arabel Plateau
Kyrgyzstan
Treeless tundra at 3,800 metres, dotted with fifty glacial lakes and retreating ice.
Walls of Jerusalem
Australia
A steep climb opens onto glacial tarns and pencil-pine groves in Tasmania's high country.
West MacDonnell Ranges
Australia
Cold water hides beneath ochre gorge walls along Tjoritja's long desert spine.
Mitchell Falls
Australia
In season, four tiers of water thunder through sandstone on remote Wunambal Gaambera Country.
Karijini National Park
Australia
Red-and-black iron bands plunge towards cold pools inside narrow Pilbara chasms.