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The Goat Track on Caste Hill Townsville

Castle Hill Goat Track Townsville – Cutheringa Track

July 14, 2014 By Jan Robinson 7 Comments

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Townsville, the home of Castle Hill and the famed Castle Hill Goat Track is full of fitness fanatics.  Phrases like I do the Hill after work every day are common place around here. This will then be qualified by, The Goat Track or the Road?

Walking Castle Hill is one of the fun things to do in Townsville.

Locals refer to any track on the hill (as opposed to the sealed road) as the Goat track, but there are actually four different tracks as listed below.

 

Castle Hill Walks

Distance Travelled on Castle Hill Walks:

  • Walking the Road: 260 metres
  • Cutheringa Track: 1360 metres
  • Goat Track: 1052 metres
  • Dianella Track: 1129 metres
  • Ironbark Track: 1774 metres

 

Castle Hill Goat Track – Cutheringa Track (Cudtheringa)

Cudtheringa the aboriginal name for Castle Hill, was also the name of the 1136m long track we chose to walk.

Pink Flowering Grasses beside rough stone stairs on the Castle Hill Goat Track Townsville

 

Marty viewed through pink flowering grasses climbing Castle Hill Goat Track

Pink flowering grasses lined the path and wattle trees were in full bloom.

White yellow wattle flowers on the Castle Hill Goat Track

Looking up from the track, the rock face of Castle Hill is quite imposing, but the shade it gives in the late afternoon is pure bliss.

Castle Hill goat track leads to the base of the rock face but then slides around it – It isn’t necessary to climb the rock face.

Looking up to the rock face of Castle Hill Townsville from the Castle Hill Goat Track

 

View of the Townsville suburbs of North Ward and Magnetic Island from the track.

Looking over North Ward and Magnetic Island from Castle Hill Goat Track
Wild passionfruit, a native to South America grows readily in North Queensland.

Wild Passionfruit flower and fruit on Castle Hill Townsville

As kids we had fun squeezing the green fruit until they popped.  Only eat the ripe orange fruit as the green is poisonous. The fruit are hidden inside a hairy outer layer.

 

This flowering shrub was prolific.  So prolific that it may be a weed.

Yellow Daisy Flowers Castle Hill

 

The track rounding the bottom of the Castle Hill rock face is one of my favourite parts of the walk.

The goat track on castle hill as it nears the rock face

 

Burdekin Plums litter the ground, fallen to the track from the trees above.

Native to tropical Queensland and Papua New Guinea, the Burdekin Plum is extremely hardy, surviving long periods without water, which is just as well because the hill is brown and barren looking most of the year.

 

burdekin plum fruit fallen onto the goat track on castle hill townsville

The photo below shows the Castle Hill goat track hugging the base of the rock face.

a photo of the castle hill goat track passing close to the sheer rock face of castle hill townsville

A specially placed bench invites a minute’s rest to take in the views of Townsville City, Ross Creek and the industrial Port Area.  The landmass in the background is Cape Cleveland not Magnetic Island.

View of Townsville City from a bench on Castle Hill goat track

 

Toward the summit of Castle Hill, the track becomes civilised with wide stairs leading up. People run up these steps, but by the time I’ve arrived, a rest on the bottom step is called for.

Looking down goat track stairs on Castle Hill

 

Views across Townsville to Mt. Stuart from the top of the track.

View of Townsville and Mount Stuart from Castle Hill

 

Walks departing from the summit carpark. These are all under 30 minutes duration.

  • Summit Walk – return track
  • Pill Box Walk – return track
  • Radar Hill Walk – loop track

I was unfit when we did the Castle Hill Goat Track (Cutheringa track) and it took one hour with lots of photo stops, but it can be done easily in 30 minutes.

Be aware of joggers on the tracks to avert accidents.

Castle Hill is only minutes away from another famous Townsville walk. Walk the Strand Townsville.

Find Strand Accommodation places here.

Things to Know.

The tracks and road are free to use.

Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to walk the hill.

If the weather is hot you may need a water bottle but there are water coolers at the summit.

A hat and sunscreen may be required.

The track is very rough in places with exposed tree roots, rocks and washed out areas.  Snakes would be a possibility also.

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Filed Under: Short Walks, Townsville

About Jan Robinson

Jan Robinson writes about travel on her Budget Travel Talk blog. A solo traveller in her teens, for the last 40 years Jan has travelled through Australia, Asia, Europe, Turkey and New Zealand with her husband. They specialise in road trips, caravanning and Independent travel without spending a fortune. Her favourite destination is Turkey and she is currently dreaming of Myanmar and Mexico.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. frankaboutcroatia

    July 15, 2014 at 2:30 pm

    Wow, the views from the track and the summit are really pretty. Your photos are lovely. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Jan

      July 15, 2014 at 3:41 pm

      Thanks Frank. We are off for a walk soon. Not on the goat track but along the banks of the Ross River.

      Reply
  2. Jess @UsedYorkCity

    July 15, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    Wow, that is SOME hill! But the upside: no gym membership needed if you live in Townsville!;-)

    Reply
    • Jan

      July 16, 2014 at 12:54 pm

      That is so true Jess!

      Reply
  3. Mike

    July 16, 2014 at 2:18 am

    I can’t attest to how in shape or out of shape I am but I would definitely be stopping to take lots of photos like you did, Jan! I love the view at the top. I’m also glad a person doesn’t have to scale the rock…that I do not do ha,ha! 🙂 I liked the contrast of that berry on the rock. Good post! 🙂

    Reply
    • Jan

      July 16, 2014 at 12:54 pm

      It was quite pleasant stopping to take photos and appreciating the flowers and views Mike 🙂

      Reply
  4. Krista

    July 16, 2014 at 8:26 pm

    Such a gorgeous hike! 🙂 I love those grasses too – we have them at our place and they look so beautiful blowing in the wind. 🙂

    Reply

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