The island’s cloud-covered mountains support fragile heath vegetation. Rainforest and eucalypt forest descend to a mangrove-lined channel in the west with bays, beaches and rocky headlands along the east coast.

Protected since 1932, Hinchinbrook Island is one of Australia's largest island national parks (39,900ha). It is within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and is separated from the mainland by the scenic Hinchinbrook Channel.

Surrounded by marine park waters, the fringing reefs and seagrass beds are home to some vulnerable species, including dugong and green turtles.

Hinchinbrook Island is renowned for its range of habitats including misty, heath-covered mountains sandy beaches, paperbark and palm wetlands, and extensive woodlands. Patches of lush rainforest and eucalypt forest descend to a mangrove-fringed channel in the west, with sweeping bays and rocky headlands along the east coast. The island’s mangrove forests are some of the richest and most varied in Australia and are an important breeding ground for many marine animals.

For thousands of years the Bandjin Aboriginal people lived on Hinchinbrook Island. Middens and fish traps are reminders of their special culture.

The island’s Thorsborne Trail is recognised world-wide and was named after local naturalists Margaret and Arthur Thorsborne.