Thumbs up for bringing forward trail opening timeline

A petition to reopen the Devil’s Thumb walking trail has passed 1000 signatures.

And the reopening date of the popular Daintree National Park has been brought forward to as early as April Fools Day, according to the latest Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service update.

At the time the petition was launched by Far North Queensland hiker Evan Agee in December, the QPWS stated on its website the reopening of the trail may happen as late as November.

But an update late last month reported the track is “anticipated to reopen” on Tuesday, April 1, “subject to track and weather conditions”.

“The Manjal Jimalji (Devil’s Thumb) walking track is closed for the wet season. During this period a track realignment and maintenance will be carried out on the lower section of the track.”

“Please monitor this park alert for updated information.”

Mr Agee told Newsport last week he was pleased the online petition had attracted such a strong response from the public, and he would take it to the QPWS to help support his campaign to have the track reopened as early as possible.

“There’s just so many tracks that are closed at the moment,” Mr Agee said.

The more than 10km Manjal Jimalji (Devils Thumb) trail takes walkers through thick jungle, cloud forests and rock formations, but has been closed for more than a year following damage from Cyclone Jasper and subsequent flooding.

Issues surrounding private property at the beginning of the walk have delayed the reopening, with the first few hundred metres passing through private property.

The landowner has reportedly been concerned about public liability if someone is injured on their property.