The Kokoda Track

The Kokoda Track, a rugged 96-kilometre trail across the steep, jungle-clad Owen Stanley Range, is one of the world's most demanding and meaningful treks, following the route of a pivotal and harrowing Second World War campaign. In 1942, Australian and Papua New Guinean forces fought a desperate, brutal battle against advancing Japanese troops along this path through dense, mountainous rainforest. Today, trekkers undertake the challenging multi-day journey through remote villages, war relics and memorials, both as a physical adventure and a moving pilgrimage of remembrance.

History

European miners first used the track in the 1890s to reach the Yodda Kokoda goldfields. Between July and November 1942 it was the scene of the Kokoda Track campaign between Japanese and Australian forces, filmed by Damien Parer for the newsreel Kokoda Front Line!, which won Australia's first Academy Award. After the war the track fell into disuse; in 1964 the teacher Angus Henry and two of his students, John Kadiba and Misty Baloiloi, crossed it in three and a quarter days without guides or carriers, a record that stood for decades (Wikipedia, Kokoda Track).

Highlights

• The jungle trail - the punishing route through mountainous rainforest.
• The war memorials - the sites and relics of the 1942 campaign.
• Isurava - the memorial to the pivotal battle.
• The remote villages - the communities along the track.

When to go

April to November, the drier season, is the trekking window, when the trail is more passable, though rain, mud and humidity are constant companions on this jungle route year-round; the track is closed or treacherous in the wettest months. It is walked only with licensed guides and porters.

Good to know

This is a genuinely gruelling trek, six to ten days of steep climbs and descents through hot, muddy, remote jungle, demanding real fitness, preparation and a licensed guiding company; it is not a casual walk. It is also a place of profound wartime significance, to be approached with respect for the suffering endured here. For the fit and the reflective, though, it is a powerful physical and historical journey.

Nearby

The capital Port Moresby and its war museums are the gateway.

Key facts