Cooktown is the northernmost town on the east coast of Australia, located at the mouth of the Endeavour River. Cooktown is the northern terminus of the Bicentennial Heritage Trail, which, at 3,312 miles, is the longest trail of its type in the world. The southern end of the trail is at Healesville, Victoria, a beautiful town 52 km north-east of Melbourne. About 2,000 people live in the town itself while about another 4,000 in the region use it as a service centre.
Cooktown is of particular interest to botanists since the time of Cook's visit when extensive collections and illustrations were made of local plants. It is situated at the junction of several vegetation zones including tropical rainforest, sclerophyll forests, sandy dunes and lagoons.