What is now known as the Kokoda Track was a collection of trails and trading routes used by villagers to cross the Owen Stanley Range and travel from the south to north coast of Papua New Guinea for hundreds of years, and in the 19th Century by Europeans keen to reach the goldfields on the northern half of the island.
Even today, with up to a thousand trekkers camped along the track each night in peak season, there is not a single route from what is now known as Owers Corner in the south to the Kokoda Valley in the north, but alternative tracks that go through different valleys and different villages for about 98 kilometres.
The track became famous during the Second World War when troops of the 39th Australian Infantry Battalion and Japanese Imperial Forces fought a long and arduous battle along its route to prevent the Japanese forces from reaching Port Moresby in the south.
Since then, and particularly in the past two decades, walking the Kokoda Track has become a rite of passage for Australians of all ages, on a par with visiting Gallipoli on Anzac Day. However, trek parties of more than 100 trekkers and guides mean the track is no longer the isolated place it once was.
Certainly it is difficult for Australians and Japanese to not shed a few tears when they reach the war memorial site at Isurava.
Crossing a stream on the Kokoda Trail
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Kokoda Track
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Kokoda Track - updated May 2024
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Kokoda Track Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
