The village of Ayton was named after Great Ayton, Yorkshire the birth place of Captain Cook. Located on the Cooktown to Cape Tribulation Road known as ‘The Bloomfield Track, the village is a great place to relax, with Weary Bay, nearby Cedar Bay National Park and Daintree National Park also nearby.

Ayton was originally established as a service centre back in 1882 for a growing sugar plantation industry. Northern Queensland's first sugar mill was built and a narrow gauged rail line linked old Ayton wharf. Provisions were transported by far north Queensland's first locomotive for export by sea.

Hundreds of workers were employed coming from a myriad of backgrounds including English, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and the local Indigenous Kaku YalYalanji. Torres Strait trepang and trochus hunters settled here as well. Then in 1897 the industry came crashing down due to the high costs and the sugar operations were sold and moved to Bundaberg.
 

Other crops were tried in a quest to establish an industry, with ‘Red Cedar’ becoming the next major industry. Cutting began in 1890. Horse teams would dragged the logs to a riverbank chute, and rafts were floated downstream with the wood being taken by boat to Townsville. Much of the wood ended up in Charters Towers, lining the floors of mansions owned by wealthy miners who had made their fortune in gold.

Ayton today has a store, cafe, and campground accommodation. There is also an irregular air service flying to Pepper Bloomfield Lodge across the Bay.

Check out our listing for Ayton accommodation and Cape York Peninsula accommodation. In addition to our listed online travel guide information, contact the local tourism visitor centre for your destination for more attractions, tours, local maps and other information.