Cook Shire Council

Cook Shire is the largest shire in terms of land area in Queensland. From the Bloomfield River in the south to just north of the Jardine river it covers over 100 000 square kilometres and occupies 80% of Cape York Peninsula. Geographically the Cook Shire is the meeting place of the Great Barrier Reef, the Wet Tropics and the Outback. It is the location of many National Parks along with other protected areas and conservation zones. Cook Shire has a tough and colourful past built around agriculture and mining. Today we still have a vibrant culture and peoples from across the country and around the globe. Approximately 5000 people live in the Shire. The Shire's major township is Cooktown with smaller population centres at Marton, Laura, Lakeland, Coen, Ayton, Rossville and Portland Roads and offshore islands including Lizard Island with significant numbers of people living throughout the Bloomfield and Endeavour valleys. Cook Shire is enriched by the unique contributions of its small communities: Coen prides itself on being the service centre for the far north; Laura is famous for its amazing rock art and the Quinkan and Regional Cultural Centre; Lakeland for agriculture; and Rossville, Ayton and Portland Roads for their low impact lifestyles, niche horticulture and eco-tourism ventures.