From rugged wilderness trails and epic outback adventures to lush tropical hinterlands, Australia offers some of the world’s most unforgettable walking experiences.

A new guide from Lonely Planet’s experts, breaks down exactly when to go, so you can make the most of every step.

Handily, there’s a walk that’s just right for almost every month of the year. Here are the travel company’s pick of the best Australia has to offer.

1. June: Thorsborne Trail, Qld

Play Robinson Crusoe on the isolated tropical wilderness of Hinchinbrook, Australia’s largest island national park.

Being cast away on a tropical isle is mostly as you’d anticipate. You’ll collect water from streams, shower under waterfalls, wallow in balmy lagoons. You’ll trek humid forest and empty coconut-palm-shaded beaches, and summit peaks for superlative views.

Known to the Indigenous Bandjin people as Munamudanamy, Hinchinbrook lies off the Queensland coast between Cairns and Townsville. Most of this pristine island of some 400 square kilometres is strictly off-limits – to humans, that is.

To experience this wilderness, hike the Thorsborne Trail along the east coast. Though relatively short, it’s deceptively challenging: entirely self-supported, you’ll need to wade or rock-hop across rivers, tackle sandy and swampy ground, and carry all supplies and camping gear, bedding down in basic campsites. Winter’s best – avoid the wettest months (the trail closes January and February).

The rewards are as rich as facilities sparse. Watch for dugongs on the crossing from Cardwell to Ramsay Bay, from where you’ll pass an ancient shell midden – one of few reminders of Aboriginal occupation – then stroll along Blacksand Beach before climbing Nina Peak (312 metres) for lookouts to inland mountains.

parks.desi.qld.gov.au

Ormiston Gorge is part of the spectacular Larapinta Trail. Photo: Tourism & Events NT/Shaana McNaught

2. August: Larapinta Trail, NT

Follow an ancient mountain range into the Red Centre on a trail that takes in sharp ridges, cool creeks and millennia of Indigenous Australian history.

It was around 450 million years ago when the Alice Springs Orogeny – a significant tectonic episode – started sculpting the surrounding Outback, gradually squeezing the continent’s edges into its middle and creating large mountain chains.

The Larapinta Trail follows the spine of one of those: The West MacDonnell Ranges – or Tjoritja, as it’s known to the Arrernte, the land’s Traditional Owners. The Arrernte chart their history back 40,000 years, and this region is imbued with their stories, sacred sites and Songlines. Now, the Arrernte allow walkers to explore here, too.

Linking Alice Springs to 1380-metre-high Mount Sonder, Tjoritja’s highest point, the Larapinta Trail is as challenging as you’d expect a multiday, off-grid, Red Centre bushwhack to be. The terrain is largely rough, rocky and loose underfoot, with steep gradients and occasional scrambles over boulders.

There are few facilities, just simple........

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