Territory Day Park Hike on Christmas Island

jana meerman territory day park red crab migration christmas island-14

Hiking through Territory Day Park high up on Christmas Island is an excellent place to spot the red crabs that have made this island so famous.

In my mission to visit every country and territory in the world (a total standing at 269), I sometimes end up booking trips to visit some of the world's most remote places and undertaking serious bucket-list worthy adventures.

We are basing ourselves in Australia for a year, traveling around the country in a campervan. Given it's the biggest country in Oceania, it's also the perfect opportunity to visit some of the many islands surrounding it across the Indian and South Pacific Oceans.

I spent six weeks backpacking around Australia back in 2019, one of my first solo adventures and my first on a one-way ticket. During my two years I would end up living down under, mostly based out of New Zealand, I also visited Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Samoa, scratching the surface of these fascinating island nations dotting great expanses of open ocean.

When mapping out the rough corners of our year-ish down under, planning to land in Sydney at the beginning of October, I realized it would be the perfect timing to fly out to Christmas Island six weeks later from Perth. Primarily to witness the world famous red crab migration, we spent a week on Christmas Island and explored all the other things to do on the island aside from looking for crabs.

→ Check out my complete guide to witnessing the red crab migration!

Territory Day Park Hike Details

When: year-round; crabs are visible all year round, although most likely to be out of their jungle burrows during the wet season from October to April

Where: the start of this hike begins in the parking lot of Territory Day Park

Difficulty: easy, just watch out for red crabs all over the forest floor!

Length: one viewpoint was closed when we visited so at the time of writing we hiked a 2.8 km return loop

Directions: this trail is not marked on Google Maps. At the Territory Day Park, start by checking out the viewpoint overlooking Flying Fish Cove; it's a gorgeous birds-eye view of the beach and the mine below. Then veer left into the park, following the signs into the jungle. The trail is very covered by fallen leaves and red crabs but well-marked with red paint on the trees. You'll complete a loop around the park ending with a set of wooden stairs back up and out.

→ Check out my exact route on Strava!

Bathrooms: no

Public Transit: there is no public transit on Christmas Island, you'll need to rent a 4WD to get around the island

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Jana Meerman

Hi! I’m Jana, a Dutch-German-British-Canadian with a dream of seeing every country in the world. I am a storyteller, photographer and adventurer passionate about documenting and sharing my travels.

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