This week I took my hiking group into the Green Mountains section of the Lamington National Park. I’ve done several walks in the Green Mountains including the Gold Coast Hinterland Great! Walk and the West Canungra Creek Circuit.  There are many walks in this national park and I was looking for a less intense one for the group.

Map is owned by and used with courtesy of Queensland Government.  Please visit that site for more detailed information on hiking in this region.

Getting to the start of the hike was slow along the thin winding roads where some drivers could have gone faster if they got out and pushed. Eventually, my intrepid band of 14 set out along the road heading towards Moran Falls. This particular hike mixed a couple of circuits and included a section off-track.

We left the road and headed along a cemented track down the hill for 2km to the Moran Falls Lookout. At the time of writing it hadn’t rained much in Queensland for a few months, so I was hoping there would be some falls to see. But as we came to a viewpoint across from the falls, we weren’t let down. The Moran Falls drop 80m to a small pool and was a pleasant view so early in the hike.

From the falls, we continued around the top of the cliffs buried in trees to a bridge across the creek flowing to the waterfall.

Off-track, we followed the creek…

…to an open area of rock at the top of the falls where we could stand on the rocky ledge looking down to the base of the waterfall and along the valley.

In the background is the mountainous Scenic Rim including Mt Lindsey, Mt Barney and Mt Maroon. While we hadn’t walked far, we decided to stop for lunch.

After lunch, we continued along a steep dirt track up a hill. This was perhaps the most difficult part of the day and during this time the group began to break into faster and smaller groups. We continued following the path along a ridge until it opened up on one side to an unnamed lookout.

The views of the next ridge were great, as was the tree-lined valley between the two. We continued along the ridge until we came to the Balancing Rock. It had been cordoned off, so we resisted getting too close.

Beside Balancing Rock the track continued along a more precarious part of the ridge. The group stopped at the lookout as two of us continued along the ridge to a protruding crag at the end called Castle Crag, with views in most directions.

Returning to the group and we continued up another steep dirt road to a large clearing and along a short boardwalk to Moonlight Crag – a large wooden lookout giving us again great views of the mountain ranges and Castle Crag.

Again we continued on, diving into the rainforest along the thin track marked by pink ribbons. As we headed in, the group broke in two, the fast and the slow. The front group walked on to a small grotto known as the Orchid Grove…

…and then on again towards Lyrebird Lookout. Unfortunately, the sign to the lookout wasn’t prominent and we went past it to an open clearing that held the foundations of several buildings from decades before.  It was unclear what these buildings had once been used for. We waited for the other group but when they didn’t arrive, headed back along the trail, making our way through the rainforest to an overgrown track and on to a well attended track. A kilometre further on we arrived back at the start point and waited for the second group to arrive. They weren’t far behind, having found Lyrebird Lookout and returned a different way through the rainforest back to the start point.

Overall, the walk wasn’t a difficult one, but it was an adventure with some great views. Next week, however, I take a group to climb Mount Barney, the most difficult hike I plan to do in Queensland. It’s the third tallest mountain in South East Queenland – the tallest being Mt Superbus from our climb last week – and has a suggested time of 10 hours, 5 hours up and 5 hours down. I’m sure my legs won’t be thanking me, but the views should be fantastic…

The Trail Wanderer

Ravensbourne National Park is a small park only a handful of kilometres from Crows Nest National Park.  The weekend I was here it threatened rain, but I still intended to walk as many trails as I could.

Day 1 

Cedar Block Walk
With the threat of rain I headed up to Gus Beutels Lookout.

Cedar Block is a very short walk through the rain forest and served as a warm up for the day. I guess if I had to write a description, I would say… ‘there are trees and then it ends’. Warmer after the brief walk, I headed down the road to the beginning of the next walk.

Rainforest, Palm Creek and Buaraba Creek Circuits.
While these three circuits are separate hikes, the Buaraba Creek Circuit traverses both of the others before heading off track and into the forest. Off Track, that doesn’t sound like me? Never.

I headed out from the car park along the trail and into the trees. It was not long before I came to the beginning of the rain forest circuit to the right, so I climbed the steps and headed off around it. While it was a nice walk, all those tree-like things really got in the way of any kind of a view. After about 30 minutes I arrived back at the main trail and continued on.

It was not long before I came to the Palm Creek Circuit. I headed along this trail and guess what? Trees. While I like walking in the forest, I do find it a little boring. I prefer rocky ridges and mountains for the challenges and the views. But often, hidden away in these forests are cool things, like waterfalls, creeks and caves. And that’s what I found at the end of the Palm Creek Circuit, a series of low caves.

Beyond the caves an ungraded track continued – the Buaraba Creek Circuit. The trail soon turned into a dirt road that headed further into the National Park. The road slowly climbed towards something, although it was hard to tell exactly what. At a crossroads I turned north to another junction, where the path descended steeply towards the creek.

At the bottom, I took a break.

On the other side, I climbed a steep rocky hill until it too reached a junction and I headed back downhill. For most of the walk, I had seen Lantana along the side of the track, but here it started to encroach upon the trail. I fought through some of it as I followed a lesser walked track. But after a fair distance – and only a few scratches – I decided I had gone too far and decided to climb down a thin trail towards the creek. Somewhere along the other side of the creek there was a graded track leading back to the other circuits, I just had to find it.

It was about then that it began to rain – only lightly at first, but slowly gaining momentum. Thankfully I’d brought my jacket and a bag cover. Off trail hiking in the rain is dangerous; rocks and dirt get slippery and I did end up on my arse a couple of times. I worked my way along the creek slowly and carefully, crossing back and forth I eventually came to a grove of palms and soon after the steps I was looking for.

At the top of the steps I found a rocky ridge line. Yay for rocks!

The graded track continued ahead of me as the rain grew heavier. And what happens when it rains in the rainforest? Mist. The forest took on a whole different and very beautiful appearance.

In the rain, I quick marched for about three kilometres back to the car park and dry clothing. Then I was off to the caravan park for the night and a hot shower.

Day 2

Mt Perseverance Circuit
Today it was back to the usual beautiful Queensland weather with no signs of rain.  While yesterday I did the official trails, today I am going to do a trail only found in the book: Take a walk in SE Queensland.

Because it’s not an official hike, finding the Mt Perseverance Circuit became the biggest issue of the day and the entrance is not clearly marked. After driving along gravel roads for a while, I did eventually find it.  It’s near Lot 20. Ignore the old ‘keep out’ sign which near it as it relates to the paddock next to it.

The trail for the entire hike is a wide dirt track and is an easy grade through the rainforest for 7.5km.

About half way in, the dirt road climbs to Mt Perseverance. It’s not a hard climb and at the end there is a fire tower, but it’s a little anti-climactic as the tower is fenced off and the views are pretty sparse. I stopped for a break before continuing with the circuit. After another 45 minutes I returned to my van.  Over, a good stroll, but not a very exciting walk.

The Lone Trail Wanderer.

This weekend I’m heading to Mt Barney National Park where I have arranged to walk two different hikes.  Today, I am taking a group on a the casual walk to the Lower Portals, and then tomorrow, I am taking another group to climb the more intense Mt Maroon.

I organised to meet the group at the little township of Rathdowney.  Once we had all arrived,  we convoyed to the car park at the base of Mount Barney. As we drove we passed the rocky face of Mt Maroon, which beckoned me for tomorrow’s climb.

From the car park it’s 3.7km to the Lower Portals, a set of stony passages where water passes when it comes down the mountain. With Mt Barney above us to the south, we headed into the light forest on a rocky trail.

We climbed over small hills on the way through the forest. To be honest, other than the occasional view of Mt Barney through the trees, the walk wasn’t very interesting.

But the group made up for that and after 45 minutes we stopped at a rocky stream for a break.

After our break we crossed the stream and walked south along the bank for another 10 minutes before trail ended abruptly.

Massive boulders blocked our path further along the stream and we figured we had reached the Lower Portals.  It was all very anticlimactic.

Until… We located a gap in one of the rocks and climbed up through it.

Like a secret garden, the true beauty of the Lower Portals appeared. Beyond the boulders and perhaps a dozen metres along, the stream opened up to a pool with a gorge on the far side.  And at the far end of the small gorge, the Lower Portals.

The tall rocky sides of the gorge were beautiful as a backdrop to the pool and stream.

We hung around for half an hour more, taking in the views, before returning along the same trail to the car park.

Tomorrow, Mt Maroon.

The Trail Wanderer.

Today was my second day in the Bunya Mountains and after sleeping the night in my van, I was up early and preparing for two 4-hour hikes followed by a 3-hour drive home.

Today’s hikes run into each other at the Cherry Plains Lookout and could be combined, but I chose to separate them and stop for lunch in between.

Map is owned by and used with courtesy of Queensland Government.  Please visit that site for more detailed information on hiking in this region.

Westcliff and Cherry Plain Lookouts – 11.4km
This hike begins at Paradise Carpark, an area I came close to on yesterday’s hike past Paradise Falls. Yesterday’s hike was on the northern side of the Bunya Mountains, today’s hikes are both on the southern side.

The walk began in a forest similar to yesterday’s.  I quickly came to a place called Little Pocket, a small glade in the middle of the forest.  It would make a great place to camp or for a picnic.

The trail continued on the other side of the pocket with many ferns growing on either side. The trail meandered through the forest with the typical sound of the whip birds singing to each other.

A slanted, tree laden cliff face dropped away on my left giving vegetation obscured views of the plains to the south heading to Toowoomba. I soon arrived at the Westcliff Lookout which gave me clearer views of the plains.

I walked back into the forest and eventually came to a burned area with new green shoots. The land is hardy and while I think this was burned as part of Queensland’s back burning campaigns for the dry summers, it’s always amazing to see the new green shoots pushing up through the blackened ground. At the far side of the of the area I emerged into the Westcott Camping area where I’d spent the night.

I continued along the trail and headed downhill towards the Koondali Lookout and then on to the Valley View Lookout.  Both gave the same sprawling views to the south.

The trail led back into the forest, but this time the vegetation along the sides had changed. The ferns had been replaced with the sharp spiky leaves of stinging nettles and cacti. I’m glad I wore long pants today! The trail eventually winds its way back towards the road. So far much of the walk had been fairly flat or slowly heading down, not what I expected in the mountains.

When I got back to the road, I followed it towards Paradise Carpark, some 3.5 km away. This turned out to be the hardest part of the hike as the road climbs steep hills directly to the carpark. The trail is suggested to take 4.5 hours, but it only took me 2.5.

Mount Kiangarow and Cherry Plain Circuit – 10.7km
I drove from Paradise Carpark to Burton’s Well Carpark and stopped for lunch. I then set out along the trail which quickly came to a junction at the bottom of Mount Kiangarow, the tallest mountain in the National Park. While it didn’t take long to climb the 1.1km trail, it was actually nice to be climbing something, albeit rather gently.

At the top the lookout is rather small with only a slim area to view from. A little disappointing, but you often get that.

Back at the junction I headed south and then east along the cliff line. As per the end of the last hike, the vegetation at the side of the path was mainly nettles around the trees. The path again headed downwards, this time a little more apparent than earlier today.

The Ghinghoin Lookout gave the same views south as much of the other lookouts.  The trail then began to climb, not harshly, just long enough to keep the body working. While walking around the edge of the cliff, a bluff came into view and I could see a lookout platform on it.  It was not a harsh climb, but after 16km of walking today my legs were starting a quiet burn.

The lookout was surprising easy to get to and I sat for a moment to give my legs some time before heading back up along the path. My last stop before the road was the Cherry Plain Lookout which was overgrown and I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking out over.

The trail then joined the one I’d walked this morning and made its way for 1km to the road. This time I only had 2.4km of road to walk but again it was the steepest and hardest part of the hike.

I arrived back at the van ready for my trip home.

Overall, the Bunya Mountains are a beautiful place to walk with greatly varying vegetation depending on which side of the mountains you are on.

Next weekend I’m heading off to Crows Nest National Park.

The Lone Trail Wanderer