Queen Mary Falls circuit, Main Range National Park
Take a leisurely stroll through changing forests to the top, and then the base, of spectacular Queen Mary Falls.
If it’s been a while since your sense of wonder had a workout, it’s time to take it, along with sturdy shoes and a shady hat, on a trip to Southern Queensland Country.
If it’s been a while since your sense of wonder had a workout, it’s time to take it, along with sturdy shoes and a shady hat, on a trip to Southern Queensland Country. Days spent wandering ancient forests, nights staring at an ocean of stars, or a week camping beside a sleepy creek will remind you we never outgrow our fascination with the natural environment, and the outdoors is the best place to connect – with ourselves and the people we love.
For walks like this
Part of the Great Dividing Range, the Bunya Mountains is calling you for that break you know you need. Although it’s an easy drive from Brisbane, a couple of days makes for a super-relaxed escape. Looking for an easy walk to get started? The 4km Scenic Circuit Track is a great introduction to the Bunyas (although you might have to share it with spot wallabies and red-necked pademelons). Another beautiful walk is the 5.4km Barkers Creek Lookout Trail, taking in views of Paradise Falls, Little Falls and Big Falls. Fishers Lookout is a lovely spot to watch the sunset, and it’s worth lingering for the fireflies which can be seen after dark from October to November.
For landscapes like this
Photos of family holidays at Girraween have filled albums, frames and phones for generations, and it’s little wonder. A Three-hour drive south-west of Brisbane, Girraween National Park is loved for its precariously balanced boulders, silvery grasslands and outrageously colourful springtime wildflowers. Walkers can explore more than 30km of tracks and campers can pitch a tent in one of two spacious, shady campgrounds while picnickers can enjoy the day-use area at Bald Rock Creek. Beyond the park, there are more campgrounds and a range of cottages, inns and wilderness lodges, all designed to make the most of the environment that drew you here.
For wildlife like this
On the edge of the Great Dividing Range, Crows Nest National Park is all about cascading creeks, granite outcrops, and a eucalypt forest of ancient stringybarks, bloodwoods and ironbarks. Together, they’re home to platypus, swamp wallabies, echidna, bandicoots, lace monitors, countless bird species and the rare brush-tailed rock-wallaby. Humans also find the park a haven, escaping their stresses by camping, walking and picnicking under dappled shade, relaxing by creeks and being awestruck by Crows Nest Falls, which tumbles 20m into the waterhole below.
For rainforests like this
Breathtaking mountain peaks, spectacular escarpments and ridges populated by rare and endangered native animals, all an hour’s drive west of Brisbane make Main Range National Park one of Southern Queensland Country’s best-loved national parks. As part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage area, you’ll feel its timelessness as soon as you breathe in the crisp, cool air of the forest. Camping areas in the Spicers Gap and Goomburra sections of the park are an antidote to city and suburban stress, with remote areas accessible only by walking trail taking you even further away from the pressures of the real world.
For colour like this
Who knew crops could be so beautiful? A well-timed trip through the agricultural areas of South Queensland Country serves up a feast of colour. For ‘golden hours’ just made for the #gram, head for the wheatfields from mid-September and into October. Around Easter, just before harvesting, the cotton fields around Goondiwindi turn the landscape into mind-bending fields of snowy-white; while orange-y coloured sorghum flowers conveniently grow to car-window height around late February and early March. If you’re keen to see what more of the grow-show, you’ll also see stunning sorghum fields around Dalby, Chinchilla and Tara.
For skies like this
On the Queensland-New South Wales border, 250km southwest of Brisbane is Sundown National Park. Characterised by towering ridges and steep-sided gorges, its rugged wilderness will soften the edges of even the most stressed-out city-dweller, so pack your walking boots and prepare to exhale. The world will look different after the half-day walk from Burrows Waterhole to Rats Castle or into Ooline creek. Even a single night spent watching the starry skies will make you feel calmer and more connected.
For waterfalls like this
There’s something irresistible about a waterfall, and in Queensland, where rainfall can be sometimes unpredictable, the sight of water tumbling from heights is one to treasure. Southern Queensland Country’s recreation areas and national parks are a happy hunting ground for waterfall lovers. Killarney’s Falls are fantastic, particularly after summer rain; take Spring Creek Road to access three plunge waterfalls; or discover Queen Mary Falls, where it’s well worth the 45-minute walk from the park entrance to admire the 40m drop. Or just 30 minutes’ drive from Toowoomba, there’s Crows Nest Falls in the national park; after admiring the 20m spectacle, cool off in the Cascade and Kauyoo Pools. For a proper swim, head for the Aracauria Falls in Main Range, named after the towering hoop pines ling the short track leading to the deep, cool pool.
For waterways like this
Lazy days by inland lakes and lagoons are a quintessential Australian experience, and the Toowoomba region and the Western Downs region have some beauties. Lake Cooby, just half an hour from the Toowoomba is many locals’ pick for canoeing, kayaking and just cooling off on hot days. South-west of Dalby is Lake Broadwater, a conservation park where the shallow wetlands are a magnet for birds and a wonderful spot for tired humans wanting to watch the sun set over water. This farming region also has a number of weirs which, along with supplying water for cropping, provide welcome places for swimming, fishing and snoozing beneath blue skies and gum trees – try Cecil Plains, Condamine Weirs and Caliguel Lagoon near Chinchilla Weir.
Moments like these are made when people come together somewhere beautiful, fascinating, calm and clear … that’s Southern Queensland Country.
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