Bushwalks and walking trails in SEQ
South East Queensland Country Walks
Commencing on the New South Wales border with Queensland, the interstate highway allows direct travel to Brisbane. But it is by following the laid-back country roads and designated scenic routes that make traveling in this part of the state such a pleasure and the means to find the hidden secrets of back-country national parks and forest reserves.
The turn-off from the New England Highway to Girraween National Park is 26km south of Stanthorpe. The winding bitumen road continues further east through the Wyberba Valley to the park information centre.
Girraween National Park is a park of massive granite outcrops, balancing boulders and clear tumbling cascades. Golden wattles, yellow, red and purple pea flowers, dainty orchids and flannel flowers grow amid forests of red-gum, stringybark and blackbutt. Frogs, lizards and snakes rustle among the leaf litter. Brilliant turquoise parrots, yellow-tufted honeyeaters and superb blue wrens splash the granite-strewn countryside with colour, while red-necked wallabies, brush-tailed possums and spiny echidnas weave their way through the wonders of the woodland.
On occasions in some winter seasons, visitors to Girraween enjoy the rare thrill of seeing snow falling in Queensland, while the extraordinary rugged beauty and isolation of Sundown National Park is definitely worth the time to explore and enjoy.
Continue to take the back roads on through Warwick and Toowoomba and into the South Burnett and the chance to enjoy the walks through forests of giant bunya pines in the Bunya Mountains National Park.
This is a part of Queensland where a visit should not be hurried. Take the time to enjoy the catalogue of national parks and state forests that have been preserved over many generations. It is also a combined area where an appreciation can be made on how the changing seasons of the year have a direct effect on the environment.
From the high country around Stanthorpe to the rugged mountains and ranges in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast to the grazing plainlands of the South Burnett, these national parks reflect the variety of experiences that can be enjoyed at different times of the year across this region.
