Mount Mistake has a name that sounds like an apology. It stands in the Great Dividing Range in south-east Queensland, in rugged country west of Brisbane, and the national park around it protects steep slopes of dry eucalypt forest and a handful of rocky ridgelines. The mountain is not a famous summit, and the park is not set up for casual visitors: this is the kind of bush where the main facilities are the road, the sky and your own sense of direction.
That is what makes it good for a rider who likes the quieter ends of the map. The nearest town is Laidley, about 26 km away and home to some 3,700 people, and the larger centre of Gatton, around 35 km off, has more shops and fuel. Kalbar and Plainland are in the same loose cluster, and this part of the Lockyer Valley is farm country: broad paddocks of lucerne, vegetables and cattle, with the range rising blue behind them. Fill the tank in Laidley or Gatton, since the roads that lead toward the park have nothing along them.
Expect narrow country roads, some of them tight and bumpy, with sections of gravel as you get closer to the range. After heavy rain, creeks can run over the road and the dirt becomes slippery, so check conditions before you set out, especially in the wet season from roughly November to March. Winter and early spring are far kinder, with dry days, clear air and cool mornings. The bush is full of life: wallabies, the occasional koala in the gums, and a noisy chorus of birds at dawn, with kookaburras and rosellas the usual suspects.
Do not underestimate the heat or the distance. In summer the temperature in the valley climbs quickly, and mobile coverage thins out as the road climbs into the hills. Carry water, tell someone where you are headed, and respect any closure signs, which are posted for fire danger and flooding. The Lockyer Valley is also where many Brisbane riders go for a Sunday run, so you may find a few other bikes on the better roads, and a pie and a coffee in a country bakery in Laidley or Gatton is the traditional reward at the end.