Why this ride
On the way it passes Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve, Gilbert State Forest, Mount Mistake National Park and back through Gilbert State Forest. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Border Ranges National Park and Mount Mistake National Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 667 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 11 h 30
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Border Ranges National Park
Twenty three million years ago a huge shield volcano stood over what is now the border between New South Wales and Queensland, and the Border Ranges are the remains of its northern and western rim. The volcano has long since eroded, leaving a vast caldera with the steep central plug of Wollumbin, also known as Mount Warning, rising in the middle, and a ring of cliffs and ridges around it covered in dense subtropical rainforest. The Border Ranges National Park protects a large part of that rim, and it is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a World Heritage Site that preserves forests whose ancestry goes back to the time when Australia was part of the supercontinent Gondwana.
Read the complete Border Ranges National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Border Ranges National Park is where the day begins. Next is Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve.
2. Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve
Nothofagus is the botanical name of the southern beech, and the name of this reserve gives away its treasure: stands of Antarctic beech growing high on the McPherson Range along the Queensland–New South Wales border. These gnarled, moss-covered trees, some of them centuries old and sprouting from root systems far older still, are living relics of the forests that covered Gondwana before Australia drifted away from Antarctica.
Read the complete Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve comes up about 108 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gilbert State Forest.
3. Gilbert State Forest
West of Brisbane, the Great Dividing Range rises as a dark wall above the plains, and Gilbert State Forest sits on its western slopes, where the rainforest of the escarpment gives way to drier eucalypt woodland and the farmland of the Darling Downs. To the east lies Main Range National Park, with its high peaks and steep cliffs; to the west, the land opens out towards Warwick and the wide grain fields beyond.
Read the complete Gilbert State Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 225 km into the recorded legs you reach Gilbert State Forest. Next is Mount Mistake National Park.
4. Mount Mistake National Park
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.
Read the complete Mount Mistake National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Mistake National Park, about halfway. Next is back through Gilbert State Forest.
5. back through Gilbert State Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gilbert State Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gilbert State Forest sits at 445 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve.
6. back through Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve comes up about 559 km into the recorded legs. Next is Border Ranges National Park.
7. Border Ranges National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Border Ranges National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Border Ranges National Park closes the day.
Leg by leg
Border Ranges National Park to Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve
Border Ranges National Park → Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve is 108 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve to Gilbert State Forest
Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve → Gilbert State Forest is 117 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gilbert State Forest to Mount Mistake National Park
Gilbert State Forest → Mount Mistake National Park is 108 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Mistake National Park to back through Gilbert State Forest
Mount Mistake National Park → back through Gilbert State Forest is 108 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gilbert State Forest to back through Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve
back through Gilbert State Forest → back through Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve is 117 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve to Border Ranges National Park
back through Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve → Border Ranges National Park is 108 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.