Why this ride
On the way it passes Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve, Gilbert State Forest, Burnett Creek State Forest and Spicers Gap State Forest. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Border Ranges National Park and Spicers Gap State Forest
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 672 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 14 h 06
- 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: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. 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 104 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 200 km into the recorded legs you reach Gilbert State Forest. Next is Burnett Creek State Forest.
4. Burnett Creek State Forest
In the Scenic Rim, southwest of Brisbane, Burnett Creek runs down from the slopes of the Main Range toward the farmland around Boonah, and the state forest that bears its name covers a stretch of steep, wooded hills where eucalypt forest gives way, in the moister gullies, to subtropical rainforest. This is the edge of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a UNESCO-listed collection of rainforest reserves along the Great Dividing Range in Queensland and New South Wales, including the Border Ranges and the Main Range national parks. The rainforests here are remnants of the forests that covered the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, and they shelter plants and animals with lineages going back tens of millions of years.
Read the complete Burnett Creek State Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Burnett Creek State Forest, about halfway. Next is Spicers Gap State Forest.
5. Spicers Gap State Forest
Allan Cunningham, the botanist and explorer, found a way through the Main Range in 1827, and the gap that bears his name now carries the busy highway from Brisbane to the Darling Downs. A few kilometres to the south, Spicers Gap was the route that early drays and coaches used instead, because it offered an easier climb up the escarpment. The old road, built in the mid nineteenth century with stone retaining walls and drains that can still be seen, is now part of the Main Range National Park and the neighbouring state forest, and it is a fascinating relic of the pioneer days, with a historic cemetery and the remains of an old camping ground for teamsters.
Read the complete Spicers Gap State Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Spicers Gap State Forest sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through Burnett Creek State Forest.
6. back through Burnett Creek State Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Burnett Creek 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 Burnett Creek State Forest comes up about 394 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Gilbert State Forest.
7. 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
about 473 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Gilbert State Forest. Next is back through Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Border Ranges National Park.
9. 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
The route ends here after 672 km.
Leg by leg
Border Ranges National Park to Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve
Border Ranges National Park → Mount Nothofagus Flora Reserve is 104 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 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gilbert State Forest to Burnett Creek State Forest
Gilbert State Forest → Burnett Creek State Forest is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burnett Creek State Forest to Spicers Gap State Forest
Burnett Creek State Forest → Spicers Gap State Forest is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Spicers Gap State Forest to back through Burnett Creek State Forest
Spicers Gap State Forest → back through Burnett Creek State Forest is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Burnett Creek State Forest to back through Gilbert State Forest
back through Burnett Creek State Forest → back through Gilbert State Forest is 79 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 93 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 106 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.