Why this ride
It goes by way of Cronan Creek State Forest, Burnett Creek State Forest, Gambubal State Forest and Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Border Ranges National Park and Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 504 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 41
- 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 Cronan Creek State Forest.
2. Cronan Creek State Forest
Cronan Creek runs off the slopes of Mount Barney, one of the great peaks of the Scenic Rim, the arc of mountains along the Queensland and New South Wales border southwest of Brisbane. Mount Barney rises to over thirteen hundred metres, a rugged mass of volcanic rock covered in eucalyptus forest, with rainforest in the gullies and heathland near the summit, and it is the most challenging climb in southeast Queensland. The creek valley below is quiet and lovely, with clear water running over rocks, tall gums and grassy flats where wallabies graze at dusk.
Read the complete Cronan Creek State Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cronan Creek State Forest comes up about 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is Burnett Creek State Forest.
3. 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
about 122 km into the recorded legs you reach Burnett Creek State Forest. Next is Gambubal State Forest.
4. Gambubal State Forest
Gambubal State Forest clings to the western side of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, close to the New South Wales border, in country that drops from rainforest-clad ridges down to the grazing land around Killarney and Warwick. The forest adjoins Main Range National Park and belongs to the wider belt of subtropical and temperate rainforest protected as part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia. Hoop pine, ancient Antarctic beech on the highest ridges, tree ferns and strangler figs give it a feel of deep time, and it is one of the cooler corners of Queensland in summer.
Read the complete Gambubal State Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gambubal State Forest, about halfway. Next is Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve.
5. Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve
The Border Ranges are where Queensland leans against New South Wales, and Wilsons Peak, a rocky summit on the line between the two states, is part of that tumbled wall. The flora reserve around it protects a patch of high, cool forest on the old volcanic ranges, and it is one of those places that the wider world mostly forgets. The land here was shaped by the huge Tweed volcano, which erupted for millions of years, leaving behind a circle of mountains and deep valleys.
Read the complete Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve sits at 252 km, about halfway. Next is back through Gambubal State Forest.
6. back through Gambubal State Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gambubal 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 Gambubal State Forest comes up about 294 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Burnett Creek State Forest.
7. 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
about 377 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Burnett Creek State Forest. Next is back through Cronan Creek State Forest.
8. back through Cronan Creek State Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cronan 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 Cronan Creek State Forest, 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 504 km.
Leg by leg
Border Ranges National Park to Cronan Creek State Forest
Border Ranges National Park → Cronan Creek State Forest is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cronan Creek State Forest to Burnett Creek State Forest
Cronan Creek State Forest → Burnett Creek State Forest is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burnett Creek State Forest to Gambubal State Forest
Burnett Creek State Forest → Gambubal State Forest is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gambubal State Forest to Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve
Gambubal State Forest → Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve to back through Gambubal State Forest
Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve → back through Gambubal State Forest is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gambubal State Forest to back through Burnett Creek State Forest
back through Gambubal State Forest → back through Burnett Creek State Forest is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Burnett Creek State Forest to back through Cronan Creek State Forest
back through Burnett Creek State Forest → back through Cronan Creek State Forest is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cronan Creek State Forest to Border Ranges National Park
back through Cronan Creek State Forest → Border Ranges National Park is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.