Burnett Creek State Forest and Border Ranges National Park

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Cronan Creek State Forest.

2. 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 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Border Ranges National Park.

3. 3. 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

   about 109 km into the recorded legs you reach Border Ranges National Park. Next is back through Cronan Creek State Forest.

4. 4. 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 Burnett Creek State Forest.

5. 5. 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 at Burnett Creek State Forest. That is the ride.