Why this ride
A 748 km round trip from Canungra - roughly 12 h 54 in the saddle. The stops in between: Amaroo Flora Reserve, Mount Chinghee National Park, Mount Barney National Park and Gambubal State Forest. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Lamington National Park and Gambubal State Forest
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 748 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 12 h 54
- 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. Lamington National Park
Ask anyone in Brisbane about Lamington and they will probably mention one of two roads, and both of them will make you work. The national park covers the high plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland side of the border, a huge expanse of rainforest, waterfalls and cliff-edged lookouts at the heart of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage area. It was named after Lord Lamington, a governor of Queensland at the end of the nineteenth century, who is said to have been less than thrilled to have a park, and later a cake, named after him.
Read the complete Lamington National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lamington National Park is where the day begins. Next is Amaroo Flora Reserve.
2. Amaroo Flora Reserve
Behind the coast of northern New South Wales, the Tweed valley sits inside the remains of an enormous shield volcano that erupted some twenty-odd million years ago. Erosion has carved away the centre, leaving a huge caldera, one of the largest in the world, with the steep, forested walls of the Border Ranges and the McPherson Range curving around it and the volcanic plug of Wollumbin, also known as Mount Warning, rising in the middle. The Amaroo Flora Reserve lies on the slopes of this landscape, part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a UNESCO site of scattered reserves along the Great Dividing Range.
Read the complete Amaroo Flora Reserve write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Amaroo Flora Reserve comes up about 93 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mount Chinghee National Park.
3. Mount Chinghee National Park
Mount Chinghee is one of those small national parks that most people drive past without noticing, which is a shame, because it guards a beautiful pocket of the border ranges. It lies near the head of the Albert River valley south of Beaudesert, close to the Queensland and New South Wales border, and like its neighbours it forms part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage area. The trees here are the same subtropical rainforest types that once covered much of the old southern supercontinent, hanging on in the wetter folds of the ranges.
Read the complete Mount Chinghee National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 189 km into the recorded legs you reach Mount Chinghee National Park. Next is Mount Barney National Park.
4. Mount Barney National Park
Mount Barney looks like it was put there to be argued about. The rugged double summit rises to around 1,350 metres, the second-highest peak in south-east Queensland, and its bare rhyolite crags stand out above the softer farmland of the Scenic Rim like a fortress somebody forgot to finish. Geologists will tell you it is the eroded core of an ancient volcanic system; locals will tell you it has humbled plenty of overconfident walkers. Either way, it is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage area, which stretches along the border ranges between Queensland and New South Wales.
Read the complete Mount Barney National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Barney National Park, about halfway. Next is Gambubal State Forest.
5. 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 sits at 375 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mount Barney National Park.
6. back through Mount Barney National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Barney National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mount Barney National Park comes up about 471 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Mount Chinghee National Park.
7. back through Mount Chinghee National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Chinghee National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 562 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Mount Chinghee National Park. Next is back through Amaroo Flora Reserve.
8. back through Amaroo Flora Reserve
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Amaroo 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 Amaroo Flora Reserve, late in the day. Next is Lamington National Park.
9. Lamington National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lamington 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 748 km.
Leg by leg
Lamington National Park to Amaroo Flora Reserve
Lamington National Park → Amaroo Flora Reserve is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Amaroo Flora Reserve to Mount Chinghee National Park
Amaroo Flora Reserve → Mount Chinghee National Park is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Chinghee National Park to Mount Barney National Park
Mount Chinghee National Park → Mount Barney National Park is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Barney National Park to Gambubal State Forest
Mount Barney National Park → Gambubal State Forest is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gambubal State Forest to back through Mount Barney National Park
Gambubal State Forest → back through Mount Barney National Park is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Barney National Park to back through Mount Chinghee National Park
back through Mount Barney National Park → back through Mount Chinghee National Park is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Chinghee National Park to back through Amaroo Flora Reserve
back through Mount Chinghee National Park → back through Amaroo Flora Reserve is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Amaroo Flora Reserve to Lamington National Park
back through Amaroo Flora Reserve → Lamington National Park is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.