Why this ride
On the way it passes Nightcap National Park, 'Palen Creek' State Forest, Mount Clunie Flora Reserve and Spicers Gap State Forest. Much of it runs through woodland.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Limpinwood Nature Reserve and Spicers Gap State Forest
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 681 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 12 h 24
- 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. Limpinwood Nature Reserve
Twenty-odd million years ago, a huge shield volcano stood where the Tweed valley is now, on what became the border between New South Wales and Queensland. Erosion has since carved out its centre, leaving one of the largest erosion calderas in the world, a vast bowl of green farmland ringed by cliffs and ridges, with the volcano's old central plug, Wollumbin, also known as Mount Warning, standing in the middle. Limpinwood Nature Reserve, on the northern rim of the caldera, protects a stretch of subtropical rainforest that is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site preserving forests whose lineage goes back to the ancient supercontinent.
Read the complete Limpinwood Nature Reserve write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limpinwood Nature Reserve is where the day begins. Next is Nightcap National Park.
2. Nightcap National Park
Nightcap National Park covers a high, wet plateau and escarpment north of Lismore in New South Wales, the remains of the rim of an ancient volcano centred on Wollumbin, Mount Warning, whose eroded caldera forms one of the largest in the world. The plateau receives some of the highest rainfall in the state, and it is covered in subtropical rainforest, tall eucalypt forest and dramatic waterfalls, including Minyon Falls, which drops about a hundred metres over a cliff of volcanic rock. Nightcap is one of the Gondwana Rainforests reserves, and in 2000 it made headlines when scientists found a previously unknown tree, the Nightcap oak, surviving in only a few small populations here.
Read the complete Nightcap National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nightcap National Park comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is 'Palen Creek' State Forest.
3. 'Palen Creek' State Forest
State forests in Queensland do not always sound romantic, but Palen Creek earns a second look. It sits in the hills south of Rathdowney in the Scenic Rim, between the Logan River country and the border ranges, a mix of eucalypt forest, old timber land and gullies of rainforest that run up toward the New South Wales border. The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, which are listed by UNESCO, begin a few ridges away, and the wildlife does not care much about the boundary.
Read the complete 'Palen 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 206 km into the recorded legs you reach 'Palen Creek' State Forest. Next is Mount Clunie Flora Reserve.
4. Mount Clunie Flora Reserve
On the border between New South Wales and Queensland, the McPherson Range rises steeply from the farmland, its forested slopes and cliffs marking the rim of an ancient volcanic landscape. Mount Clunie Flora Reserve protects a patch of rainforest on these slopes near Woodenbong, part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a UNESCO site that preserves some of the oldest rainforests on earth. Here, in the cool upland forest, hoop pines and towering eucalypts mix with rainforest trees, and the forest floor is dense with ferns and mosses.
Read the complete Mount Clunie Flora Reserve write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Clunie Flora Reserve, 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 188 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve.
6. back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Clunie 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 Clunie Flora Reserve comes up about 397 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through 'Palen Creek' State Forest.
7. back through 'Palen Creek' State Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete 'Palen 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 467 km into the recorded legs you reach back through 'Palen Creek' State Forest. Next is back through Nightcap National Park.
8. back through Nightcap National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nightcap 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 Nightcap National Park, late in the day. Next is Limpinwood Nature Reserve.
9. Limpinwood Nature Reserve
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limpinwood Nature Reserve 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 681 km.
Leg by leg
Limpinwood Nature Reserve to Nightcap National Park
Limpinwood Nature Reserve → Nightcap National Park is 81 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nightcap National Park to 'Palen Creek' State Forest
Nightcap National Park → 'Palen Creek' State Forest is 125 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
'Palen Creek' State Forest to Mount Clunie Flora Reserve
'Palen Creek' State Forest → Mount Clunie Flora Reserve is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Clunie Flora Reserve to Spicers Gap State Forest
Mount Clunie Flora Reserve → Spicers Gap State Forest is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Spicers Gap State Forest to back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve
Spicers Gap State Forest → back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve to back through 'Palen Creek' State Forest
back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve → back through 'Palen Creek' State Forest is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through 'Palen Creek' State Forest to back through Nightcap National Park
back through 'Palen Creek' State Forest → back through Nightcap National Park is 129 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Nightcap National Park to Limpinwood Nature Reserve
back through Nightcap National Park → Limpinwood Nature Reserve is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.