Why this ride
On the way it passes Gambubal State Forest, Mount Barney National Park, Mount Chinghee National Park and Turtle Rock Environmental Park. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Main Range National Park and Turtle Rock Environmental Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1069 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 18 h 27
- 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. Main Range National Park
The Main Range is the wall behind the Scenic Rim, a long line of old volcanic cliffs and ridges that runs along the border between south-east Queensland and New South Wales. It is what remains of a huge volcano that erupted more than twenty million years ago, and the rocks have been eroded into steep escarpments, gorges and waterfalls, with the high points, such as Mount Superbus, reaching nearly fourteen hundred metres. The national park protects dry eucalypt forest on the lower slopes and cool, damp rainforest higher up, with ancient Antarctic beech trees and giant tree ferns that belong to the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, listed by UNESCO in 1986.
Read the complete Main Range National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Main Range National Park is where the day begins. Next is Gambubal State Forest.
2. 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 comes up about 160 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mount Barney National Park.
3. 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
about 288 km into the recorded legs you reach Mount Barney National Park. Next is Mount Chinghee National Park.
4. 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
Mount Chinghee National Park, about halfway. Next is Turtle Rock Environmental Park.
5. Turtle Rock Environmental Park
The Gold Coast hinterland is the green wall behind the beaches and high-rises of southern Queensland, and it is a steep, wet, forested country of ridges, gorges and waterfalls that climbs toward the New South Wales border. The nearby ranges belong to the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a UNESCO site said to protect the largest area of subtropical rainforest in the world.
Read the complete Turtle Rock Environmental Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Turtle Rock Environmental Park sits at 535 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mount Chinghee National Park.
6. 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
back through Mount Chinghee National Park comes up about 659 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Mount Barney National Park.
7. 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
about 781 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Mount Barney National Park. Next is back through Gambubal State Forest.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Main Range National Park.
9. Main Range National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Main Range 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 1069 km.
Leg by leg
Main Range National Park to Gambubal State Forest
Main Range National Park → Gambubal State Forest is 160 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gambubal State Forest to Mount Barney National Park
Gambubal State Forest → Mount Barney National Park is 128 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Barney National Park to Mount Chinghee National Park
Mount Barney National Park → Mount Chinghee National Park is 122 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Chinghee National Park to Turtle Rock Environmental Park
Mount Chinghee National Park → Turtle Rock Environmental Park is 125 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Turtle Rock Environmental Park to back through Mount Chinghee National Park
Turtle Rock Environmental Park → back through Mount Chinghee National Park is 125 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Chinghee National Park to back through Mount Barney National Park
back through Mount Chinghee National Park → back through Mount Barney National Park is 122 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Barney National Park to back through Gambubal State Forest
back through Mount Barney National Park → back through Gambubal State Forest is 128 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gambubal State Forest to Main Range National Park
back through Gambubal State Forest → Main Range National Park is 160 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.