Why this ride
On the way it passes Spicers Gap State Forest, Telemon Environmental Park, Turtle Rock Environmental Park and Nightcap National Park. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mount Clunie Flora Reserve and Nightcap National Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 664 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 12 h 34
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Spicers Gap State Forest.
2. 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 comes up about 57 km into the recorded legs. Next is Telemon Environmental Park.
3. Telemon Environmental Park
The country south of Beaudesert, in Queensland's Scenic Rim, is a soft landscape of cattle paddocks, gum-lined creeks and wooded hills that rise steadily towards the volcanic ranges along the New South Wales border. Telemon Environmental Park is one of the small protected patches in these hills, near the resort village of Kooralbyn, a reminder of the open eucalypt forest that once covered the whole area.
Read the complete Telemon Environmental Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 136 km into the recorded legs you reach Telemon Environmental Park. Next is Turtle Rock Environmental Park.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Nightcap National Park.
5. 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 sits at 197 km, about halfway. Next is back through Turtle Rock Environmental Park.
6. back through Turtle Rock Environmental Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Turtle Rock Environmental Park comes up about 421 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Telemon Environmental Park.
7. back through Telemon Environmental Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Telemon Environmental Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 527 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Telemon Environmental Park. Next is back through Spicers Gap State Forest.
8. back through Spicers Gap State Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Spicers Gap State Forest, late in the day. Next is Mount Clunie Flora Reserve.
9. 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
The route ends here after 664 km.
Leg by leg
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 Telemon Environmental Park
Spicers Gap State Forest → Telemon Environmental Park is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Telemon Environmental Park to Turtle Rock Environmental Park
Telemon Environmental Park → Turtle Rock Environmental Park is 107 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Turtle Rock Environmental Park to Nightcap National Park
Turtle Rock Environmental Park → Nightcap National Park is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nightcap National Park to back through Turtle Rock Environmental Park
Nightcap National Park → back through Turtle Rock Environmental Park is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Turtle Rock Environmental Park to back through Telemon Environmental Park
back through Turtle Rock Environmental Park → back through Telemon Environmental Park is 106 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Telemon Environmental Park to back through Spicers Gap State Forest
back through Telemon Environmental Park → back through Spicers Gap State Forest is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Spicers Gap State Forest to Mount Clunie Flora Reserve
back through Spicers Gap State Forest → Mount Clunie Flora Reserve is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.