Why this ride
A 437 km round trip from Nimbin - roughly 7 h 31 in the saddle. On the way it passes Amaroo Flora Reserve, Springbrook National Park, Lamington National Park and back through Springbrook National Park.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Nightcap National Park and Lamington National Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 437 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 31
- 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. 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 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 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Springbrook National Park.
3. Springbrook National Park
South of the Gold Coast, the land rises suddenly into a plateau of ancient rainforest, waterfalls and cliffs, and this is Springbrook. The plateau is about nine hundred metres high, and it is what remains of the huge Tweed shield volcano, which erupted some twenty-three million years ago and left a vast eroded caldera, with Mount Warning as its central plug. The rim of the caldera forms the Scenic Rim around it, and Springbrook's cliffs and gorges are part of that rim. It is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a World Heritage area, and its cool, wet forest is a startling contrast to the beaches and high-rises thirty minutes away.
Read the complete Springbrook National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 148 km into the recorded legs you reach Springbrook National Park. Next is Lamington National Park.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Springbrook National Park.
5. back through Springbrook National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Springbrook 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 Springbrook National Park sits at 291 km, about halfway. Next is back through Amaroo Flora Reserve.
6. 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 comes up about 373 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nightcap National Park.
7. 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
Nightcap National Park closes the day.
Leg by leg
Nightcap National Park to Amaroo Flora Reserve
Nightcap National Park → Amaroo Flora Reserve is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Amaroo Flora Reserve to Springbrook National Park
Amaroo Flora Reserve → Springbrook National Park is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Springbrook National Park to Lamington National Park
Springbrook National Park → Lamington National Park is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lamington National Park to back through Springbrook National Park
Lamington National Park → back through Springbrook National Park is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Springbrook National Park to back through Amaroo Flora Reserve
back through Springbrook National Park → back through Amaroo Flora Reserve is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Amaroo Flora Reserve to Nightcap National Park
back through Amaroo Flora Reserve → Nightcap National Park is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.