Why this ride
The stops in between: Mount Clunie Flora Reserve, Spicers Gap State Forest, Burnett Creek State Forest and Gilbert State Forest. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
'Palen Creek' State Forest and Gilbert State Forest
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 530 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 11 h 12
- 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. '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
'Palen Creek' State Forest is where the day begins. Next is Mount Clunie Flora Reserve.
2. 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 comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Spicers Gap State Forest.
3. 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
about 127 km into the recorded legs you reach Spicers Gap State Forest. Next is Burnett Creek State Forest.
4. Burnett Creek State Forest
In the Scenic Rim, southwest of Brisbane, Burnett Creek runs down from the slopes of the Main Range toward the farmland around Boonah, and the state forest that bears its name covers a stretch of steep, wooded hills where eucalypt forest gives way, in the moister gullies, to subtropical rainforest. This is the edge of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a UNESCO-listed collection of rainforest reserves along the Great Dividing Range in Queensland and New South Wales, including the Border Ranges and the Main Range national parks. The rainforests here are remnants of the forests that covered the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, and they shelter plants and animals with lineages going back tens of millions of years.
Read the complete Burnett Creek State Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Burnett Creek State Forest, about halfway. Next is Gilbert State Forest.
5. Gilbert State Forest
West of Brisbane, the Great Dividing Range rises as a dark wall above the plains, and Gilbert State Forest sits on its western slopes, where the rainforest of the escarpment gives way to drier eucalypt woodland and the farmland of the Darling Downs. To the east lies Main Range National Park, with its high peaks and steep cliffs; to the west, the land opens out towards Warwick and the wide grain fields beyond.
Read the complete Gilbert State Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gilbert State Forest sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Burnett Creek State Forest.
6. back through Burnett Creek State Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Burnett Creek 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 Burnett Creek State Forest comes up about 352 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Spicers Gap State Forest.
7. 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
about 400 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Spicers Gap State Forest. Next is back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is 'Palen Creek' State Forest.
9. '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
The route ends here after 530 km.
Leg by leg
'Palen Creek' State Forest to Mount Clunie Flora Reserve
'Palen Creek' State Forest → Mount Clunie Flora Reserve is 70 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 Burnett Creek State Forest
Spicers Gap State Forest → Burnett Creek State Forest is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burnett Creek State Forest to Gilbert State Forest
Burnett Creek State Forest → Gilbert State Forest is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gilbert State Forest to back through Burnett Creek State Forest
Gilbert State Forest → back through Burnett Creek State Forest is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Burnett Creek State Forest to back through Spicers Gap State Forest
back through Burnett Creek State Forest → back through Spicers Gap State Forest is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Spicers Gap State Forest to back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve
back through 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 'Palen Creek' State Forest
back through Mount Clunie Flora Reserve → 'Palen Creek' State Forest is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.