Why this ride
It goes by way of Mount Chinghee National Park, Telemon Environmental Park, Lamington National Park and Limpinwood Nature Reserve.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
'Palen Creek' State Forest and Limpinwood Nature Reserve
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 500 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 37
- 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. '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 Chinghee National Park.
2. 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 comes up about 52 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 116 km into the recorded legs you reach Telemon Environmental 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 Limpinwood Nature Reserve.
5. 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 sits at 251 km, about halfway. Next is back through Lamington National Park.
6. back through Lamington National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Lamington National Park comes up about 318 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 387 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Telemon Environmental Park. Next is back through Mount Chinghee National Park.
8. 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, 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 500 km.
Leg by leg
'Palen Creek' State Forest to Mount Chinghee National Park
'Palen Creek' State Forest → Mount Chinghee National Park is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Chinghee National Park to Telemon Environmental Park
Mount Chinghee National Park → Telemon Environmental Park is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Telemon Environmental Park to Lamington National Park
Telemon Environmental Park → Lamington National Park is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lamington National Park to Limpinwood Nature Reserve
Lamington National Park → Limpinwood Nature Reserve is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limpinwood Nature Reserve to back through Lamington National Park
Limpinwood Nature Reserve → back through Lamington National Park is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lamington National Park to back through Telemon Environmental Park
back through Lamington National Park → back through Telemon Environmental Park is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Telemon Environmental Park to back through Mount Chinghee National Park
back through Telemon Environmental Park → back through Mount Chinghee National Park is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Chinghee National Park to 'Palen Creek' State Forest
back through Mount Chinghee National Park → 'Palen Creek' State Forest is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.