Why this ride
On the way it passes Spicers Gap State Forest, Nightcap National Park and back through Spicers Gap State Forest. Much of it runs through woodland.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
'Palen Creek' State Forest and Nightcap National Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 504 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 22
- 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 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 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nightcap National Park.
3. 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
about 252 km into the recorded legs you reach Nightcap National Park. Next is back through Spicers Gap State Forest.
4. 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 'Palen Creek' State Forest.
5. '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
Back at 'Palen Creek' State Forest. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
'Palen Creek' State Forest to Spicers Gap State Forest
'Palen Creek' State Forest → Spicers Gap State Forest is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Spicers Gap State Forest to Nightcap National Park
Spicers Gap State Forest → Nightcap National Park is 178 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Nightcap National Park to back through Spicers Gap State Forest
Nightcap National Park → back through Spicers Gap State Forest is 177 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Spicers Gap State Forest to 'Palen Creek' State Forest
back through Spicers Gap State Forest → 'Palen Creek' State Forest is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.