Why this ride
627 km from Tallebudgera Valley to Tallebudgera Valley, about 10 h 50 of riding. On the way it passes Lamington National Park, Limpinwood Nature Reserve, Mount Chinghee National Park and back through Limpinwood Nature Reserve.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Springbrook National Park and Mount Chinghee National Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 627 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 10 h 50
- 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. 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
Springbrook National Park is where the day begins. Next is Lamington National Park.
2. 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 comes up about 101 km into the recorded legs. Next is Limpinwood Nature Reserve.
3. 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
about 194 km into the recorded legs you reach Limpinwood Nature Reserve. Next is Mount Chinghee National Park.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Limpinwood Nature Reserve.
5. back through Limpinwood Nature Reserve
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Limpinwood Nature Reserve sits at 418 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 526 km into the recorded legs. Next is Springbrook National Park.
7. 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
Springbrook National Park closes the day.
Leg by leg
Springbrook National Park to Lamington National Park
Springbrook National Park → Lamington National Park is 101 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 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limpinwood Nature Reserve to Mount Chinghee National Park
Limpinwood Nature Reserve → Mount Chinghee National Park is 120 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Chinghee National Park to back through Limpinwood Nature Reserve
Mount Chinghee National Park → back through Limpinwood Nature Reserve is 120 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limpinwood Nature Reserve to back through Lamington National Park
back through Limpinwood Nature Reserve → back through Lamington National Park is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lamington National Park to Springbrook National Park
back through Lamington National Park → Springbrook National Park is 101 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.