Turtle Rock Environmental Park and Main Range National Park
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
1067 km
Riding-time estimate
18 h 25
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.
1067 km from Tallebudgera Valley to Tallebudgera Valley, about 18 h 25 of riding. On the way it passes Mount Chinghee National Park, Mount Barney National Park, Gambubal State Forest and Main Range National Park. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Turtle Rock Environmental Park
The Gold Coast hinterland is the green wall behind the beaches and high-rises of southern Queensland, and it is a steep, wet, forested country of ridges, gorges and waterfalls that climbs toward the New South Wales border. The nearby ranges belong to the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a UNESCO site said to protect the largest area of subtropical rainforest in the world.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Turtle Rock Environmental Park 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Chinghee National Park comes up about 125 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mount Barney National Park.
3. Mount Barney National Park
Mount Barney looks like it was put there to be argued about. The rugged double summit rises to around 1,350 metres, the second-highest peak in south-east Queensland, and its bare rhyolite crags stand out above the softer farmland of the Scenic Rim like a fortress somebody forgot to finish. Geologists will tell you it is the eroded core of an ancient volcanic system; locals will tell you it has humbled plenty of overconfident walkers. Either way, it is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage area, which stretches along the border ranges between Queensland and New South Wales.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 246 km into the recorded legs you reach Mount Barney National Park. Next is Gambubal State Forest.
4. Gambubal State Forest
Gambubal State Forest clings to the western side of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, close to the New South Wales border, in country that drops from rainforest-clad ridges down to the grazing land around Killarney and Warwick. The forest adjoins Main Range National Park and belongs to the wider belt of subtropical and temperate rainforest protected as part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia. Hoop pine, ancient Antarctic beech on the highest ridges, tree ferns and strangler figs give it a feel of deep time, and it is one of the cooler corners of Queensland in summer.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gambubal State Forest, about halfway. Next is Main Range National Park.
5. Main Range National Park
The Main Range is the wall behind the Scenic Rim, a long line of old volcanic cliffs and ridges that runs along the border between south-east Queensland and New South Wales. It is what remains of a huge volcano that erupted more than twenty million years ago, and the rocks have been eroded into steep escarpments, gorges and waterfalls, with the high points, such as Mount Superbus, reaching nearly fourteen hundred metres. The national park protects dry eucalypt forest on the lower slopes and cool, damp rainforest higher up, with ancient Antarctic beech trees and giant tree ferns that belong to the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, listed by UNESCO in 1986.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 1067 km.
Leg by leg
Turtle Rock Environmental Park to Mount Chinghee National Park
Turtle Rock Environmental Park → Mount Chinghee National Park is 125 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Chinghee National Park to Mount Barney National Park
Mount Chinghee National Park → Mount Barney National Park is 121 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Barney National Park to Gambubal State Forest
Mount Barney National Park → Gambubal State Forest is 128 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gambubal State Forest to Main Range National Park
Gambubal State Forest → Main Range National Park is 160 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Main Range National Park to back through Gambubal State Forest
Main Range National Park → back through Gambubal State Forest is 160 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gambubal State Forest to back through Mount Barney National Park
back through Gambubal State Forest → back through Mount Barney National Park is 128 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Barney National Park to back through Mount Chinghee National Park
back through Mount Barney National Park → back through Mount Chinghee National Park is 121 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Chinghee National Park to Turtle Rock Environmental Park
back through Mount Chinghee National Park → Turtle Rock Environmental Park is 125 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.