Bushwalking Track Grading Classification
Grade 1 – Flat, well-formed track, no steps, 5 km or less. Clearly signposted. Suitable for wheelchairs with assistance.
Grade 2 – Formed track. May have gentle hills and some steps. Clearly signposted. No experience required.
Grade 3 – Formed track, some obstacles, 20 km or less. May have short steep hills and many steps. Some experience recommended.
Grade 4 – Rough track. May be long and very steep with few directional signs. For experienced bushwalkers.
Grade 5 – Unformed track. Likely to be very rough, very steep and unmarked. For very experienced bushwalkers with specialised skills. .
A number of Mountain Bike trails are being mapped as part of the Mountain Bike Mecca Project (www.mountainbikemecca.com.au).
The other information here is based on the Toowoomba Region Walks and Trails.
What to wear and pack
When out and about, it’s important to keep safe. Please remember to:
- Wear comfortable, protective footwear;
- Dress for the track conditions and weather;
- Wear a hat, sunscreen and insect repellent; and
- Carry plenty of drinking water.
CROWS NEST NATIONAL PARK
The area beside Crows Nest Creek has picnic tables, gas barbecues and toilets.
Walking Tracks
1. Crows Nest Falls lookout
2.1 km return. Allow 45 mins. At Crows Nest Falls, water tumbles over 20 m high granite cliffs. For your safety, stay behind the lookout barriers. Deaths have occurred here, and the risk of rock falls makes the area unsafe.
2. Crows Nest Falls via Kauyoo loop
Includes The Cascades, Kauyoo Pool, and Bottlebrush Pool. 2.7 km return. Allow 1 hour. At Kauyoo Pool, access is easy into shallow water. Steep crevices and slippery rocks lead to The Cascades. Watch your step, especially if the creek is flowing.
Bottlebrush Pool is the ideal place to enjoy a swim and relax. For your safety, never dive or jump into the water – it may be shallower than it looks or hide submerged obstructions
3. Koonin lookout
4.5 km return. Allow 1 hr 30 mins.
Koonin lookout gives a bird’s-eye view over the Valley of Diamonds and onto distant rolling hills.
Look along the way for intricate lichen patterns on rocks, striders on the water and ant trails in trees. The gorge is called the Valley of the Diamonds because the sun glints on the crystals in the granite.
Bush campground
Unpowered tent and caravan sites, toilets, fireplaces and boil-your-own-water bush showers. Firewood is not provided so bring your own clean, milled wood, or use a gas or fuel stove. Never collect wood from the national park. Bring your own drinking water.
Book online using the Queensland National Parks Booking Service. A booking is confirmed only when the appropriate fee is paid. Bookings can also be made by ringing 13 QGOV (137 468). Fee is $6.35 per person per night (Jul 2017).
Vegetation
The Crows Nest Falls section supports many species of eucalypts. Queensland Blue Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis, often a called Forest Red Gum, can be seen on the slopes between the picnic area and the Cascades. Smooth-barked, Rough-barked or Broad-leafed Apples Angophora spp. can often be found nearby. Creek banks support lusher vegetation of Weeping Bottlebrush Calliston viminalis, River She-oak Casuarina cunninghamiana and Swamp Mahogany Lophoston suaveolens. Wildflowers flourish and provide colourful displays in spring and summer.
Rare plants that occur: Kunzea flavescens, Correa reflexa, Leionema obtusifolia.
Animals
Open eucalypt forests support many species of native animals. At night, you could be lucky enough to see a Sugar Glider, Feathertail Glider or Greater Glider soaring between trees, or hear the antics of a Brushtail Possum. You might also see the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby grazing on steeper cliffs, or the dark-brown Swamp Wallaby closer to the creek.
Various birds feed on the nectar and blossoms of shrubs and trees. Look for the Pale-headed Rosella, Rose Robin, Eastern Yellow Robin, Grey Shrike-thrush, Blue-faced Honeyeater and Noisy Miner.
RAVENSBOURNE NATIONAL PARK
Both Blackbean day-use area and Cedar Block day-use area have wood-fired barbecues, toilets, picnic tables and shelter sheds.
Bring your own drinking water and clean-milled firewood or fuel stove. Camping is not permitted.
History
Local Aboriginal people and those traveling west to the bunya nut feasts in the mountains used the area extensively. You can still see places where they dug for yams. Red cedar Toona australis and other timbers were felled from about the 1860s. Cleared land was used for dairying and beef cattle grazing. The park was declared in 1922 and now covers 440 ha.
Gus Beutel lookout
Gus Beutel lookout National Park Rd Qld 
The lookout provides panoramic views over the range towards Brisbane, the Lockyer Valley and the Scenic Rim. A brass disc identifies the distant features. On a clear day you can see Mt Barney.
Walks
Various walking tracks allow you to view features of the rainforest and open forest. While the walks are short – only one is longer than a kilometre – you can spend a full day exploring the park.
Cedar Block self-guided walk
500 m circuit. Allow 15 minutes.
This short track starts at the bottom of the Cedar Block picnic area. Learn about the rainforest and history of the park from signs along the way.
Rainforest circuit
1.7 km return. Allow 40 minutes.
Large Sydney blue gums Eucalyptus saligna emerge through the rainforest canopy. In the understorey there are many attractive ferns, tree ferns and vines. Along the higher section of this walking track the remains of an Aboriginal yam-digging site can be seen.
Palm Creek circuit
3.5 km return. Allow 1 hour 15 minutes.
This track leaves the rainforest circuit and crosses Palm Creek – named after the piccabeen palms Archontophoenix cunningnamiana covering its steep banks. Look up into the canopy for epiphytes, including staghorns and orchids. Take the short side track to a small sandstone overhang.
Buaraba Creek
6.2 km return. Allow 2 hours.
This pleasant walk starts in the rainforest and then passes through open eucalypyt forest. It ends with a short descent into the cool and shady Buaraba Creek. Return along the same track. Please take drinking water.
Vegetation
Red soils of the park’s west and south-west support rainforest through which eucalypts emerge, including Sydney blue gum Eucalyptus saligna, pink bloodwood Corymbia intermedia and flooded gum E. grandis.
Plant life in the rainforest varies from palm groves and vines to an abundance of ferns, including stag horns and elkhorns. The canopy layer is often very dense and creates a cool, dark and moist atmosphere below. These conditions contrast with eucalypt forest found elsewhere in the park.
Sandy soils of the park’s eastern section support open eucalypt forest dominated by Blackbutt E. pilularis and Queensland Blue Gum E. tereticornis. Other eucalypts, she-oaks and wattles also occur.
Animals
More than 80 species of birds have been recorded in the park. Many, such as the Scaly-breasted and Rainbow Lorikeets, are found in both rainforest and open forest. Others are restricted to a particular vegetation: the Satin Bowerbird, Catbird and Black-breasted Button-quail are found in the rainforest, while the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo and Red-backed Fairy-wren inhabit open forest. The big fig at the Cedar Block area is full of pigeons when it is fruiting.
You can often see the Red-necked Wallaby and Swamp Wallaby grazing at the forest edge. You might also catch glimpses of reptiles and hear various insects. Listen for frogs, particularly on wet days.
The PALMS
This small park protects a remnant of palm-filled subtropical rainforest and vine forest in a spring-fed gully in the headwaters of the Brisbane River. Birds, frogs, and other wildlife can be seen or heard when you picnic or take a short rainforest stroll.
Three species of fruit bats are often seen roosting above the track.
Location
It may be accessed from the The Palms Road. The Palms National Park, Cooyar, Qld.
Geham Park
Formerly the Geham Forest Reserve Scientific Area, this Park was declared in 2006. It is 22 ha of native forest, with Sydney Blue Gum, Blackbutt and Tallowwood. It is heavily infested with lantana.
Geham National Park is site H1 on the Hampton Bird Trail.
Conservation purpose
The Blackbutt open forest is an endangered regional ecosystem that is poorly represented within the protected area estate in Queensland.
Location
Geham National Park Aberdein Rd Geham Qld
Geham National Park is in the Cooby Dam catchment area, part of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Hampton National Park
Formerly the Geham Forest Reserve Scientific Area, this Park was declared in 2006. It is 22 ha of native forest, with Sydney Blue Gum, Blackbutt and Tallowwood. It is heavily infested with lantana.
Geham National Park is site H1 on the Hampton Bird Trail.
Conservation purpose
The Blackbutt open forest is an endangered regional ecosystem that is poorly represented within the protected area estate in Queensland.
Location
It is accessible from McMullen Rd Hampton Qld.
Hampton National Park is in the Perseverance Dam catchment, part of the Brisbane River Catchment.