Tamborine National Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tamborine is a national park in Queensland (Australia), 45 km south of Brisbane.
[edit] Fact sheet
- Area: 11.60 km²
- Coordinates:
- Date of establishment: 1993
- Managing authorities: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
- IUCN category: II
[edit] Tamborine National Park
Tamborine National Park covers 11.60 km² on Tamborine Plateau and around its foothills. Tamborine National Park is located on Mt. Tamborine. The plateau is 8 km long, 5 km wide and rises to an altitude of 525 metres. The elevation of the plateau keeps the temperature down a little in summer although December to April is also the wettest time to visit. Winter is drier but also cooler.
The area is spattered with the 12 separate reserves which make up the National Park, interspersed with villages. There are a number of beautiful picnic areas as well as scenic drives and many bushwalks to such attractions as lookouts, gorges, cliffs, waterfalls, rainforest areas, wet eucalypt forest, open forest and woodlands.
Wildlife in the park includes lyrebirds, the elusive platypus, scrub turkeys, lorikeets, whip birds and bower birds. Camping is not pemitted but the area's many small settlements offer a range of mostly small-scale cottage/bed-and-breakfast style accommodation.
The main areas to visit in the park are Joalah, Cedar Creek, The Knoll, MacDonald Park, Palm Grove and Witches Falls. All have picnic facilities and walking tracks. All but Cedar Creek have information centres, most have toilets and some have barbecues.
The Witches Falls section, on the western side of Tamborine Mountain village, became Queensland's first national park in 1908. The main walk here is the Witches Falls Circuit (3 km) which snakes down a steep slope through open forest into rainforest with cycad groves, seasonal lagoons, enormous strangler figs and palm groves, en route to the falls. An alternative way of seeing the falls is via the Beacon Road Track (4 km one way). Access is off Main Western Rd (also known as Tamborine Mountain Rd and Geissmann Drive).
On the eastern side of Tamborine Mountain village is the Palm Grove section of the park. The Curtis Road Track (1.2 km one way) links Curtis Rd and Palm Grove Avenue. The Palm Grove Circuit (1.4 km) passes through rainforest, strangler figs and palm groves. Curtis Rd runs off Tamborine Mountain Rd (in Tamborine Mountain) and Palm Grove Ave runs off Central Avenue in Eagle Heights.
In between, and to the north of Witches Falls and Palm Grove, is the Joalah section of the park which features the 1.5 km Curtis Falls Walk (return). It descends to a rock pool at the base of the falls, offering fine views of the basalt rock face. Brush turkeys can be seen along the Joalah Circuit (4 km), which links up with the Curtis Falls Walk. Access is off Eagle Heights Rd.
Also in Eagle Heights, adjacent the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens, is the MacDonald Park section. It has a rainforest circuit (2.6 km) wherein the plants are named. Access is off Wangawallan Rd.
The Knoll section of the park is located in the north-west of North Tamborine. It contains the Cameron Falls Circuit (3 km) which offers fine views, rainforest environs, open forest and the occasional black skink sunbathing on the rocks. Knoll Rd runs off Main St. The Tamborine Mountains Natural History Association Information Centre is also located in the village of North Tamborine and it is open from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. daily.
Heading north from North Tamborine, via Tamborine Mountain Rd, there is a turnoff into Cedar Creek Falls Rd. One of the most delightful walks in the whole Tamborine area is the Cedar Creek Circuit (3.2 km) which explores the creek's various cascades, rock pools and plant communities, such as open and dry rainforest and hoop pines. The falls tumble (gently rather than spectacularly) down into a gully. The 1.5-km Rock Scree Walk intersects with the circuit walk, for a potential detour.
