Explore Queensland National Parks

Camping permit required and fees apply for NPRSR campsites; bookings essential

From Brisbane via the Pacific Hwy to Nerang then via Canungra to O'Reilly's or via Beechmont to Binna Burra; narrow, winding mountain roads unsuitable for caravans

The World Heritage–listed Lamington National Park, cresting the McPherson Range, is renowned for its natural beauty, panoramic views, lush rainforests, ancient trees, picturesque waterfalls, prolific birdlife and over 150 kilometres of well-maintained walking trails. It is also famous for two exceptional guesthouses, where hospitality is combined with informative activities aimed to give all who stay there an appreciation of the precious environment.

About two hours' drive south of Brisbane, Lamington is one of the best-known and most visited national parks in Queensland. Declared in 1915, it was named in honour of the then Queensland governor, Lord Lamington. The park is made up of two sections: Green Mountains, also known as O'Reilly after the well-known guesthouse; and Binna Burra, where guests can stay at Binna Burra Mountain Lodge.

Lamington National Park owes its existence to the foresight, dedication and perseverance of two men, Robert Collins and Romeo Lahey. Collins loved the McPherson Range and from 1878 he campaigned tirelessly to have it protected. After entering state parliament, Collins saw an Act passed in 1906 for 'the preservation of State Forests and National Parks' but he unfortunately did not live to see the McPherson Range become a national park; he died in 1913. By this time Romeo Lahey, another local identity – who curiously belonged to a famous timber-milling family in the area – had taken up the cause. In 1915, after decades of lobbying, Lamington National Park was declared.

In 1911 Green Mountains was first settled by eight O'Reilly boys from two related families. They had travelled from the Blue Mountains in New South Wales and selected 100-acre dairying blocks on the McPherson Range. Later that year, the surrounding land was withdrawn from selection and set aside for inclusion in the proposed Lamington National Park. It stopped any further development of the area, and left the O'Reilly selections isolated and with little or no prospect of an access road. This prompted the construction of the Stockyard Creek Track, which led down the mountain into the Kerry Valley. For many years, packhorses were used to transport cream down to the valley and bring back supplies.

This historic track proved popular with visitors who were enchanted by the rugged beauty of the mountains. As early as 1915, the O'Reillys welcomed their first guests, boarding them in the family's slab hut on the banks of Morans Creek and in other huts. Interest in the area grew to such an extent that the O'Reillys decided to abandon dairy farming; instead they built a guesthouse on top of the mountain, which opened in 1926 to cater for the ever-increasing numbers of visitors making the strenuous ascent into the hinterland. The first guests rode up the mountain on horseback, a two-day trip from Brisbane.

The road that now links O'Reilly's with the town of Canungra was constructed by Romeo Lahey's family company, Lahey's Limited, in the mid-1930s. The company sawmill, located at Canungra, logged the forest of hoop pine that grew on the mountain. The road originally terminated about 6 kilometres from the guesthouse and visitors had to travel the rest of the way on horseback; it was completed in 1947. Bernard O'Reilly's discovery of the wreck and survivors of the crashed Stinson aircraft in 1937 (see feature, overleaf) received considerable publicity, becoming an integral part of local history, and further encouraging visitors to explore the wonders of Green Mountains.

Binna Burra Mountain Lodge, closer to the coast and set on the drier, northern side of the mountain, was established by Arthur Groom and Romeo Lahey at Mount Roberts in 1933. These men were pioneering conservationists and their vision was to create a place where people could stay and experience the rainforest. The original mountain cabins, built from hand-cut tallowwood slabs, are still in use although these days they are fitted with modern amenities.

Prior to European settlement, the Lamington region had been inhabited by the Yugambeh kinship group for thousands of years. Within this group, the tribes that lived closest to Lamington National Park were the Birinburra, Kombumerri, Wangerriburra and Migunberri people.

Following the arrival of Europeans in 1788, sealers and whalers destroyed vital food sources and spread smallpox and other diseases, well in advance of settlement. Logging activity damaged sacred areas and the clearing and settlement of the coastal plains prevented the traditional movements of the Aboriginal people. Evidence of their occupation has been found in various parts of the park, including the Kweebani (cooking) Cave near Binna Burra.

The national park stretches along the New South Wales–Queensland border, protecting the Lamington Plateau and its forested valleys in the McPherson Range, which rises to more than 1100 metres. The park lies on the southern side of the Scenic Rim, a crescent-like chain of mountains stretching from the Gold Coast hinterland to Mount Mistake. An incredible diversity of flora and fauna thrives on the rich basaltic soils of Lamington National Park, the result of the marked variation in rainfall and temperature due to the altitude and subsequent rain shadow cast by the high plateau.

Lamington protects one of the most diverse areas of vegetation in Australia, with rainforest, open forest and heathlands. Covering two-thirds of the park are several types of rainforest including the warm subtropical rainforest (in altitudes up to 800 metres) common in coastal areas of Queensland, and remnants of the cooler subtropical rainforest (above 800 metres) that blanketed Australia when it was still part of Gondwana some 50 million years ago.

The warm subtropical rainforest has a wide range of species, with hoop pines dominating the drier slopes. Vines, strangler figs, buttressed trees and epiphytes are common. Ancient Antarctic beech dominate the cool subtropical rainforest, with an understorey of ferns, mosses and tree ferns.

The rainforest is a refuge for 58 vulnerable, rare or threatened plant species. Heaths grow around the cliff tops. In the poor soils, open woodlands have Sydney blue gum and New England blackbutt, and ironbark in lower areas. There are pockets of open forest containing massive, old brush box trees.

Originally the Green Mountains area was covered in cool subtropical rainforest with roseleaf marara, pigeonberry ash, rosewood, red carrabeen and some brush box, hoop pine and eucalypt species. Many parts were clear-felled for pasture then later abandoned. New species colonised the cleared areas, along with the secondary rainforest communities that were gradually established. Of the latter, the most characteristic is blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon).

Lamington is regarded as one of the most important refuges for wildlife in south-east Queensland. The park's birdlife is prolific, strikingly coloured and incredibly tame. At the two mountain lodges, visitors can take guided walks to observe birds such as the satin bowerbird building its nest. Other birds include Australian king-parrots, crimson rosellas, regent bowerbirds, honeyeaters, eastern yellow robins and tawny frogmouths.

While out walking watch for that ubiquitous grounddweller, the brush-turkey, and another rainforest floor inhabitant, the logrunner – a gregarious quail-like bird that scratches vigorously amid the leaf and log debris. Other birds spending their life on the ground are yellow-throated and white-browed scrubwrens, the slow-moving noisy pitta and the Bassian thrush. Listen for the whip-cracking call of the eastern whipbird, and the brilliant mimicry of Albert's lyrebird. The park also protects 22 rare and threatened species such as the Coxen's double-eyed fig-parrot, the eastern bristlebird and the Richmond birdwing butterfly.

Small mammals include red-necked pademelons, common in the rainforest, whiptail and red-necked wallabies, often sighted in open forest areas, ringtail and brushtail possums, mountain brushtail possums known as bobucks, and sugar gliders. Long-nosed bandicoots are common as are numerous species of bat, including the white-striped free-tail bat and the little bent-wing bat. Reptiles include carpet pythons, redbellied black snakes, southern angle-headed dragons and the land mullet, the largest known skink. A number of species classified as rare include several skinks such as the rainforest cool-skink and the elf skink.

The Stinson rescue

In 1937, one of the great rescues in Australian aviation history took place in the thick rainforest of Lamington National Park. In February of that year, a Stinson plane disappeared on a routine flight from Brisbane to Sydney; it was thought to have disappeared off the coast of northern New South Wales. Unable to locate the site of the crash, rescue attempts were called off.

In reality the plane had come down in the rugged McPherson Range, in an area to the south of O’Reilly’s guesthouse. News of the plane’s disappearance arrived at O’Reilly’s guesthouse a week afterwards, and young Bernard O’Reilly set off on horseback to try and locate it. Using his bush skills, O’Reilly rode through dense rainforest for more than 30 kilometres. When the terrain became too rugged he continued on foot, clambering around the ridge tops, which normally afforded sweeping views of the valleys below. However, the mountains were shrouded in cloud and O’Reilly climbed higher to a lookout point. The swirling mists parted for a moment and a shaft of light fell on a scarred tree on a distant hillside.

Bernard arrived at the crash site to find two survivors, Joe Binstead and Sir John Proud. They had been there, suffering from shock and injuries, for ten days. O’Reilly, refusing to rest, set off for help, on the way discovering the body of Jim Westrey, a third survivor of the crash who had died while trying to get water from a creek. O’Reilly returned with a small group, including a doctor. In the great spirit of Australian mateship, a large group of local farmers worked tirelessly to cut 16 kilometres of track through the rugged jungle so the two survivors could be carried out by stretcher. The four victims of the crash were buried in a common grave at the wreck site and Jim Westrey was buried next to Christmas Creek.

Today it is impossible to walk to the crash site without an experienced guide, but O’Reilly’s offers guided walks on a regular basis. The heroic rescue is commemorated by a display of memorabilia at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Guesthouse and by a short film. Bernard O’Reilly, who died in 1975, told his tale in his book Green Mountains.

Lamington is also a refuge for some endangered frog species: Fleay's barred river frog, the giant barred river frog and the cascade treefrog. There are also rare species including the pouched frog, the green-thighed frog and the whirring treefrog, which has a distinctive call.

The only general-purpose campsite within the national park is in the Green Mountains section, where toilets, hot showers and drinking water are provided; take a fuel stove as no open fires are allowed. Bush camping is also permitted between February and November at designated walk-in sites, and dedicated campsites exist for hikers on the Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk. Advance bookings are essential and permits are required for all of these sites.

Surrounded by the national park but outside its boundaries are the two well-known resorts, O'Reilly's Rainforest Guesthouse at Green Mountains and Binna Burra Mountain Lodge. The latter also provides a campground. Elsewhere, there is a wide range of holiday accommodation in and around Canungra, Beechmont and other towns of the Gold Coast hinterland to the north of the park.

Both the Green Mountains and Binna Burra sections have visitor centres, a good first stop for any visit to the park. For lodge guests there are birdwatching tours daily and night-time tours by spotlight to see owls, glow-worms and other nocturnal creatures. Resident ornithologists will help you to find rufous scrub-birds and paradise riflebirds. The weather can change quickly so take warm clothing and raincoats.

ADVENTURE SPORTS At Binna Burra you can abseil down rocky crags and sheer cliffs, try a ropes course or soar through the forest in a flying fox, reputedly one of the longest rides of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

BUSHWALKING Lamington is renowned for its bushwalks. There are numerous trails, ranging from short half-hour strolls to the 54-kilometre Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk for serious bushwalkers. Walking guides with detailed track information are available from the visitor centres. A trail for vision-impaired people is located on private land near Binna Burra Mountain Resort.

Shorter walks from Green Mountains include the Rainforest Return Walk (1.4 km return, 30 minutes), which follows the Border Track for about 700 metres then returns past O'Reilly's botanical garden; the Morans Falls Track (4.6 km return, 1.5 hours, easy), which leads through rainforest to the 80-metre falls and the site of the O'Reillys' first hut, built on the mountain in 1912; and Python Rock Walk (3.4 km return, 1 hour, easy) along a sealed track, suitable for wheelchairs, which passes booyong and fig trees, large blackbutt in the open forest, and has views from Python Rock of Morans Falls, Castle Crag and Lost World.

Main Border Track (21.4-km one way, full day, difficult) links Green Mountains and Binna Burra, with the option for diversions along the way, and forms the first section of the Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk. At Binna Burra, short tracks include Rainforest Circuit (1.2 km return, 30 minutes, easy), a small loop track offering a good introduction to the rainforest; Caves Circuit (5 km return, 1.5 hours, easy) through open forest and rainforest, with great views of the Coomera Valley, and visiting two cave systems; Bellbird Lookout Track (2 km return, 1 hour, medium difficulty), which has some tough and steep sections but rewards with spectacular views of Ships Stern, Turtle and Egg rocks, and Numinbah Valley; and Tullwallal Circuit (5 km return, 1.5 hours, easy) through cool tropical rainforest, with the highlight being a stand of Antarctic beech, the northernmost limit of this species in Australia.

Those looking for a true hiking challenge can tackle the three-day, 54-kilometre Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk, which leads from Green Mountains, through Binna Burra, and out of the park towards Springbrook National Park. There are dedicated camping areas along the way.

PICNICKING The main picnic area at Green Mountains is popular for day visits on weekends and during holidays so even though toilets, tables and coin-operated barbecues are provided, it is a good idea to bring your own fuel stove and seating. The Binna Burra section has two picnic areas, with wheelchair-accessible toilets and picnic tables.

WALKING The Tree Top Walk (800 metres return, 20 minutes) at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, along a series of suspension bridges, takes you 16 metres above the rainforest floor. A climb up a ladder takes you to an observation deck (30 metres above ground) in a strangler fig above the walkway, allowing a magnificent view out over the rainforest canopy. Best viewing times are early or late in the day; entry is free.