A mere 12 kilometres from Brisbane, approximately 35,000 hectares of protected bushland is waiting to be discovered.
Brisbane Forest Park, also known as D'Aguilar National Park is home to a variety of wildlife and activities for the whole family. The area is home to subtropical rainforests, gorges, eucalypt woodlands and lookouts which offer views to Moreton Bay and the islands.
The South East Queensland Wildlife Centre at Walkabout Creek is home to a multitude of Queensland's fauna including platypus, lung fish, birds and reptiles. Even wallabies make their home at Walkabout Creek. The centre is open between 9am and 4:30pm seven days a week and costs from $2.85 to enter. The
Green Tree Frog Café at Walkabout Creek is open from 9am to 2pm each day and provides light refreshments and meals.
For outdoorsy type people, the park offers a variety of walking trails as well as horse riding and mountain biking on dedicated trails. The majority of the walking trials require a reasonable level of fitness and ankle supporting footwear as a minimum and take from 45 minutes to complete. From Walkabout Creek, two walking trails, Corymbia Circuit and Araucaria Trail will showcase the wide variety of natural habitat that exists in the park. From the Boombana lookout, the 1km Pitta Circuit weaves around a loop that meanders through open eucalypt forest to subtropical rainforest. The highlight of this trail is the 300 year strangler fig.
Picnic and barbecue facilities are available at many of the park's lookouts which offer spectacular views of Brisbane and Moreton Bay. Bellbird Grove, Camp Mountain Lookout, Jolly's Lookout and Boombana are all accessible by two wheel drive vehicles from Walkabout Creek and provide impressive views of Brisbane as well as access to walking trails.
For people who believe that legs were made for accelerator and clutch pedals, there are many scenic drives that can be taken in two wheel drive cars throughout the park. The Mt Nebo Road drive winds it way through eucalypt forest to Mt Glorious and visitors can stop at one or all of the lookouts along the way.
To make a weekend of it, camping is allowed in Brisbane Forest Park. The park can be accessed from Mt Nebo Road if driving from The Gap or Samford Road if travelling via Samford.
BUZ385 stops directly outside the park.
Images & Video
Video of a platypus at Walkabout Creek Wildlife Center
Gallery of images from the Wildlife Centre
Mountain biking in Brisbane Forest Park (video)
Brisbane Forest Park
View of Samford from Jollys Lookout
Parking and picnic area at Jollys Lookout
