For anyone wanting to get back to nature, camping in Girraween National Park is a great weekend trip. Located 260 Km south west of Brisbane, the pleasant drive passes Cunninghams Gap, Warwick and Stanthorpe. This part of the Granite Belt has plenty of great local produce and there are many fruit and vegetable stalls along the way to pick up supplies. There are also lots of wineries for those wanting supplies of a liquid variety.
There are two camping areas at Girraween, we chose the Bald Rock Creek Campground. The campground has individual tent sites with tables, chairs and a wood fireplace/ BBQ, (remember to bring your own wood as you cannot collect inside the national park). There is also a toilet block with hot showers, which were a welcome luxury for us, with the temperature dropping to -3 degrees while we were there. You can book online for the camp sites or register when you arrive, however long weekends and school holidays can get very busy so booking in advance is recommended.
There are 17km of walking tracks in the park; The Junction is an easy stroll along the beautiful Bald Rock Creek. It is so pretty and peaceful it would be easy to spend a whole day here, bring a picnic and in summer you can also paddle in the rock pools.
Bald Rock Creek, Junction Walk
The hike up the steep face of the granite outcrop known as The Pyramid is hard work but the views are spectacular and well worth the effort. Other walks include hikes to more rock formations such as the Sphinx and Turtle Rock. For those not able to walk far there is a short track near the day use area that takes in a small part of Bald Rock Creek.
Going up The Pyramid
There is plenty of wildlife; kangaroos can be seen around the cleared areas in the campgrounds and day use areas. Look out for possums and sugar gilders at night; make sure you don't leave food outside or unattended for long. The possums are sneaky and will try to steal it when you are not looking as we discovered while making damper. During the day the campsites also attract magpies and kookaburras, we lost one piece of bacon to a swooping kookaburra that took it from the BBQ while we were cooking breakfast.
Watch your food they are quick to grab it
Girraween National Park is an amazing place, perfect for a weekend away and well set up for city slickers like us to get back to nature. We will be heading back in spring when the wild flowers are in bloom. For anyone interested in visiting, the Queensland Environment and Land Management
Website has lots of useful information on Girraween and other Queensland National Parks.
