Scrub Road & Black Soil Track Circuit: D'Aguilar National Park

Scrub Road & Black Soil Track Circuit: D'Aguilar National Park

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Posted 2018-05-17 by Roy Chambersfollow
Mt Nebo is a great place for hiking, with numerous interlinking hiking tracks, forest trails and fire trails . One nice circuit that you can do is the Scrub Road and Black Soil Track Circuit. This 15 km walk goes through gum tree forests, pockets of rainforest and some nice views.



Level of the hike

This is a well-signed hike, but the signs can be a little misleading in terms of level. Scrub and South Boundary Road are marked as easy, though in truth they are steeper than the easy hiking tracks you might see elsewhere in the region, so it is not a casual stroll. The Black Soil Track is steep, overgrown a little in sections with poor footing, yet is only marked moderate.

So I would say that this is a medium, not an easy hike. Though anyone who has done a little hiking will find it enjoyable, while fitter hikers will appreciate the ridges to help maintain their hiking fitness. Of course, less fit hikers will find the walk pleasant if they just go a little slower and rest more often.

Starting Point

There are two starting points for this hike off Mt Nebo Road. Generally most people will want to start at the Scrub Road Entrance, however, there is only enough off road parking here for one car, so the better option is often the Black Soil Track entrance where there is off road parking for more than one car.



Direction of the hike

I am going to describe the hike as done in a counterclockwise manner starting at the Scrub Road entrance. This puts the more interesting parts of the hike at towards the end of the hike, but I would lean towards starting at Black Soil Road and walking counterclockwise. These means you are heading up, not down the steeper sections and, depending on when you start, means you arrive at the Scrub Road Bush Camp in time for lunch.

Note on types of tracks

This hike is made up of 2 types of tracks, forest trails and fire trails. The forest trails are nicely maintained dirt roads that you would feel you could drive a town car down, and the fire trails are the rougher ones, really maintained only to give firetrucks access. This hike involves both forest and fire trails. Both are wide and so this makes the hike best done in the cooler months.

The Hike

Starting at the Scrub Road and waking in a counterclockwise direction, it is just a matter of following the scrub road sign. This hike is well signposted, but you can also easily follow the track using GPS as the trails are clearly seen on Google Maps because they are official roads, even though they are closed to traffic. Note: if you want to follow your phone's GPS, I would recommend pre-downloading the map of the area prior to starting the hike.



The walk is pretty straightforward. Most of this section of the hike is through eucalyptus bushland, with some patches of scrubby rainforest near creeks. The wide forest trails don't provide much shelter in the middle of day from the sun, so it is a great hike to do early in the morning, later in the afternoon or in winter.



There are no turns offs until you arrive at the Scrub Road Bush Camp. This really lovely camping spot permits fires (unless there is a fire warning) and has a rainwater tank, as well as a nice picnic shelter. You are unlikely to see campers, except early in the morning or later in the afternoon as most people camp while hiking through. There are maps here if you want to check your route. You can also leave a note in the book left at the shelter.



The campgrounds are at the end of scrub road and joins onto South Boundary Road. This forest trail goes from Lake Enoggera up to Boombana near Jolly's Lookout. Turn left onto this path and follow it. Nominally it should be heading down the mountain, but instead, it dips and rises in this area. It is a little steeper than most national park walking trails, but it is not too bad if you are fit or not rushing.



You will see a signed intersection marking the turn off to the Black Soil Track. You can't miss the turn off as it is the first side road you will encounter.



This fire trail was a little overgrown when I walked it and the track gets its name from the dark loamy soil of this section. The hike gets a little steeper here and the footing is less secure.



As the track heads up, you will get a few views over the hills and mountains of the area. There is no specific lookout, you will just be able to see the views from the track.



The track heads downhill from the crest with one creek crossing that is not too hard because people have placed logs for you to walk over. From the creek it rises again and continues until it reaches Mt Nebo Road.

From here, you turn left and you follow the Mt Nebo Road (fire) Break along the road back to the Scrub Road Entrance. This trail is well maintained by a little steep in sections.

After the hike

Often after a hike, people are looking for somewhere to go for coffee and cake. The two nearest cafes are Cafe in the Mountains at Boombana, not far up Mt Nebo Road, or the Walkabout Creek Cafe, both of which used to go by different names. On weekdays, I would be in favour of Walkabout Creek, but on weekends, especially in summer, it is almost impossible to park there.

Overall

An interesting 15 km walk just outside of the Brisbane area, which makes it a nice half day walk even starting at 8 or 9 am. So it should be interesting for fitter walkers looking to do some good hiking without going too far or people looking for something different in the Brisbane area.

#adventure
#jollys_lookout
#lake_manchester
#moreton_bay
#mount_nebo
#national_parks
#near_brisbane
#outdoor
#walks
#western_suburbs
%wnbrisbane
191955 - 2023-06-16 03:39:34

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