Where is a good place for overnight around Brisbane?

[ahmondjai]

Hi all,

I'm going to take my girl for her first camping trip in OZ hopefully next week, currently considering Girraween again (yes, I was there back earlier this month), but just wondering if there's any other place with ease of access and something to see about the land feature in and around Brissy for 2-3 hrs of drive~

[tomh]

Barney Lodge. I have stayed there many times, either camping or in their bunkhouses and can recommend. Flat grassed camping area with quality toilet/shower block. Close to Mt. Barney and its many walking routes, or behind the Lodge is Mt. Gillies, an interesting climb if you can navigate. About one and a half hours from Brisbane via Beaudesert and Rathdowney.
http://www.mtbarneylodge.com.au/

Tom

[ahmondjai]

Thanks Barney for the suggestion, but correct me if I'm wrong. I have an impression that camping in the commercially established campsite feels like camping in someone's backyard, it might even has all the facilities for convenience, but the feeling of camping can't be compared to those by DERM or bush camping. Although one of the deciding feature of Girraween was the hot shower it has.
Looking at the weather over in Girraween, it looks like it's going to rain for the whole weekend, so, I told the missus Girraween might not be an ideal place to be this time. And from the DERM website, there are other place such as:

D'Aguilar,
Crows Nest,
Mount Barney,
Amamoor State Forest and
Conondale National Park

around Brisbane, which have a fireplace beside the campsites, showers (cold....when I pointed that out, her face went ).
oh, well, I guess I can only hope for the weather god's mercy as she's really keen on the hot shower and the big rock over in Girraween.

[Rod]

Don't discount Mt Barney -it sounds as though your partner could do with a little luxury !
If you strike a quiet weekend it can be very pleasant out there .We camp on the 'downside' of the road in -you can generally feel as though you are not on top of anyone.The other advantage is that there is some grass and you can have your car next to your tent.The view up to the mountain from the campground is spectacular-more so than girraween in some ways .
Also the walking in the area is spectacular ..
Cheers Rod

[turtle]

Romantic - walk onto car ferry or the people ferry to Moreton Island and either go north to the camping ground or you used to be able to go south past Tangalooma and camp.
We camped to the south years ago and were almost next to the wharf at Tangalooma and walked up to watch the dolphins feed. If a first camp for your girl and all too much you can go into the resort and have a quick drink.

[facebox]

Springbrook or Lamington NP's
My fav. is Green Mountins - range of walks, car side camping, hot showers and can easy sneak up to O'Reilly resort for some modern comforts.

[ahmondjai]

I miss camping on Moreton, Turtle~ But without the possession of a 4WD, there isn't much place to go with her. I so miss the desert part of the island, big, little sand hills and the south east part of the tidal flats.
so, without the proper vechicle, we finally went to Crows nest. We depart Brisbane when the sun was still shinning, drove past the T-interesection at the bottom of Mt. Nebo and onto the winding roads towards the destination. While we were on our way there, the weather had changed dramatically, from a few clouds to pouring down. It had not stopped us as we decided at least to drive to the campground and have a look. Luckily, thanks to the modern day technology, we checked the weather radar from our fruit brand phone, as the last patch of storm passed, we set camp for the night there. Guess what, right after we got our tents set up, the star lights were allowed in. Oh, well~ anyway, she had fun that night, with campfires, along with the Hong Kong style BBQ (roasting food on the BBQ fork) to your own desired cook level and her first use of the equipment, she was more than satisfy and the best part, she's ready for some more~~

[turtle]

Glad you had a good time anyway.

Would love to do a walk round Moreton - have done the 4wd many times and it would have to be one of my favourite places on earth, Fraser equal but quite different.

Stradbroke is a nice way to ease someone into camping. The camp grounds at Amity Point are very pretty and never were as busy as the grounds at Point Lookout. Dolphins too. 2wd bituman all the way. The walks along the beach are magic. Haven't been over for several years and I heard the old pub at Point Lookout was pulled down for units. Ah progress.

[farkewie]

Hi,

I live in Brisbane, I really love going to In-skip peninsular (rainbow beach). I only have a conventional car but can always get a good camp spot, sometimes i carry the gear 50 meters to the beach (pretty much on the beach).

I also like MT Barney, if you walk in the main walk about 4K there are some good camps beside the creek, you can then shoot up the mt the next morning if your up for a challenge.

Stinsons campsite in Christmas creek rd in lamination national park is also nice for a night or 2 if you just want to relax and maybe walk to the wreck.

Green mountains is nice too, can do some day walks (and overnighters if your keen)

there is also a campsite a the brooyar state forest , this is more targeted people who plan on visiting many of the great climbing crags there

if want a nice easy overnight walk, it is nice to walk into the lower portals at barney and camp there. its about a 1hr walk nice flowing creek, can swim no fires though.

If i think of anymore ill post them,

[Cocksy_86]

Go to the South East Queensland Wildlife Centre and buy a topo map at the both for $10. It's a great map and it will give you all the fire trails, walking tracks, ranger tracks, forest types, water sources, and camping sites covering all of South D'Aguilar National Park. It's a really good map.

http://www.walkaboutcreek.com.au/index.html

From there you can do countless day walks or overnighters. The campsites there you can book online and they are awesome. There actually designed for overnight horse riding. At most there is a fire pit, watertank, and a shelter.

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/daguil ... il-map.pdf

I'd go down Taylor's Break Road and go up Cabbage Tree Road and spend the night at Dundas Bush Camp. That's a nice challenging hike that you'll probably not see anyone along the way. It's mostly open, eucalyptus forest but you get some dense bits here and there. You could also stop by Boombana walk to Jolly's Lookout. That's really nice.

Anyway, I've got heaps of hikes I've done in that National Park that's great. Let me know if you want anymore.

[pepperpots]

I really like Charlie Moreland and Broolumba Creek - these are in the Imbil State Forest. They are about 1.5 hours north of brisbane near Maleny.

See

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4003124

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/imbil/camping.html

And I've written a summary here: http://www.pepper-pots.com/?p=240

Enjoy!
Jon

[Cocksy_86]

My favourite is summitting Mt Samson. Just be prepared for lantana, lawyer vine, off track and steep climbs.

[ahmondjai]

Wow, Thanks for all those input guys~~ It's quite a list, but don't stop, keep them coming, and let them be in the knowledge base~
looks like I'm gonna need a larger pack~