Glasshouse Mountains

One of the good things about riding in the Glasshouse Mountains is that there are always more trails to discover. I never tire of exploring this huge scenic forest, only a stones throw from Brisbane’s northern suburbs.


We set out from Matthew Flinders Park under the brooding gaze of Tibrogargan.

I’m planning to bring a larger group of friends back here in a month or two. As we rode into the forest, I hoped we would be able to discover some new trails to use on our future rides.

The first part of our course followed familiar tracks through tall pine plantations towards the lookout.

We shared the trail with competitors in the “Glasshouse 100 Trail Run”. Some of these athletes were running up to 160km (100 miles) over two days. Their herculean efforts made our little jaunt in the forest seem miniscule by comparison. As we rode up some of the hills, runners overtook us.

“Gee it’s a bit of a worry when you ride a bike and can’t keep up with someone on foot” I commented.

But in our defence, the track up to the lookout is very steep. We had to push the bikes in places.

At the top of the hill we stopped at the lookout to enjoy the views.

At this point we made a change to the our previous courses through the forest and headed towards Mount Beerwah along Connection Road.

Crowds of people and cars lined the road to cheer on the runners. They kindly rang their cow bells and cheered for us as well. I’ve never seen so many excited people on Connection Road.

Mount Beerwah towered above us as we made our way northwards.

Eventually we left the main road and shot down a shady path between the pine trees.

A few years ago I stumbled upon this long snaking section of single track in the forest. It twists for about 6 kilometres along a creek, and is a lot of fun to ride.

This is one section of track I’d like to include in a future social ride. The smooth, shady track takes about an hour to complete as it meanders along the creek. It’s also popular with trail bike riders, so it’s important to keep an ear out for oncoming motor bikes.

We emerged from the forest near Trig Hill and took a few more minutes to enjoy the view and catch our breath.

At Millwood Road we met some riders from Bushranges MTB Club on their way back from Woodford. Whenever I meet other mountain bikers on the trail, they’re almost always smiling. I think we all secretly realize how lucky we are to be able to ride in such beautiful places.

As we headed south, some of the tracks got a bit muddier. In most of the places we were able to ride around the puddles, but in one or two spots we had to work a bit harder to avoid getting wet.

This little Quad Bike Rider passed us along the way. She showed amazing skill at getting those small wheels through the loose sand. I wouldn’t want to get in her way in few years time.

We met up with more trail runners as we rode back towards our starting point.

“Top effort, Superman” I yelled out in encouragement to a couple of runners.

“Wonder Woman” took a few seconds out from running to demonstrate her other super-powers 🙂

At Hennessey Hill we all enjoyed a few jumps at the downhill track.

From there we made our way back towards Beerburrum.

All up we rode about 43km in about four and a half hours.

I burned about 2,500 kcal and we climbed about 750m in vertical ascent.

This is a fun ride, close to home, which only requires half a day.

Although it has one or two steep bits, it can be enjoyed by people with a variety of skill levels.

It’s best done in the drier months, as this area can be punishing in wet weather.

I’ll rate it 6.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Thanks Jason, Kenny, Harvey and Os for a great day out on the bike!

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