Category: South East Qld

Gillian Duncan and Mark Roberts gave an excellent description of the Noosa Trail Network in the latest edition of their book “Where to Mountain Bike in South East Queensland”. I thought I’d take a couple of friends and explore those trails today. This is the location of the Noosa Enduro – a tough 100km race held every winter along these trails. After riding them, I now have a new appreciation for the hardened competitors that take on this rugged part of the world.

We started at the Sunshine Coast Hinterland town of Pomona and headed west through Tuchekoi National Park towards Cooran. The track took us around Mount Cooroora – a 438 metre high monolith at the centre of the national park.

Near Cooran the trail passes through privately owned farmland. This means there are a multitude of gates to open and shut. I think we counted at least 20 on our ride. But the trails through the farmland are pleasant, flowing, leaf-littered shady tracks – a joy to ride on a hot day.

From Cooran we headed north into Woondum National Park along Tablelands Road. We climbed over 400m in an hour along this road to our high-point in the National Park. It’s a slow climb through lush rainforest, but considering the steepness of the down-hill on the northern side of the park, this is the only way to ride it. There’s no way you could ride up from the north. Many thanks to Paul for giving me this advice before we left!

Although it took us an hour to climb 400m, it only took us seven minutes to descend the steep, narrow track through the rainforest on the northen end of Woondum National Park. I’m so glad I had full suspension on my bike – I travelled pretty quickly down some of those rocky sections and the shock absorbers were working overtime. After the descent we had a short break in the shade at Johnstons Lookout which overlooks some of the farmland to the north-west of the small hamlet of Kin Kin.

The Noosa Trail Network has a lot of hill climbs like this one along Simpsons Road, east of Kin Kin.

The tough climb up to Cootharaba View Lookout is worth it for the panoramic views. You can see for miles in almost any direction.

The picnic shelter at the Cootharaba Lookout is a welcome rest-stop after the preceding climb.

This ride was just over 60km, but it took us almost 8 hours including breaks. That should give you an idea of the slow-going and tough climbs. I had one puncture along the way because of some of the sharp rocks, but thankfully the “Stans No-Tubes” sealant in my tyres sealed up the hole quickly, so all I had to do was pump up the tyre again and keep going. If you’re going to try this course, don’t expect to average more than 10km/h, which means you’ll need plenty of water. You can re-fill at Cooran and Kin Kin. There are a lot of rocks in places, so make sure you’re prepared for punctures. And the steep climbs mean you’re going to need plenty of high-energy snacks.

I burned up about 4,300 kcal, and all-up we climbed a total of about 1,550 vertical metres. On the tough-o-metre this one scores 9 out of 10.

Over the last couple of months I’ve been planning a cross-country ride I could bring some friends on. Today, those plans came to fruition.

Like our previous group ride, the idea was to start at a railway station, ride as far as we could, then catch the train back home.

Today we started at Caboolture Railway Station. The only problem was that the railway station has two car parks. I was so busy saying “G’day” to everyone that I forgot to check if anyone had gone to the wrong car park. As Murphy’s Law would have it, after we were ten minutes into the ride I got a call from some worried riders wondering where we were. Luckily I was able to direct them to a meeting point a couple of km up the road, and all nineteen of us continued the ride together through the pine forests.


The first section of our ride passed through the Beerburrum East State Forest. This was mostly flat, but was often sandy and muddy. Riding through sand can tire you out pretty quickly, so by the time we started climbing a few hills, we started to feel it.

Luckily our route passed through several towns so there was plenty of opportunity to “fuel up” at local shops 🙂

The second section of our ride passed through the Glasshouse Mountains. They looked great today. Even though it was overcast, there was no rain, and the visibility was perfect.

There are some tough hills in the Glasshouse Mountains. This one was so steep it stopped a 4WD. We couldn’t ride it either, but at least we were able to push our bikes up the hill.

After the steep climb to the lookout, we all had a break and enjoyed the view before some more punishing descents and climbs near Mount Beerwah.


Yes – I had a crash. Porfiri Road is steep, and my seat got stuck in my bike pants, which kept my body (and head) too far forward. I came off, and scraped my face and knee along the rocks. Thankfully I didn’t suffer any major damage. “Thank you” to Andrew and Adam who were really helpful getting me patched back up. It’s much safter riding in a bunch!

As the day wore on, I became more aware of our deadline – we had to get to Mooloolah Railway Station by 3pm to catch the train. I pushed the pace in the third leg of the ride through the state forest at Beerwah. This made the going a bit too difficult for some of the riders who bailed at Landsborough Railway Station, allowing the rest of us to finish at Mooloolah.

And so although we started out with nineteen riders (increasing to twenty, when another rider joined us at Beerburrum), by the time we got to the train, there were only seven of us.

All up 78km in just over 5 hours with about 900m of vertical ascent, and about 4,300 kcal burned. I’d give this 9.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. The same hills which are easy on shorter rides become tougher on longer rides – especially when you have to push the pace to meet a deadline.

Despite the difficulty, riding with a great bunch of friends made it a fantastic experience.

Six of us left Beerburrum this morning for a ride up to Peachester through some of the many forest trails that meander through the Glasshouse Mountains.

We tried to keep to the dirt where possible, and to narrow tracks where they existsed. It involved some steep climbs, especially leading up to the lookout, and one or two gnarly descents down some rocky, muddy, technical downhills.

Although it was overcast and rained a bit, the cooler temps made the ride a lot more comfortable, and the dozens of muddy puddles we had to swerve around just added to the fun.

Thanks to all the guys who turned up for the ride. I needed some feedback about part of the route we’re taking next week on our XC ride to Mooloolah, and I received some excellent advice: The gnarly cliff-like drop-offs that lead down to Palmer Road are not for the inexperienced, so next week end we’ll ride down Old Peachester Road instead.

All up 45km with about 940m of vertical ascent, and 3200 kcal of energy. It was harder because of the mud, so tough-o-meter score for this ride is 8 out of 10. In the dry it would more likely be 7 out of 10. It’s well worth the ride.

There are lots of quiet trails like this around Beerburrum.

I rode the bike for a couple of hours through the forest in light rain, without seeing another soul – except for a raucous Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo.

It was muddy in places, but perfect.

I’m planning a cross country ride north through the Peachester area and wanted to check out a few trails in the area before that ride.

Peachester is perched in the forested foothills of the Blackall Ranges with great views south to the Glasshouse Mountains.

Last time I was here I wound up in the middle of a bunch of Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos all happily squawking to each other and munching on She-Oak bark, but today I was delighted to see this rare Red-Tailed Cockatoo, also hiding up in the She-Oaks.

I almost ran over this two metre long Lace Monitor (or Goanna) on my way out of the forest. I spotted a couple today. As I approached, they just slowly waddled out of the way, looking for a tree to climb.

Of course a two-metre goanna seems tiny compared to the huge reptiles that Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, used to wrestle with. This beautiful memorial to him at the start of “Steve Irwin Way” always reminds me about Steve’s passion and energy for those huge reptiles. Passion and energy, in the right place they’re magical things!

If you’re reading this, and you’re free on the 29th of October 2011, and would like a fun 70km cross-country ride through some of this country, why not drop me a line or sign up for the ride here.

There’s a crazy loop from Mount Mee that heads down a steep dirt track called Williams Road to Wamuran, then winds through the course of a former rail track, then heads back up the mountain via another rocky steep track called McLeods Lane. I’ve done it before, but today, Tim and I rode it together.

The track down is steep. I was leaning so far back I was hanging over the back of my saddle, and yet I still managed to stall and go flying over the handlebars.

Tim decided a more challenging method – his rear brakes started jamming on, so in order to finish the ride, he had to remove his rear brakes. This meant he only had front brakes. Anyone who has ridden down steep dirt tracks will tell you that you need both sets of brakes to make it down safely.

But somehow the guardian angels of the foolhardy protected Tim from harm, and he made it down safely – with a bit of extra wear and tear on the soles of his shoes.

Note to self:
1. I will carry spare brake pads with me, and will learn how to replace them.
2. I will not try to scramble up McLeods Lane again – it is too steep and rocky.