This page is created for overseas people who come to Brisbane for a relatively short time and want to see the exotic Australian nature. First, get the wonderful book, "Wild Places of Greater Brisbane", in any major Brisbane bookshop, or at the Queensland Museum, or in the bookshop at the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland. Keen hikers, or bushwalkers, can order "Take a Walk" books on the web. Keep in mind that the best parks cannot be reached by a public transport.
Clicking on the park name should return blog posts describing my trips, as well as photographs. Links pictures redirect to my photos on flickr.
For a general info, you may have a look on Bushwalk Australia.
Rainforest
Lamington national park (pictures). Lavish subtropical rainforest, waterfalls in deep green valleys, remnants of cool Gondwana rainforest, but you need to walk ~15-20 km (return) to see it. The park has two major entry points, Green Mountains/O'Reilly's and Binna Burra, with plenty of various walking tracks in both places.
Springbrook national park (pictures). Fairly short tracks ~5 km, spectacular waterfalls and lookouts. Very good for a half-day visit.
Main Range national park, Mt Cordeaux (pictures). Very good destination for people living close to Ipswich. The "rainforest" track is about 5 km one way, with couple very beautiful lookouts. The park has several other tracks.
Bush (dry eucalyptus forest)
Mt Coot-tha (pictures). Highly recommended for people living near the UQ (St Lucia, Taringa, Toowong etc). The place has many walking tracks, with several entry points. It is possible to catch a bus to the summit, walk down to to the Brisbane botanic garden at Mt Coot-tha, and catch a bus there for the return trip.
Karawatha forest is another interesting place to see, and it is accessible by train.
Brisbane State Forest is recommended for longer trips. Most places are accessible only by a car but the park headquarters can be reached by a public transport. There are some patches of wet forest in this park.
White Rock - Spring Mountain Conservation Estate together with Spring Mountain Forest Park have many tracks, but I have not found a good printed map for the area. Some tracks are well marked, such as walk to White Rock, however, description for some tracks sounds like "take left turn after first big termite house".
Coastal vegetation
Fraser island. The biggest sand island on the planet. Accessible only by FWD car. You need to be an expert of driving in sand. Get a tour.
North Stradbroke island, or Straddie. Ferry and car will work, but you need FWD to travel on the main beach or remote locations.
Boondal wetland. Mangroves, melaleuca forest, tidal vegetation. Place to see migratory birds during Australian summer.
Noosa Heads national park (pictures). Just two hours drive from Brisbane, small but beautiful park, suitable for one day trip.
Mountains. No climbing, just going up places.
Glasshouse mountains. Several isolated peaks, some are fairly easy walks but pleasant, e.g. Mt Tibrogargan or the Wild House lookout. You go there for a view. Some are more challenging, and some are closed for visitors. Some places, such as Mt Tibrogargan are just in 20 minutes walk from a train station, other are accessible mainly by car. Mount Ngungun can be reached from Glasshouse Mountains train station in about half an hour (by feet).
Mt Greville (pictures). My personal favourite. Good view from several point along the track, diverse vegetation including rainforest-like conditions in narrow gorges, such as Palm Gorge. Minuses: no facilities, no toilets, some tracks are essentially non-marked, a bit of gravel road at the end. You need to know what are you doing there.
Granite belt / Outback
Girraween national park (pictures). One of the strangest places I've ever been to, all full of huge round stones. The park is situated in the Granite Belt region, on the border between Queensland and New South Wales, about 3 hours drive from Brisbane. The trip can be done on weekend. The place is famous for flowers in spring. It is hot during summer, and very cold in winter time.
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