Best trails in Bunya Mountains National Park

Welcome to paradise! The Bunya Mountains are next level beauty. The Barker Creek Circuit is mostly ancient Gondwana rainforest and takes about 3hrs to traverse. It has an abundance of waterfalls and freshwater streams. The views from Pine Gorge and Barker Creek lookouts are phenomenal. This is one of the best maintained trails around. Good job, Rangers! It’s mostly shaded with overhead canopy so it’s nice and cool while trekking even in the hot summer months. Everything is well signed. You’ll feel safe and protected while on this hike. Massive bunya pines, hoop pines, an array of figs and some unique shaped eucalyptus. Gaze up at the many birds nest ferns and admire the many other lush ferns around on the ground and waterways. Twirly whirly vines. I only saw 2 grass trees. Can you find more? There’s also the Giant Stinging Trees. Even though those big velvety leaves look enticing to touch, don’t. You’ll regret it big time. Plenty of wildlife such as wallabies, goannas, water dragon lizards, many different kinds of birds and butterflies especially the monarch. See if you can spot the bush turkey nests. It’s magical how the ethereal sunlight glistens through the towering trees. The trickling streams add to the tranquility. There’s plenty of bench seats along the way to sit down and feel the serenity. This being one of my favourite trails to hike, I’ve done it multiple times in either directions. I visually prefer going the suggested anticlockwise route, however it does feel like you’re hiking a lot up hill. Going clockwise does feel slightly easier as it feels like it’s more going down hill. You can find the entrance to the clockwise direction behind The Old School which is located behind the Bunya Tavern. If the 3hr Barker Creek Circuit is either too hard or too long, the Bunya Pine Scenic Circuit takes just over an hour and would be more doable and family friendly. It’s the most popular one to do while at the Bunyas and still includes rainforest, streams, a waterfall and views from a lookout. Toilets, picnic areas, parking, camping, a restaurant, a cafe, general store, information and historical centres as well as markets on the last Sunday of the month are all located near the start. Enjoy hiking in paradise! :-)

This trail is now open after being closed for a year due to a tree falling on the shoe cleaning station. A new one finally arrived from New Zealand. Yay! It was an easy incline, mostly enclosed canopy so nice and cool. Decent sized, well maintained trail. This would be a great, achievable family friendly hike. It felt like an enchanted rainforest with all the ferns and moss. Glimpses of views along the way. Spectacular view once you arrive on top. Mt Kiangarow is the highest spot at the Bunya Mountains at 1135 metres above sea level. Some beautiful big trees, lots of grass trees. I saw a baby brown snake and a young dingo. So cute but beware of wildlife, please. After this short, easy hike I continued onto the Burtons Well to Cherry Plain trail, however I only went as far as the Bottle Tree Bluff Lookout as I had done the rest of that trail multiple times while this part was closed. There’s camping, toilets, picnic areas and parking at Burtons Well. Enjoy and happy hiking! :-)