Five Fantastic Day Hikes in Brisbane

In my first ever episode of this podcast I featured five fantastic day hikes you can do in Brisbane. This is a follow up episode with five new ideas for short day hikes no more than 9kms that take 3-4 hours from Brisbane including travel time. Hope you can get and out enjoy some different trails in the beautiful Brisbane weather.

Links:

Chermside Hills Reserves Circuit, Queensland, Australia - 553 Reviews, Map | AllTrails

Venman Track, Queensland, Australia - 921 Reviews, Map | AllTrails

Sirromet Winery - Dine, Wine, Stay, Celebrate, Tour

Karawatha Quarry via Rocks Circuit and Dianella Track, Queensland, Australia - 148 Reviews, Map | AllTrails

Devils Break Loop, Queensland, Australia - 521 Reviews, Map | AllTrails

The Reserve Anstead

Gold Creek Reservoir, Queensland, Australia - 522 Reviews, Map | AllTrails

Brookfield General Store Brookfield | Must Do Brisbane

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Please, if you like what you hear, follow me, share with your friends. Send me your feedback. Hello everyone. Uh, my very first topic when I started this podcast was the featuring five fantastic day hikes you could do in the Brisbane area. And the idea was that a quick fix of nature, if it's important to you but you don't have the time to do a day trip to more remote regions of South East Queensland, then here were five ideas for great bushwalks with some views and some added extras. And for this first episode, I gave myself the criteria that you needed to be able to access these hikes by public transport so that it could look after not only Brisbane locals but visitors to our city. What I'm going to do now is a follow-up episode with five more ideas, but I'm not going to stick to this public transport criteria, even though one of them is quite accessible by public transport. What happens is you do miss out on some of the nicer and a bit more hidden spots because often those parks and reserves are a bit out of the way. So, like the first episode, I'm looking for walks that can be tackled in two to three hours, no more than half a day, including travel time, and they range in distance from about that six to nine kilometres. So they give you a decent walk, even though at many of them there are shorter options in the sort of three to five K range, which I'll mention when I'm talking about them. So here we go: five more ideas for fantastic short hikes in Brisbane. I'm going to kick off with a north side favourite, as this isn't my side of town, and I feel like I shortchanged north siders last time by not including a north side walk, but I did try and make it up with an episode dedicated to Diagula National Park, which I just think has some of the most beautiful bushwalks north of the city. But this time round I'm going to come in with something that's a bit closer to the city, but on the north side of town, and that is the Chernside Hills Reserve. Now, this is a huge area of bushland when you connect all the surrounding reserves, and it's so close to the city. I mean, getting to Chermside is about 15 minutes from the city, and as I mentioned, this is the one hike where it's quite easy to get there with public transport as you can head straight out to that big shit, Chermside shopping centre and not far away to access some of these reserve walks. If you want a decent walk, because there's a lot of short walks out there, and one that's got a little bit of elevation, I'm going to put a link in to the trail that I'm talking about in the notes. It's a 7.6 kilometer circuit starting from the Raven Street Reserve. Now I would suggest you download the All Trails map and have it running, as a number of people have said, that signage is a bit confusing out here at Chermside Hills, and you could end up sort of shortening your walk a fair bit if you take the wrong turn or doing sort of frustrating loops trying to connect it into one larger one. Now the highlight of this park is without a doubt the beautiful golden banks here and the so many grass trees that are everywhere in this reserve. I've also heard that it is really lovely. It's springtime for the wildflowers. So with spring coming up, maybe I'm going to have to come back and do a return visit as I can sort of see how pretty it would be. The tracks are in really good condition here. There's sort of a mix of some paved areas near the car parks, gravel, boardwalks, and natural forest trails. So it's going to be pretty accessible for most walkers. And when I talk about elevation, it's pretty mild as far as it goes, two short hills, and that'll get your blood pumping, but not really cause you any great difficulty. And if you go early in the morning, you get the best chance of seeing some local wildlife. As there's many reports of swamp wallabies, goanas, and a lot of bird walking, uh bird watching, sorry, um down by the creek areas. Also, if you like to take your dog hiking with you, then this is a good pick, as they are allowed all throughout the reserve as long as they're kept on a leash, and there's a few drink fountains sprinkled around to help you not only with your hydration but theirs. All in all, it's a really surprisingly diverse and pleasant inner city hike. It's pretty easy to get a car park and not too busy outside of the main weekend periods. So if you're north of the city, this one is for you, Cherbside Hills Reserve. Next up, we're going to head to the east side to Venman Bushland National Park near Mount Cotton. You can actually get into Venman's two ways. So if you do live in the eastern suburbs, then heading out via Mount Cotton Road is the way to go to get to Venmans. If you're coming from other areas of the city and it's easier for you to go down the South East Freeway, then you can come in from that direction as well via exit 30 or Redland Bay Road. Vedmans, the main entrance, is actually on West Mount Cotton Road. There are a couple of other entry points in sort of the suburbs, which I've made the mistake of going to one at another time. So if you're looking for the main one, make sure you head to that West Mount Cotton Road entrance. When you go in, it's sort of a semi-gravel road, but there's good parking. I've never had a problem getting a park, and there's a picnic area there, so make sure you're going to that main entrance. There's also some really good maps to help you get oriented as to where you're heading to. There's drinking water taps, there's toilets, and a number of picnic tables, so it's a good place to start. Now I would recommend following the Venman track. It's about seven kilometres. You can definitely do a shorter version which sort of cuts across and down to the creek. But the Venman track is just a good satisfying length. There's a couple of creek crossings with some rock hoppings, so that always makes for a bit of fun, particularly for kids. And if you do that full track circuit, you will have at least one pretty steep hill to lean into, head up, and you know, get some blood pumping on the hills. The tracks though are pretty good, mostly open and wide until you get around the creek area where they narrow a bit. It's your traditional Aussie bushlands, a bit of variety around the creek area. It can get dry in summer, as particularly on those hills, a lot of the track isn't that well shaded, so not a great one for the middle of the day in summer. And also, it can get a little bit muddy down by the creek. So just watch those two conditions when you're heading out to Venmans. Also, there's no dogs allowed here as there is a lot of wildlife in the area. I haven't seen that much. I've been out there a number of times, but I know that there are wallabies and even koalas in the gum tree to look out for. I really like Venmans as it's so often pretty quiet when you compare it to Daisy Hill that's not that far away, and you don't have to share it with mountain bike riders. You might see the odd um horse rider, but it's pretty quiet for this um area, and it's challenging enough that you feel like you get a decent workout but has a really nice place to stop for that cup of tea at the start or the end in the picnic area. And also after you've finished at Venmans, I talked in the first episode about visiting Syrame Winery after hiking at Daisy Hill. That is even closer from Venmans. And Cyram is just great for a post-hike coffee or something to eat, and in winter you have the added bonus of a fire pits, which is really nice to sit out around a fire pit later in the afternoon. So include that to make a bit of a trip of it down to Venmans. Now, next we'll head south to Karawatha Forest Park. This one is located in the Logan region, and it's easiest to access either via the Logan Motorway or via sort of Acacia Ridge area. It's a lovely wildlife corridor here, and there is a great Discovery Center at the main entrance into Karawatha. And once again, there are a couple of alternative entrances into Karawatha. The hike that I'm going to recommend starts from the Discovery Centre if you head there. Now, the centre itself has got a lot of information on the bushland area. It's also host to all sorts of community events and activities. For example, I know at different times there's yoga in the big grass area there, so you might want to check it out and see if you can double up with something that's going on. The grassy area is very popular with families for picnics, and it's terrific to see. Never had a problem getting a park. There's quite a few parks there. Um, there are really good toilets and drinking water in this area before you head off. Now there's quite a few short walks starting from the Discovery Centre, but the one I'm going to recommend is doing the quarry and the rocks circuit. It is 8.7 kilometers in length. There's not much elevation here though, so that is actually quite a manageable distance for a nice intermediate type hike. You probably want to head towards the rock circuit first. Um, this is definitely the most popular track in the park. You can get a few people on the weekends, but I definitely wouldn't call it busy. The rock circuit takes you to a large outcrop of boulders that is very reminiscent of that sort of Giroween national park feel. It's quite surprising to find that in Brisbane suburbs and a really pretty little walk to start you off. It definitely gets quieter as you then head out towards the quarry. The only distraction along the way is some electricity towers running through the park, which is sort of quite common down there. You see it at Femin's as well. It's only for one stretch. When you reach the quarry, the lagoon is really large, it's a popular local swimming spot in the really hot summer months, so something to think about if you're going then. It's not strictly allowed, but look, a lot of people swim in it anyway. Um it looked the lagoon has a lovely blue-green hue that's said to result from the minerals that were left behind in the quarry, so it's pretty to visit, regardless of whether you're going for a dip. And the tracks around it are sandy, and you've got to spot birds and other water creatures like lizards around the lagoon's edge. There's some picnic tables here as well because there's a separate entrance into the quarry, so it's a really nice halfway point before you start heading back. Coming back in, you're going to go through some really nice eucalyptus woodlands. It can be a bit low in places, surprisingly, and I've seen it in full flood after heavy rain, which required us to do a bit of circumcircumnavigation, so keep that in mind. Um, but you'll loop back basically on the other side of the rock circuit tracks and head back into the main parking area. You can take your dog on this one, but you do need to keep it on a leash and be a bit more careful here. It is a Brisbane City Council park, so um, you might see uh council officers wandering around so that dogs don't bother people, particularly in that Discovery Centre area. I think Carrawathra is a bit of a hidden gem. It's worth making the trip out if you're heading to the Logan area or you just want a really quiet midweek walking spot, somewhere completely different. So the next two hikes I'm going to recommend are in Brisbane's western suburbs. Now, the first is Moggle Conservation Park, and this one really isn't well known except for locals who live out that way. Once again, the bushland area in this sort of Moggul and Stead, Brookfield, you know, it's huge bushland reserves, all kind of loosely connect. Um, there are plenty of track options, but I like um mogul um for getting some hill walking practice in. So if you want a really quiet spot and you're heading maybe on a longer hike and you need to do some heavy-duty hill walking with a pack on, this is a great choice. The main entry is accessed off Mount Crosby Road at Anstead on um a little side street called Chalcott Road. There's pretty good parking here, um, but there's no facilities in this park, so you need to come prepared, bring your drinking water with you. It is a bit fire trail track getting into the park and also in the park itself. There are a choice of tracks that mostly go in a circuit, but you can combine them for quite a long track if you wanted something more in the sort of mid-teen kilometer range by doing a sort of a figure eight type approach so that you don't repeat the same tracks. But the main feature track is something called Devil's Break, and I think that pretty much sums it up. The devil might have been involved with these hills because some of them are really steep. I'm talking leaning into them and gripping on for dear life on your hiking poles to get you up there. So, one of the um reasons for that is the paths are pretty gravelly, so they can be a bit slippery. You've got to be careful with your placement of your feet. You can go off to the side a bit and go off track a little bit if you're worried about the grip. Um, particularly on the way down, actually, I think I prefer to go up, but it is a great place, like I said, for testing your capacity to walk up those kind of steep hills, um, really um working out how to use your hiking poles on that kind of elevation and also testing out the grip on your shoes. So, um you know, like I said, a great one for hill training, and when you get to the top, there is a lovely reward, particularly on a clear day, because you get some really good views out to the city and also turning in the other direction out to Ipswich. Now, the lookout is at the Basin Electricity Towers, I like Carawatha and Venmans, and I do agree with some other reviews that the buzz of the tower, you know, it takes away a little bit from the um from the views and making it a you know a really um quiet area. Look, it's only mildly annoying, it's a quick snap snacks um stop, and you'll be glad for it if you've just come up those really steep hills. So, once again, this is typical Aussie bushland area. There's a smattering of local fauna and wildlife in the park, um, which you might get a glimpse of. It's not the most scenic bushwalk in um Brisbane, but like I said, it's a really good one for challenging yourself and particularly trying out some of your gear. So it's a bit like the powerful owl track at Mount Kutha, but it's longer, and the bonus is you'll hardly see anyone. So it's a great choice for a quiet training track. And if you're um out that way after your hike, make sure to stop at the Reserve Cafe at Anstead. It's a cafe in an old Queenslander, wonderful wide decks, a generous serve of breakfast and lunch dishes, and it's a little bit of Aussie Bush hospitality close to the city. Okay, so my final walk I'm going to suggest is walking the loop loop at Gold Creek Reservoir at Brookfield. Now you can reach this spot at the end of Gold Creek Road, which is heading out and on from the Brookfield Showgrounds that people might know from their famous annual show. There is good parking here, but it can be a bit popular with locals on the weekends, so you might want to get in early to get a park. Now, on this one, I recommend walking the circuit anti-clockwise, and this means that you'll cross a small dam at the start of the walk, and this dam itself attracts a few people, you know, um kids skimming rocks into the water and um you know, watching for fish and um bird life and that sort of thing. Get past the dam and start to head up the hill to get up to the main um circuit path around the reservoir. Now it can be a little bit confusing, so it'd be good to have all trails running just to keep you on track. If you scramble down and try to get in via the reservoir wall, you will get a little bit lost and end up scrambling off track to get back onto the main circuit. Going this way anticlockwise means that you get the few steep parts of the walk out of the way early on. It's nothing really taxing, a few tree routes to navigate and climb around, but it's pretty straightforward, you know, medium-sized hills at best. About halfway around the circuit, you come to the edge of the reservoir and cross a creek. It's a good place to stop, a great place to spot some birds down there, um, and you know, take a morning tea or morning uh afternoon tea break. Um, it's quite scenic and lush down there. But once again, as you're heading out from there, the track can be a little bit confusing. So you want that all trials again just to keep you on um uh track of going around for the second half of the circuit. And the walk back gives you some really nice views of the reservoir lake, um, more opportunity to see wildlife. You know, we saw quite a few goanas going up the trees, and as you get about oh, two-thirds, three-quarters of the way around the second half, there's an outcrop with an old hut. It's not particularly well kept, but it's worth going out, a nice view of the lake. Um, once again, a little bit of a break before you head back to the car park. It should take you about two hours to do the whole circuit with stops. Um, it's about six to seven Ks, depending on which paths you choose. And after you walk, make sure you stop at the Brookfield General Store. Now, this is like an old-fashioned grocery store with shelves full of a wide wide variety of like local and artisan produce. It's you know, it's um a fun stop just to do a little bit of shopping, food shopping, but also the meals and the coffee are great. There's lots of outside veranda space looking out over the show grounds to enjoy um your food and drinks with as well. So that's it. That is five more walk ideas for short day hikes in Brisbane that will get you out in nature, give you a view, maybe see something new, hopefully spot a bit of wildlife, and you won't need a whole day to do it. So I hope there's something there that is new for you that you're going to give a try this weekend or some weekend soon. So thanks as always for listening. What I'll do is I'll put details of all the trails and locations I discussed today in the episode notes. And don't forget, I'd love to hear from you. Please leave me your feedback, give me ideas of what you'd like to hear about, and I'd really appreciate it. If you can give me a thumbs up, follow, and share with your friends. So until next time, happy hiking!