Best trails in Main Range National Park

Mt Mitchell was the first mountain I climbed in the Main Range National Park, and I keep coming back for the sheer enjoyment it brings! While there’s less ancient Gondwana rainforest and more eucalyptus bushland compared to Mt Cordeaux and Bare Rock, you’re rewarded with more expansive views along the way. And wow oh wow - the views from the top are absolutely marvellous! There’s fun creek crossings at the start on the Box Forest track, with plenty of tropical palm trees and massive eucalyptus towering above. As you ascend, you’re treated to fantastic views of the valley, Mt Cordeaux, Lake Moogerah, and Spicers Peak. Giant, glorious trees line the way - truly a joy to hike through. Wildlife was abundant, with wallabies, pademelons, and a lovely chorus of birdsong filling the air. I even spotted monarch butterflies dancing along the track! Due to the Crest Carpark closure, you’ll need to park at the West Gap Creek Picnic Area a little further down the road. There’s picnic tables around and toilets available at the top car park, and the Crest toilets are still open. To access the Mt Mitchell trail, cross the road at the Crest Carpark. About 3/4 of the trail is in great condition. Some sections had tall grass and head-height plants, but the path was still visible. A number of trees had fallen after the recent cyclone - some had been cleared, while others were easy to duck under or step around. In a few spots, parts of the trail had washed away slightly, but it was still very manageable. This time, the hike took me much longer than expected. I took my time, stopping often to remove tripping hazards along the way. The extra 5 km (about 1 hour) from the detour at the start also added to the overall time. Highly recommend using a hiking stick for stability. No ticks, leeches, snakes, or drop bears this time - stay safe, and happy hiking!

Absolutely ahhhmazing!! A must-do. Highly recommend. Like most trails throughout Main Range National Park, this one features gorgeous ancient Gondwana rainforest and spectacular views. There are a few creek crossings, and plenty of wildlife - wallabies, pademelons, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, and more. Everything is so green and luscious, with massive trees, ferns, and magical moss. It’s such a special place. Due to the Crest Carpark being closed, you’ll need to park down the road at the West Gap Creek Picnic Area. There are picnic tables around and toilets at the top carpark, and the toilets at Crest are still open as well. This detour adds another 5km, or about an hour, to the hike. It usually takes me around 4.5hrs from Crest, but this time it took about 5.5hrs to cover 20km. If 5.5hrs sounds too long, you could skip Morgans Walk to bring it down to about 5hrs, or just do Mt Cordeaux for a 2.5hr return. Alternatively, head across the road to Mt Mitchell, which takes around 4hrs. A few suggestions: I highly recommend using a hiking stick for stability. Also, once you’ve passed Crest and are heading toward Mt Cordeaux, don’t turn right to go up the stairs just yet. Instead, continue straight to visit the massive fig tree with the balcony around it - a short, worthwhile detour. This part of the trail loops back and reconnects with the main path. It’s best to do it early in the hike when you still have energy and enthusiasm. Most of the trail is well maintained. In a few small spots, knee-high grass comes right up to the trail, but the path is still visible. After the recent cyclone, a couple of trees remain down, but they’re easy to go under or around. The ground was quite moist due to recent rain, and there were some muddy patches. However, the trail is well-trodden and the earth compacted, so it didn’t cause any issues. Barry, the resident carpet python at Bare Rock, welcomed me once again - that’s three times now! He just likes to sleep in the sun. Give him space and he’ll be fine. All the paper daisies and gymea lilies are just about to flower. In a week it’ll be blooming beautiful up there! No leeches, ticks, or drop bears - though I did hear some big animal noises in the distance… possible bush pigs? It’s a solid cardio challenge for the first couple of hours as you head uphill, but once you reach the top of Mt Cordeaux and continue on, the terrain becomes undulating, with many flatter and easier sections. The descent is easy too - and that’s where the hiking stick really comes in handy. It’s pretty cool to start off, but once you get moving you warm up, the air stays refreshing. Most of the trail is shaded by canopy, and the way the sunlight filters through is just magnificent. It often feels like you’re walking through an enchanted forest. Enjoy hiking in paradise!

Scenic Rim Trail (48km) 2 Day See my video that I’ve put together for the of the SRT on YouTube - @tigers_stripes “hiking- Scenic Rim Trail- Main range National park” SRT SUMMARY- Hikes potential- 4/5 stars (currently very very over grown and probably wouldn’t recommend unless your experienced, and have got decent gators/ long pants and gps) Date completed- 5/2/25 - 6/2/25 Days taken: 2 days 1 night Transport/getting there - Parked my car at West Cunninghams Gap rest area and arranged a lift from Encompass Wellbeing ( 0478041512 ) for 6am the morning of my hike. It cost $270 but was a 1.5 hour trip. Note: do not take the short cut on Red Gap Road ( it’s a fire trail, washed out and requires 4wd) I arrived at around 8am and set off. The start of the hike is severely overgrown and without a gps would be very difficult to follow if not impossible. Constantly pushing through hip/shoulder high scrub with no visual on your foot placement. The actual accent wasn’t too bad. Would highly recommend walking poles to help clear the track, clear spiders webs, and also would highly recommend for some of the decent on slippery rocks. I made it to the first camp by 11am and continued to the second camp (equivalent of day 2) for 4:30pm. I had some light rain , went through a few section of very bad leeches, saw a python and a few feral pigs. Second camp had a nice drop toilet and water in the tank. Day 2 I kicked off around 7am again a few sections of severely overgrown trail, lots of trees down across parts of it, lots of prickly wild strawberry bushes across the trail and what I believe to be gympie gympie trees along side the trail. Again would highly recommend gators/ long pants as my legs got destroyed and covered in cuts by bush bashing through on the trail. Hiking poles also very handy pushing the prickly strawberry bushes aside. Creek crossing were tiny ( 2m wide ankle deep). I made it to the 3rd camp ( equivalent of day 3) by 11:30am. Water in the tanks here and nice tent platforms. Had lunch up on bare rock lookout with great views, but an approaching storm front. By the time I left here it was pouring with rain and vis dropped down to 20m with cloud coming across. Saw about 6 pythons, 3 other unidentified snakes all basking in the sun next to the trail. I finished up at around 5:30pm back at west Cunningham’s gap carpark. Note there is approximately 2.5km additional to the all trails route to get back to this carpark. Has got the potential to be a great hike and was surprised at how parks present this hike online and the fact they have put a lot of effort into the trail, huts, camps and signage/ info boards. But appears it’s been completed left with little Maintence in some parts and no care to upkeep this awesome trail. Let me know if you’ve got any Questions!

This hike has a wide range of different trail types which keeps it interesting. For the first hour it’s mostly uphill, then meander through luscious ancient Gondwana rainforest. Followed by eucalyptus bushland, spectacular views from Governors Chair Lookout then a welcomed wide road descent. May as well stop at Moss’s Well on the way back. Only a 60m detour. The trail is mostly well maintained with small parts of long grass. However, you can still see the path clearly. A handful of trees covering the trail but they are easy to climb over. It took me about 3hrs to do 9kms. The views of Mt Michell, Mt Cordeaux, the entirety of the Main Range and Spicers Peak make this trail well worth doing. Spectacular, spectacular. It was a lot safer and less challenging then I was expecting, apart from the uphill slog at the beginning. The razor ridge was mostly enclosed by trees and the scrambles were bare minimal if any at all. It’s recommended to use a hiking stick for extra stability. In regards to previous reviewers’ comments and my experience on the hike - some cicada noise, louder in parts but no longer deafening, about a dozen or so of light spider webs. 2 ticks - 1 on my sock and 1 on my shoe. Best kept an eye out for them suckers before they climb up and attach to your skin. No wild pigs or snakes. Due to it raining the previous night, the trail was quite moist and muddy in parts, and the day was cloudy so I most definitely will do it again when it’s sunny. Nature glimmers and glistens differently in the sunshine. Twirly whirly vines. An abundance of grass trees. I love grass trees. Iconically Australian. Timber jinker from the olden days. Impressively large trees. Definitely no size queen when it comes to trees, however I do appreciate a magnificent beauty. Educational plaques about the history of the area. Lovely serene water features. Plenty of birds and wildlife. There’s toilets and plenty of parking at the camping grounds. Please note - the last 4 kms of the access road on arrival to the camping grounds for parking is a gravel road. With some gouges across the road from the rain. If you have an option of taking an SUV or 4WD that would be better. My compact car did alright though taking it slowly. Keep on trekking.