Best trails in Mount Barney National Park

This is not a track. This route is a true contention with the rugged and terrifyingly beautiful nature of Mount Barney East’s SE ridge, in its natural state. If the conditions are hot or wet, then - as the signage puts it - forget it! This is by no means a safe walk. Be prepared to scramble boulders with no holds, scale vertical climbs with high consequences for slipping and traverse thin ridges that will have you questioning your sanity. Be aware that once you pass the 1000m elevation mark, turning back is the more dangerous option. If this sounds hyperbolic, it’s because far too many people don’t go in prepared for this walk. Bring 4L of water, navigation equipment, first aid, good walking boots and a PLB. That said, this is one of Queensland’s truly great summit walks.

Not much info on here so I thought I’d share my experience for those of you who are genuinely curious on what is deemed “Barney’s angry little brother”.. Start at yellow pinch. Hike the gaslighting fire trail for a couple of kilometres. Then take a left through the campsite where you may or may not find some riskè lingerie hanging from the trees. Go anti-clockwise. A small river crossing is next that can be tackled by any river goblin with ease. Followed by an uphill mission to the plateau. I would not call it a bushbash, more like a frolic through a sclerophyll forest like an accent fae. At the top, you get your first glimpse of the Barney beast. Go along the ridge for a km or so and you think “wow, all this hype for nothing” and “I thought this would be steeper!” Then you hit the boulders. First you think “oh this isn’t too hard! It’s just like Maroon!” Then there’s a wall. Not the metaphorical wall (that comes later) . An actual vertical wall. And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?" And you may ask yourself, "How do I work this?" And you may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful house" And you may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful wife" You look back at the few other souls on this unforgiving mountain, your friends. Which are only mildly bleeding at this point. They nod. You nod. You all shimmy vertically 600 meters or so, grabbing onto grass trees and tree roots and the hands of angels til you finally make it to the “top”. Once you reach the “summit“, there is a bush bash through loads of fur trees that are scratchy and disorientating. You need to download the map. You will get lost and walk right off the cliff. But if you suffer enough through that, you get to the actual view of Mount Barney. Which is worth all of the cuts and scrapes and death-defying cliffs. You have earned that sandwich. Going back down is another adventure, as this angry little brother is a loop. There’s more scrambling, bouldering and climbing… which is more terrifying as you decent. And of course more questioning of your life decisions start to happen. At that point, you will be bleeding and maybe your crew will have a dislocated shoulder or two. You have now entered the “bum sled” zone. Full of loose boulders and sticks that won’t even buy you dinner first. Give yourself space between your crew. Lots of space . Stagger even . This is probably the most dangerous part. Good place to make things look like an accident if you know what I mean. You make it to the bottom. Not over yet as the disorientation continues. Watch your footing as the tall grasses are back and this is just a recipe for twisted ankles and broken dreams as down hill is always way worse. You make it out and you are back at the camp site. The lingerie is gone. You head back through the fire trails and the cows are there cheering for your insane accomplishment. What I learned: Bring lots of water, don’t go alone, be fit, have a downloaded offline map, and eat that sandwich. 5 stars will do again

We camped in the saddle overnight, after starting at the campground yesterday morning. We went clockwise and came up to the saddle for the night. Then scaled the larger of the two peaks this morning, which is only 300m up from the saddle camp. The views were incredible towards Maroon Dam as we climbed up the peak, and also over to Mount Barney from the top. We stopped at the beautiful waterfall and swimming hole at the end of the hike this morning. Water freezing but so clear and refreshing. Don't miss the opportunity. It is just after the start of the walk at the red 4x4 sign, at the creek crossing.