CANCELLED - Queen Mary Falls

PLEASE REGISTER YOUR INTENTION in MEMBER JUNGLE

Leader: Ian Ryan 0417 850 813; secretary@toowoomba.bwq.org.au

Accommodation: QM Falls Caravan Park & Cabins

Cabin accommodation is unlikely to be available now.  Otherwise there is plenty of powered caravan and camping sites and unpowered camping sites.  Larger/dual axle caravans are not allowed in the unpowered camping areas.

Please book online from their homepage https://queenmaryfallscaravanpark.com.au/  When I booked, only a 20% deposit was required.

Please Note: Manager Allan advised the pricing is not updated on the information pages yet, but (funnily enough!) when you come to book online the fees have increased for bookings 1 October onwards.

Powered sites $46 pn 2 persons, Unpowered sites $42 pn 2 persons, extra person $10  

The venue is pet friendly - but you can't take pets across the road into the National Park.

When booking please put in the request section that you are with the Toowooomba Bushwalkers Group - and they will try to keep us together-ish, at least in unpowered camping section. 

Walks and other things to do:  Just across the road from the camp, there is the beautiful 2km circuit in the QM Falls section Main Range NP. Longer off-track walks are on the escarpment which take off from there also. Within a 30 min minute drive to the east, there are the Kinnanes Falls and Teviot Falls off-track walks. Drive to easily visit Daggs Falls and Browns Falls and their lookouts . If you're so inclined, perhaps you can still 4WD through the Condamine Gorge !  For something touristy, 1 hr–50 km down on country roads to the east, near Alford, is Kooloomba Vineyards and Lavendar Farm and Bunjurgen Estate Vineyard/Cellar Door.        

Meeting Point:  Queen Mary Falls, 676 Spring Ck Rd, The Falls, QLD 4373 - or maybe a departure point in Toowoomba TBA

Distance & Driving Time: Approximately 130km and 1.75 hours

Walks at Queen Mary Falls:  Queen Mary Falls circuit: https://parks.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/161139/queen-mary-falls-map.pdf

Cliff circuit: 570m return (allow 20min) Behold Spring Creek plunging an impressive 40m into a gorge at the start of Australia’s longest river system—the Murray-Darling. Take care when viewing the gorge below.

Queen Mary Falls circuit: 2km return (allow 40min) Admire Queen Mary Falls from above, then descend to creek level and delight in its cool spray and the rainbows created by the mist. Spot statue-like eastern water dragons on rocks. Take care on the causeway as it can be slippery. To avoid climbing stairs, return from the base of the falls by retracing your steps; or walk the track in a clockwise direction. Caution: After heavy rain, the circuit track will be closed due to the possibility of rock falls from the cliffs above. Never pass through closed/locked gates.

Moss Garden Lookout short walk: Drive east along Spring Creek Rd about 11.3 km to a small car park. Follow the border rabbit fence a few hundred metres through mossy rocks and rainforest until you get to the lookout for a view over Wilsons Peak and into New South Wales. Return the same way.

While I haven't done this, the walk could be extended by around 500m, initially descending steeply on the fence line, past the lookout.  Where the rabbit fence returns close to the road, there is a small clearing. From here, either return back up the fence line the way you came, take the road up, or an easy option would be to leave a second vehicle here for a car shuttle back to the start   

Photo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UQK41pQ4RwMnkDCe6

Off-track Walks: I have checked out a couple of not-so-long walks that will likely be OK for warmer weather

Teviot Falls: The destination is the falls at the cliff face, visible from the Teviot Falls Lookout on the Head Road just before it winds down steeply towards Boonah.  Most time will be spent in the shade o the forest.

Description: About 21 km–25 min from QMF we will park and begin the walk at The Head. After 5-600m on a dirt road, we'll cross an old wooden bridge and enter the forest on a remnant forestry track. After following that northward for 4-500m we will then leave it to head down eastwards on steep slopes towards the creek.  Dropping into the creek, we then have a short scramble alongside and in a rocky bed, negotiating tree falls and vegetation until we reach the "window" and its reflection in a natural infinity pool.  Here the falls plunge tens of metres over the cliff. Take extreme care here! You'll only see the water falling if you are falling too! There are views across the chasm and towards Wilsons Peak.

We'll have a leisurely smoko here and then retrace our steps back up the creek and exit back up the steep slope to the forestry track.  There is the option before that, to scramble a couple of hundred metres further up the creek to another waterfall.

Back on the forestry track, we will then consider whether to head back to the vehicle or keep going up the track a way, just enjoying the forest.  I have been up there another half kilometre or so.   

Rating S44: This is a relatively short walk of about 4–6 km (depending on whether we venture to the second set of falls and/or head further up the forestry track) of around 4–5 hrs duration.  You will need to be comfortable with walking down and up steep, loose-ish soil slopes in the forest and have the ability to scramble over and around obstacles while we are in the creek bed.  

Wear: Long trousers and sleeves as you may come in contact with scratchy vines and stinging trees.  There is the possibility of leeches and ticks.

Bring:  At least 2L water, sufficient food for smoko and lunch and a first-aid kit.

Kinnanes Falls: A short walk to Kinnanes Falls on Wilson Creek.  After just a little bit of hard work, there are great views of the surrounds - but only limited views of the falls.

Description: On the recent prewalk, some of the approach slopes and on top of the cliffs were burnt (perhaps a planned burn) and while this made it easier along the escarpment, the burning exacerbated the very dry conditions on the slopes to be very slippery with loose soil and rock rubble.  There will need to have been recent rain to stabilise underfoot conditions for this walk to go ahead.

From QMF about 25 km–35 min, we will proceed down the steep, windy Head Rd to park in a clearing off the road at a location called Puds Rock near the junction of Wilsons Ck and Teviot Brook. The walk begins steadily on the creek flat but then rises sharply through open forest for a distance of a few hundred metres, gaining about 100m height to reach the base of the cliff line.  We will follow the base of the cliff line along a short way until finding a cliff break, from where it is no more than a couple of hundred metres moderate climb to gain the escarpment. From here we can traverse northward a short way to rest and take in the views from on top of the bluff. We then walk southward along the escarpment, high above the creek valley, for about 500m. There is extensive views from the south-east to the north and at some point a clear view to the impressive Kinnanes Falls (even though there was just a trickle at the time). We will reach Wilson Creek just before its steep, narrow gorge leading to the inaccessible falls.  Here we can just rest for smoko, explore further up Wilson Ck or cross the creek perhaps to climb up to try and get some views down the valley. We will return the same way. 

Rating S34:   This is a short walk of no more than 3 km and around 3 hrs return in mostly open forest. The approach requires moderate fitness to gain the 100m+ to the cliff line below the bluff and ability for the short scramble along the cliff base and through the cliff break.  

Wear: While we should avoid most of the lantana, long trousers and sleeves are recommended. Ticks may be present in the grassy areas. There is little shade.

Bring:  At least 2L water, a first-aid kit and sufficient food for smoko and lunch. We might have lunch somewhere nice on the way back to QMF.