I returned again to Mapleton Falls National Park yesterday, and pieced its geography together a bit better in my mind.
I find I'm liking this area more and more, and I've been discovering new potential for a few more good-sized bushwalking circuits to be navigated.
Here are some of the day's scenic highlights.
Out again with the Sunshine Coast Bushwalking Club on Sunday, and walk leader Jon treated us to another of his classic off-track experiences.
We went to Bellthorpe National Park near Woodford, and explored Stony Creek. In fact we soon diverged from Stony Creek proper, and went up a previously unnamed tributary, which I dubbed 'Stonier Creek'. The stones were boulders, and a few hours of boulder-hopping was the prescription. That and near-vertical bush-bashing around impassable but very scenic waterfalls.
I learnt to keep my eyes open for stinging trees, aka gympie-gympie, or Queensland Stinger (Dendrocnide moroides), the leaves of which I'm assured have a very painful sting, which can affect you for up to 6 months! We encountered several, but avoided contact.
Not gloriously easy to get to - it's quite a drive from here - but there's a nice selection of glorious little rainforest walks to wander round.
And a cafe that's very popular with the bikies
This is the one with the million dollar views. The food's good too, as I discovered today.
And as a bonus, it's attached to the Mary Cairncross Reserve in Maleny, whose rainforest walk is possibly the best curated tourist nature trail I've ever seen. See also here: earlier post
Maleny has quite a few attractions. Quite the place in many ways. I checked out the Mary Cairncross Reserve yesterday, and wasn't disappointed.
It's not just a park or patch of rainforest with public access. It's got an excellent little network of easy walks, all well curated with educational signage etc. It's got a very fine little visitor centre too, a treetop walk, a cafe, and last but not least, magnificent views of the Glass House Mountains.
Yes, that's what it's called: The Great Walk. So I figured I'd better take a look at it. It's a 58km multi-day walk traversing the Blackall Range in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. And you can do bits at a time.
I walked an 11km circuit from Mapleton Falls lookout to the Ubajee Walkers Camp and back. It was.... well, pretty good! Especially the rainforesty bits
I'd been wondering how much of the hillside was still in a fairly natural state, and whether you could access it and make your up through the bush.
Well, one place you can do this is the E J Foote Sanctuary. Sergeant Foote was a war hero from WW2, whose family owned the hillside. They donated the land that now forms this very pleasant reserve.
