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Conondale National Park: Booloumba Gold Mine Walk

Cambroon

Walking2.6 kmIntermediateOne-way 5
2 Queensland Parks alerts for Conondale National Park
See them under Safety

Get a taste of the Conondale Range Great Walk with this walk beside the clear Booloumba Creek to an abandoned gold mine.

Suitability

Suitable for walkers with some experience, relatively easy, just getting here can be a challenge sometimes.

Highlights

The picture perfect Booloumba Creek is the big drawcard for this walk with some superb spots to sit and soak it all up such as Eric’s Rest, just before the turnoff to the old mine.

Cutting deep down between towering mountainous terrain the creek is pure emerald perfection. It’s impossible to ignore its timeless beauty.

The little detour to the barred up gold mine from the 1920s dives deeper into the dark rainforest It’s daunting to imagine working down there. Bats live in there today.

All up the return walk to the Booloumba Day Use Area is about 5 km. Back at your starting pont you can relax beside Booloumba Creek where there are lots of birds including Kingfishers, the red chested Mistletoe bird, Riflebirds and Brown Cuckoo Doves. It’s also hard not to miss the lace monitor lizards.

Afterwards

There are numerous walks to be done in this area including Artists Cascades and the impressive 3.7m high Strangler Cairn sculpture by artist Andy Goldsworthy. This walk is part of the 56 km Conondale Range Great Walk.

Nearby, Imbil State Forest offers similar creek side walking and camping experiences and is accessible via Kenilworth and Conondale by two-wheel-drive vehicles.

A great short circuit option is the Cambroon Fig Tree Walk, a magnificent rainforest that grows at the junction of Little Yabba Creek and the Mary River. It’s accessible from Little Yabba Creek Park back out on the Maleny Kenilworth Road.

How to get there

To the starting point: Follow the M1 / Bruce Highway north, and take the Kenilworth exit. Follow the signs for Kenilworth, travelling along the Eumundi-Kenilworth Road for about 28km. Go through Kenilworth and continue toward Maleny. The turn-off to Booloumba Creek day-use and camping areas is on your right about 7.5 km, just after Little Yabba Creek Park. Follow this road for another 7 km and you will get to the Booloumba Creek day-use area.

NOTE: Queensland Parks advises: All park roads are gravel and at present suitable for high clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles ONLY. Booloumba Creek Road includes three creek crossings. Many keen walkers park their cars on the side of the road before the first creek crossing and walk in. The walk starts from the Day Use Area.

To the end point: The end point is the same as the starting point.

About this place

  • Suitable for walking
Walking track grade
Grade 3
A formed track with some obstacles, up to 20km. Expect short steep sections and plenty of steps. Some walking experience helps.

Graded on the Queensland Parks walking track scale. Walk with care(opens in a new tab)

Managed by
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
Conondale National Park(opens in a new tab)

To report damage, a hazard or another problem with the trail:

Safety

Queensland Parks alerts

Conondale National Park is managed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. These are their current alerts for the park, and some may be about other parts of it. Park alerts in the Sunshine Coast region(opens in a new tab)

Mt Allan fire tower closed to climbing (update 8 Jun)
Safety Alert - Fallen trees and planned works on Conondale Range Great Walk (update 29 Sep)

In an emergency, call 000. Always adventure safely!

  • Always follow any local signage, it contains key information and conditions can change at any time.
  • Use the trails with consideration for your abilities, be prepared for the adventure ahead:
    • Be aware of the weather conditions, found here: Bureau of Meteorology — Queensland(opens in a new tab)
    • Always wear appropriate clothing, focus on good footwear.
    • Always bring more water than you think you will need.
    • Be Sun Safe!
    • Always let someone know where you are going that isn't going with you.
  • Just getting started try this site for good useful information: Trail Hiking Australia — hike safety(opens in a new tab)
  • Sunshine Coast Council does its best to keep this information current, but things change, so be aware that a trail may not be as listed here.

1 rating
Review by Tarni7 years ago

Four of us did this walk, ranging from very unfit to very fit and we all had a great time! It's both up and downhill, but definitely manageable. There were places to stop and see the crystal clear creek, amazingly huge trees to wonder at, and at the end was the gold mine. For safety reasons and so as to not disturb the bats, you can't go in - understandable yet mildly disappointing - but it was still great to see a piece of history in a gorgeous, tucked away spot.