The Scenic Rim is on Mununjali, Yugambeh and Ugarapul Country. I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this area and their connection to Country, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.
Main Range National Park is not too far from the urban sprawl on the east coast, there’s a number of fantastic hiking trails and lookouts, there’s a stunning waterfall, and you can go for a 4WD scenic drive along the Condamine River if you want.
The national park is divided into four sections (Spicers Gap, Cunningham’s Gap, Goomburra and Queen Mary Falls), and you will invariably end up doing a bit of driving if you want to do more than just hang out at your campsite.
CAMPING AT MAIN RANGE: A QUICK GUIDE
There are three designated camping areas in the national park: One in the eastern part of Main Range in the Spicers Gap section, and two at the northern end in the Goomburra section.
You turn off to Spicers Gap before you cross Cunningham’s Gap while Goomburra is some 60km past Cunningham’s Gap.
Because Main Range National Park runs along the scenic rim mountains to both sides of the Cunningham Highway, you really need to think about where you want to camp.
- For hiking around Cunningham’s Gap, the camping area at Spicers Gap is the closest.
- To explore the trails further west, it’s easiest to camp at the Goomburra section.
If you want to camp in the national park, remember to pre-book your campsite online and camp responsibly.
SPICERS GAP CAMPING AREA
The Spicers Gap section is technically 2WD-accessible but I would hesitate to drive up there without a 4WD (or at least an AWD with semi-high clearance) as the gravel road can be very rough for a 2WD road.
It might be doable in the dry weather, if you don’t care too much about your car and your 2WD isn’t super low but unless the road has had a recent make-over, I wouldn’t recommend it.
The camping area is in a somewhat forested area with some shade, and not particularly scenic. It can be chilly here in the winter as you’re up on a plateau in the scenic rim.
Like many campgrounds in Queensland’s national parks, Spicers Gap doesn’t have any designated campsites, just grassy shared areas behind stumps.
It’s set up for 50 people, and can get very busy over long weekends. If you come during the week though, you might find this to be quite a pleasant camping spot.
There are some spots where you can almost park your car next to your site but for most sites, you won’t be able to park right next to your tent.
Not having individual sites didn’t work out well for us last time as we had a family set up right next to us despite having tons of space on the other side. I felt slightly encroached upon in terms of personal space (plus them blaring loud pop music at all hours didn’t help the situation).
There are a couple of hiking trails nearby, and this camping area is the closest to the Cunningham’s Gap walking tracks but that’s still a half hour drive.
SPICERS GAP CAMPING AREA AT A GLANCE
PROS: A couple of walking trails nearby; clean compost toilets; some shady areas
CONS: No individual sites, open areas only; no picnic tables; no views; can be busy and noisy
COST: $7.25 pp/pn (2024); pre-bookings only
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING: 2.5/5
GOOMBURRA SECTION
There are two camping areas at the Goomburra section of Main Range National Park. They’re both just off the road leading into the national park, and cater for large numbers of people.
Poplar Flats Camping Area comes first, and is followed almost immediately by Manna Gum Camping Area. The latter was definitely our preference, and turned out to be a good choice this time!
Dalrymple Creek runs at the back of both camping areas but you can’t really access it since it’s fenced off. It makes for some lovely background noise though.
MANNA GUM CAMPING AREA
The road ends at Manna Gum so you don’t get a lot of passing traffic.
The camping area is a very large grassy area surrounded by trees and, what feels like, a gazillion birds chirping away in the morning. No sleeping in possible but beautiful bird music instead.
We found ourselves a little spot tucked away at one end of the camping area, which turned out amazing as no-one camped even vaguely close to us. Being surrounded by trees in a valley, it is quite echo-y here but we were camped so far away from anybody that we could hardly hear a thing.
We camped here over a long weekend but thankfully it didn’t turn out to be that busy. Manna Gum is set up for 125 people but I really wouldn’t want to be here when it’s booked out…
I don’t think there were more than 30 people here at any point over the weekend.
The camping areas only get sun until about lunch time as you’re in a valley and surrounded by tall trees. Be prepared for cool nights during winter.
The walks aren’t as amazing in this section of Main Range perhaps as those at Cunningham’s Gap but the camping was peaceful and the accompanying bird soundtrack incredible.
MANNA GUM CAMPING AREA AT A GLANCE
PROS: Several walks nearby; large open area that provides plenty of space if not busy; very clean compost toilets; amazing bird life and a babbling creek at the back
CONS: Can be echo-y and chilly; no picnic tables; no views but somehow that didn’t seem to matter here
COST: $7.25 pp/pn (2024); pre-bookings only
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING: 3/5
POPLAR FLATS CAMPING AREA
As mentioned, Poplar Flats is the first camping area as you come along Forestry Reserve Road, and slightly smaller than Manna Gum (up to 90 people).
It’s not that much different to Manna Gum in that it’s also an open grassy area but somehow Manna Gum had a friendlier vibe and just seemed ‘nicer’.
In the end, it turned out to be a good choice to camp at Manna Gum as a large and noisy group set up camp at Poplar Flats who played loud music for hours and hours. They all seemed quite friendly, just noisy.
OTHER OPTIONS
If you don’t want to camp in the national park, you could consider these options:
There’s a commercial caravan park at Queen Mary’s Falls, and just before you enter the national park boundary at Goomburra, there’s Gordon Country, an eco-tourism business that offers camping, cabins and glamping options. Gordon Country also has some 4WD tracks.
There are also plenty of remote bush campsites in Main Range National Park if you want to do a multi-day hike.
MORE INFORMATION
For more details on Main Range, including how to make a booking, check out Queensland National Parks Main Range camping.
MORE POSTS ON CAMPING IN SOUTHEAST QUEENSLAND
If you want more ideas on where to camp within a few hundred kilometres to Brisbane, I’ve got a whole list of great national park camping spots.
The Bunya Mountains are great as is Girraween, the hiking trails here are fabulous! Springbrook National Park has some stunning waterfalls but also gets very busy.
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