Across the Great Divide: A Guide to Camping at Main Range

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.

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Beautiful Main Range National Park is not that far from the urban sprawl on the east coast, just about two hours southwest of Brisbane. In fact, it’s one of the best destinations for a camping weekend away in the Southeast.

There are several fantastic hiking trails, lookouts and the stunning Queen Mary Falls, as well as the beginner-friendly 4WD scenic drive along the Condamine River.

The national park itself 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.

Here’s what you need to know about camping at Main Range.

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CHOOSING A CAMPING AREA AT MAIN RANGE

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.

Because Main Range National Park runs along the scenic rim mountain range to both sides of the Cunningham Highway, you really need to think about where you want to camp.

• Spicers Gap: The turnoff to Spicers Gap is before you cross Cunningham’s Gap on the Cunningham Highway. Best for hiking around Cunningham’s Gap as it’s the closest campground on the eastern side of the range. Accessible for 4WD vehicles only.
• Goomburra: About 60km past Cunningham’s Gap off the Cunningham Highway. Best for the northern trails accessed from the western side of the range. 2WD-accessible in dry conditions.

If you want to camp in the national park, remember to pre-book your campsite and camp responsibly.

SPICERS GAP CAMPING AREA

Spicers Gap camping area is set in a forested pocket with some shade and is not particularly scenic. It can be chilly here in winter as you’re up on a plateau in the Scenic Rim.

The camping area is 4WD-accessible only (or at least an AWD with high-clearance). It’s a steep gravel road that can have a lot of washouts and be very rough for a 2WD vehicle. You probably also don’t want to be towing a caravan up there.

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.

CAMPING AREA SETUP

Like many camping areas 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 that 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 drop toilets a short walk away, and if you’re looking to explore, there are a couple of hiking trails nearby. This camping area is the closest option to the Cunningham’s Gap walking tracks though that’s still a half-hour drive away.

GOOMBURRA SECTION

The Goomburra section lies in the western part of Main Range and takes a fair bit longer to reach than Spicers Gap. However, despite the dirt road, this area is easily accessed in conventional 2WD cars and caravans.

There are two camping areas here, both just off the main entry road leading into the national park, and cater for large numbers of people.

Poplar Flats Camping Area comes first, followed almost immediately by Manna Gum Camping Area. The latter was definitely our preference, and it turned out to be a good choice for once!

Dalrymple Creek runs along the back of both campgrounds but it’s fenced off and you can’t really access the water. It makes for some lovely background noise though.

MANNA GUM CAMPING AREA

The road ends at Manna Gum so you don’t really get much passing traffic.

The camping area is a very large grassy space surrounded by trees and what feels like a gazillion birds chirping away in the morning. Sleeping in is impossible here—you’ll wake up to beautiful bird music instead.

We found ourselves a little spot tucked away at one end of the clearing, which turned out to be amazing as no one camped even vaguely close to us. Being nestled in a valley, it can be quite echo-y but we were camped so far away from anybody that we could hardly hear a thing.

We stayed 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 completely booked out. I don’t think there were more than 30 people here at any point over the weekend.

WINTER CAMPING

In winter, the camping areas only get sun until about lunchtime since you’re in a valley surrounded by tall trees. Be prepared for cool nights if you visit during the cooler months.

The walks in this section of Main Range perhaps aren’t as amazing as those at Cunningham’s Gap but the camping tends to be peaceful and the accompanying bird soundtrack is incredible.

POPLAR FLATS CAMPING AREA

As mentioned, Poplar Flats is the first camping area you reach along the unsealed Forestry Reserve Road, and it’s 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.

As at almost every national park in Queensland, you need to take your rubbish home. No bins are provided in any of the camping areas.

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MORE CAMPING OPTIONS NEARBY

If you don’t want to camp in the national park, consider these alternatives:

Located near Queen Mary Falls in a different section of Main Range National Park, the Queen Mary Falls Caravan Park is your only option if you want to stay in this specific area as there is no national park camping nearby.

If you want to stay close to the Goomburra section, just before you cross the national park boundary, you’ll find Gordon Country. This is a popular private eco-tourism property that offers camping, cabins and glamping options. as well as 4WD tracks and other outdoor activities.

There’s also the 47km Scenic Rim Trail in Main Range National Park if you want to do a multi-day hike, along with a million other remote bush camps (walk-in only).

Happy camping,

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