A Weekend of Adventures in the Scenic Rim

Activities:

Location:

The Scenic Rim region. We generally base ourselves near Boonah somewhere as it’s easy to get to when we’re coming from the coast. View our adventure map for some good start locations (look for Dugandan Hotel, Mount Greville, Frog Buttress on the map).

Description:

There’s a lot of fun to be had out in the Scenic Rim. A lot.

Initially when I sat down to pen this, I’d planned to go into a detailed gravel cycling route, and then describe a hiking route up one of the local mountains. But that wouldn’t do the local area justice, and part of the fun of being a Generalist is coming up with your own combination of activities to fill your adventure buckets. So, instead, I’m going to list a set of three activities that you could easily undertake in a single weekend, and leave the actual planning up to you.

Gravel Cycling

There are plenty of gravel roads in the Scenic Rim region - more than enough to keep even the most discerning gravel rider happy. The most enjoyable road I’ve cycled on in the area is Croftby Road, heading north towards Lake Moogerah Road and Moogerah Dam - the almost 10km of gentle descending on (usually) smooth gravel in typical Australian countryside is riding bliss. Audax Queensland host several “Dirty Boonah” rides out this way (e.g. 100km or 150km variants), so my advice would be to start with one of their routes as a base to plan your own day of riding.

Pack plenty of spares on any ride as some roads are remote, and finishing up with a cold drink and feed at the Dugandan Hotel is strongly recommended.

A typical view from a gravel roadside somewhere outside Boonah

Hiking up Mt Greville

This prominent peak is located to the south west of Lake Moogerah. It’s not the longest or most challenging hike you’ll ever do, but the views are delightful and the terrain is varied and interesting.

There are several ways up the mountain - Palm Gorge, Waterfall Gorge, and the South-East Ridge being the most common - and these each have their own unique flavour. Typically, we’ve ascended via one of the gorges, and then come down via the ridge route. There are a couple of scrambly sections in both gorges, but nothing we’d describe as overly exposed or difficult - that said, you should always be careful. QLD Parks and Wildlife (QPWS) have more detailed information on their website.

Resting on a rock slab to take in Lake Moogerah (NB - this is not the summit).

Rock climbing

Full disclosure - I’m not much of an outdoor climber - but a list of activities in and around Boonah wouldn’t be complete without this inclusion.

For many, Mount French - or Frog Buttress, or simply Froggies - is synonymous with trad climbing in South East Queensland. The crag itself is a cliff face on the northern face of Mount French, which is on the outskirts of Boonah. It’s not for beginners - you’ll want to visit with someone with local experience for your first time, and you need to be fully equipped with gear - this isn’t a crag with pre-installed and land manager approved bolts.

I’m not the person to give in-depth detail of the crag: thankfully there’s a site called The Crag who are. My only advice is to enjoy climbing here in the cooler months - summer is hot and exposed in the extreme.

You can camp at Frog Buttress too - this is also managed by QPWS.