It seems like only yesterday that I was saying Happy New Year. It’s rolled around again really fast which I’m glad for because pandemic years aren’t fun and I really needed some holiday time and a bit of deep immersion in good fun. Staying local is the name of the game for me so I wasted no time in rounding up some good company and heading out on a ride I’d been eyeing off for quite a while around the Glasshouse Mountains which I was made aware of through the good work of Bicycle Queensland.
The weather was overcast and cool which made for pretty well perfect conditions as we started out at the head of the Wamuran Rail Trail and headed west. A nice easy sealed section was just the ticket as a warm up for the ride ahead. About 10km later the rail trail ended and we continued along some back roads running parallel to the D’Aguiliar Hwy. We were headed into the Beerburrum State Forest and out to Raaen Rd on a variation of the route I took on a previous trip out to Woodford discovering a new way into the forest along the way – definitely one to keep in the back pocket for next time.
Beerburrum State Forest was as magical as it was last time with it’s lush rainforest surrounds, sandy and clay surfaces and, thanks to the recent rain, running creeks and miniature waterfalls trickling down the escarpments we passed. I could probably spend a whole day cruising around in there but we had places to be so upon popping out on Raaen Rd, we climbed the short sealed road section before disappearing down some double track into the forest again.
Gliding down a gentle decline along clay that was packed so hard that it was almost like a sealed road, we headed closer to the climb up to the Glasshouse Mountains lookout. Four wheel drives and motorcycles started appearing here and there along this section of the route. There were some pretty interesting looking machines amongst them and all were super courteous and considerate of us as we came through. The climb to the lookout was a relatively short one and really not a big deal for someone with even a few rides already under their belt. The views from the top were well worth it – a seemingly endless expanse of green punctuated with volcanic plugs rising from the ground. I should also mention that although BQ’s GPS plot seems to suggest that there’s water available, we found none and the QPWS ranger who happened to be there at the time confirmed this.
Onward we whooshed down the other side of the mountain before veering off the sealed road and onto a really rough (for a gravel bike) descent into the pine forest again. Eventually crossing Old Gympie Rd, we headed for Mt Tibberoowuccum where we decided to ignore the GPS route for a bit and pick our own way through to the Beerburrum township where some really top notch food and refreshments awaited at the local cafe.
From there, it was an easy slide down a short section of Beerburrum Rd to Rose Creek Rd and back into Caboolture. I must admit that I wasn’t that keen on the idea of riding along Beerburrum Rd when I first looked at this GPS plot but it was actually quite a comfortable ride (keeping in mind that it is a fairly major road with an 80km/h speed limit.
As I mentioned in my write-up of the Wamuran to Woodford trip, this route can definitely be done without a car because Caboolture train station is right across the road from the start of the Wamuran Rail Trail but due to the current Covid situation and for logistical reasons, we packed the bikes into a car this time.
Until next time, ride safe and see you out there some time.