Lamington National Park is a protected area in the McPherson Range, located on the border between Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. It is 85 kilometers (53 miles) southwest of Southport on the Gold Coast and 110 kilometers (68 miles) north of Brisbane. The park covers 20,600 hectares (51,000 acres) and is known for its natural environment, including rainforests, birdlife, ancient trees, waterfalls, walking paths, and mountain views. It helps protect parts of the Eastern Australian temperate forests.
Nearby protected areas, such as Springbrook National Park to the east and Border Ranges National Park to the south, also preserve similar landscapes. Lamington National Park is part of the Shield Volcano Group within the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a World Heritage Site inscribed in 1986. It was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007. The park is also part of the Scenic Rim Important Bird Area, which BirdLife International has identified as important for conserving several threatened bird species.
In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, Lamington National Park was named one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a natural attraction.
Geography
The park is located about 900 meters (3,000 feet) above sea level, and it is only 30 kilometers (19 miles) away from the Pacific Ocean. The plateaus and cliffs in Lamington and Springbrook National Parks are the northern and northwestern parts of the large 23-million-year-old Tweed Volcano, which is centered around Mount Warning. In the southern part of the park, the land rises above 1,000 meters (3,300 feet), while the northern areas drop below 700 meters (2,300 feet). Some mountains in the park include Mount Hobwee, Mount Widgee, Mount Toolona, Mount Cominan, Mount Roberts, and Mount Bithongabel. These mountains contain much of Australia’s rare cloud forests. The Nerang River, Albert River, and Coomera River all begin in Lamington National Park. In the eastern parts of the park, high cliffs rise above the Numinbah Valley. The park is located within the City of Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region local government areas. Southern Lamington and parts of O'Reilly, Binna Burra, and Natural Bridge are protected as part of Lamington National Park.
History
For at least 6,000 years, Aboriginal people lived in and visited the mountains here. The Wangerriburras and Nerangballum tribes considered the plateau territory their home. Bushrangers Cave, which is near Mount Hobwee and is 60 meters (200 feet) long, was once an Aboriginal camp. This site shows that Aboriginal people lived in the area as far back as 10,000 years ago.
Captain Patrick Logan and Allan Cunningham were the first European explorers in the region. Timber cutters followed later, including the Lahey family, who owned one of Queensland’s largest timber mills at the time. In 1863, a survey of the Queensland/New South Wales border was completed. Francis Edward Roberts and Isaiah Rowland, both surveyors, had to define the border along the highest points in dense rainforest, where it was hard to see clearly.
Robert Collins worked hard to protect the area from logging starting in the 1890s. He entered state parliament and helped pass a law that preserved state forests and national parks. However, he died before the McPherson Range was protected. Later, another local, Romeo Lahey, realized the importance of protecting the forests. He campaigned to make it one of the first protected areas in Queensland. The O’Reilly family built a guesthouse near the park in 1926, now called O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. Lahey wanted the O’Reillys to stop clearing land, for their land to be bought, and for the O’Reilly family to leave the mountain. Lamington National Park was created in 1915. The park was named after Lord Lamington, who was Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1902.
Members of the National Parks Association of Queensland built Binna Burra Lodge next to the park in the 1930s. In 1937, Bernard O'Reilly became a hero when he rescued survivors from the Airlines of Australia Stinson Model A airliner City of Brisbane, which crashed in the remote Lamington wilderness. In a typical Australian bushman way, he went on a rescue mission with only onions and bread to eat. Only a small part of the original wreck remains today, 10 km (6.2 miles) south of the O'Reilly's guesthouse.
In 2019, bushfires burned holes in the rainforest canopy. A lot of weeds grew in these gaps. Weed removal programs have been funded by the federal government. The Queensland Conservation Council has studied the area and found that a lot of money is needed to protect the Gondwana Rainforests of Main Range. Water bombing planes were used to put out fires in the national park.
Natural heritage
Lamington National Park in Queensland protects many natural features, including rugged mountains, waterfalls, caves, rainforests, wildflower areas, open forests, creeks, and diverse wildlife. It is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, which also includes the Border Ranges National Park in New South Wales. The park is home to over 200 rare and threatened plant and animal species.
In 1979, David Attenborough filmed the park for the television series Life on Earth, showing beech trees and bowerbirds.
The park protects one of the most diverse plant areas in Australia. Its rainforests include some of the largest upland subtropical rainforest remnants in the world and the northernmost Antarctic beech cool temperate rainforests in the country. Some Antarctic beech trees are over 5,000 years old. Near Mount Widgee, more Antarctic beech trees are growing. The park also has large areas of hoop pine trees, which grow on drier slopes.
Below 880 meters, white booyong and black booyong trees are common. At higher elevations, yellow carabeen, red carabeen, pigeonberry ash, rosewood, and soft corkwood trees are more common.
Many plants in Lamington are found nowhere else on Earth, such as the Mt Merino eyebright and Everlasting Daisy, which are remnants from the last ice age. In 2006, scientists discovered that an old collection of the eastern underground orchid from Lamington was a separate species, now called the Lamington underground orchid. This orchid has no chlorophyll and relies completely on a special fungus to survive. It is one of only four flowering plants that live entirely underground. One of Lamington’s fern species, Antrophyum austroqueenslandicum, is now believed to be extinct after its only known plant died. The park also protects threatened plants like the ravine and blotched Sarchochilus orchids and has strangler figs.
Lamington is an important habitat for many animals. It is home to rare and threatened species, including the Coxen’s fig parrot, eastern bristlebird, Albert’s lyrebird, and Richmond birdwing butterfly. The blue Lamington crayfish lives only on the Lamington plateau in pools and streams above 450 meters. The vulnerable large-eared pied bat also lives in the park. Other rare animals include the rainforest cool-skink, elf skink, and frogs like the Fleay’s barred frog, giant barred frog, and cascade treefrog. Red-necked pademelons are often seen near rainforests, and platypus may be spotted in deeper rock pools. The regent bowerbird and crimson rosella are commonly seen in the park.
A beetle called Lamingtonium binnaberrense, the only species in its genus, is found only in Lamington National Park.
Lamington National Park is located on the northern side of the Tweed volcano, a large shield volcano over 100 kilometers wide, stretching from Tamborine Mountain to Lismore. The volcanic plug of Mount Warning marks the center of the volcano. The volcano was active about 23 million years ago when this part of Australia was above a hotspot in Earth’s mantle. Basaltic and rhyolitic lava flows were erupted, and erosion from rain and water created cliffs and other landforms in the park. Beneath the lava layers is a thick layer of tuff, made of volcanic ash and rock, up to 60 meters thick in some places. The basalt layers on the Lamington Plateau came from the Focal Point volcano. Near Binna Burra, the basalt layer is estimated to be 700 meters thick.
Lamington National Park is said to have more than 500 waterfalls, including popular ones like Elabana Falls and Box Log (Tullerigumai) Falls in the Green Mountains Section. Yarrabilgong Falls and Coomera Falls flow into Coomera Gorge. Morans Falls is along the 6-kilometer Morans Falls Track. Other waterfalls in the park include Nugurun Falls, Box Log Falls, Upper and Lower Ballanjui Falls, Stairway Falls, and Nagarigoon Falls.
In April 2022, local explorer Dale Mullane confirmed the claim of 500 waterfalls in the park when he documented his 500th waterfall.
Bushwalking
The park has more than 150 kilometers (93 miles) of clearly marked walking paths. These paths were built during the Great Depression and designed by Romeo Lahey. Lahey studied how dairy cows moved on nearby hills and noticed that their paths never had a slope steeper than 1:10. He used this information to design the park’s walking trails so that hikers would not become too tired. In areas where the ground was too steep, steps were added instead of steep paths.
Some trails are short, while others are longer and steeper, taking up to seven hours to complete. The Border Track is a well-maintained and clearly marked path that follows the border between New South Wales and Queensland along the top of the McPherson Range. This trail connects Binna Burra Lodge to O'Reilly's guesthouse at Green Mountains, a distance of about 23 kilometers (14 miles). The trail can be completed in one day or in 7 to 8 hours.
Other well-marked trails connect to the Border Track, creating a network that is easy for less experienced hikers to use. These include the Box Forest Circuit, which is 10.9 kilometers (6.8 miles) or 4 hours round trip from O'Reilly's; the Toolona Creek Circuit, which is 17.4 kilometers (10.8 miles) or 6 hours round trip; and the Albert River Circuit, which is 20.6 kilometers (12.8 miles) or 7 hours round trip from O'Reilly's. While the Border Track remains mostly flat for most of its length, many other trails go to lower elevations of 750 meters (2,460 feet) or less. These trails allow hikers to explore the park’s variety of plants, animals, and landscapes.
Another attraction is the Tree Top Walk, which is suspended 15 meters (49 feet) above the ground. This walk lets visitors safely walk through the forest canopy along a series of suspension bridges. A ladder leads up a strangler fig tree to an observation deck 30 meters (98 feet) above the ground.
For experienced hikers, there are many trails that cross through the park. These trails do not have clear paths and often have only a few markers in the natural forest. It is not recommended to use these trails without the help of an experienced hiker who knows the area. The walk to the Stinson wreck is long and steep in parts. Good map-reading and navigation skills are needed, and hikers must inform National Park Rangers before starting. Overnight camping is not allowed without a permit. Visitors should be aware of natural dangers such as leeches, snakes, and stinging trees.
Accommodation
Besides guest houses, there is also a campground in the Green Mountains section of the park, which is next to the O'Reilly's guest house. Another campground, managed by private companies, is located near the Binna Burra section of the park. Both camping areas have facilities. Limited bush camping is allowed from February to November.