Lookout Road, Goomburra Section, Main Range National Park, QLD.

On this camping trip to the Goomburra Section of Main Range National Park we were keen to drive up Lookout Road and do the walk to Araucaria Falls and stop at Sylvesters and Mount Castle Lookouts.

Lookout Road is a short distance from Manna Gum Campground, starting next to Kurrajong Picnic Area. The road is listed as unsealed but we found that the steeper sections were sealed for ease of use. First it is necessary to ford Dalrymple Creek. The road is gated and rangers close the road if conditions are unsuitable.

Araucaria Falls Track, Class 4, 3.6 km return. 
The parking area is 3.8 km past Kurrajong Picnic Area. We drove up early in the morning and had the carpark to ourselves. Some parts of the track are rough and uneven and it heads steadily downwards to the base of the falls. We often see Logrunners when we walk in dark forests with lots of leaf litter but this time we were delighted to get a photo of a juvenile Logrunner.

We saw an Albert's Lyrebird high in the trees. It moved away in front of us until it found a Crows Nest fern in the canopy and promptly forgot about us while it had a good scratch in the leaf litter that had accumulated in the top of the fern.

The track crosses over the top of the falls before continuing down to the base. The falls are beautiful and I'm surprised that they aren't more widely known. 

On the steady climb back up to the carpark we saw a highly venomous Rough-scaled Snake crossing the path ahead of us. We took a couple of photos and it wasn't until we looked closely at the photos later that we discovered the snake had turned its head around and was having a good look at us.

Rough-scaled Snake Tropidechis carinatus

Sylvesters Lookout Track, Class 3, 940 meters return. 
There is a small car park 900 meters further along Lookout Road from the Araucaria Falls Parking Area and a short walk to the lookout with magnificent views.

Mt Edwards, Lake Moogerah, Mt Alfred, Mt Greville and Mt Barney.

Mount Castle Lookout Track, Class 3, 960 meters return. 
There is a small parking area about 1.6 km further along Lookout Road from the Sylvesters Lookout carpark. This short walk winds through damp rainforest. It is worth going to both lookouts as the views are quite different.

Mount Castle

Winder Track, Class 4, 12 km return. 
The track starts at the end of Lookout Road, 6.3 km past Kurrajong Picnic Area.
We liked the look of this walk and hope to do it on another trip.

Bird List for the Araucaria Falls Track:
Albert's Lyrebird, Brown Thornbill, Australian Logrunner, Bassian Thrush. We could hear Catbirds but did not see them.