Hardings Paddock, Flinders - Goolman Conservation Estate, QLD.

Communal Fire Pit at Harding's Paddock Campground.

Harding's Paddock Campground is a well laid out campground run by the Ipswich Council. There are only eight sites but they are easy to book online. Booking in advance is necessary because the campground is gated and you will receive a gate code when you make your booking.

Tents tend to be set up in the middle area behind bollards.

Site 1: Typical campsite layout.

Each site has a large driveway suitable for parking caravans and motorhomes. The sites are divided on each side with trees and bushes. Each site has a table at the end. These tables are great but my tip is to take something to sit on because the metal gets really cold in winter and really hot in summer. There is a grassed area behind bollards where you can pitch tents near your table. Fires on the ground are not allowed at the campsites but there is a nearby communal fire pit that people were happily using while we were there. Pets are not allowed.

Facilities: Camp Kitchen, Toilets, Shower Cubicles.

Behind the campground there is a large grassy area with a  sheltered kitchen furnished with tables, gas barbecue, sink (BYO plug) and tank water. Shown on the right in the photo above, there are four shower cubicles (BYO shower). The toilets are shown in the middle of the photo. The toilets are the vandal proof type that are stainless steel and have no plastic seat. When we were there in May 2019 the toilets stank so bad that we didn't use them. The toilet situation is a shame because everything else about the campground is outstanding.

Juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater.

Juvenile Pied Butcherbird.

The most common camp birds were Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Pied Butcherbirds. They were on constant stand-by waiting to raid the tables for food.

Horse Yards at Harding's Paddock.

Harding's Paddock is set in the Flinders-Goolman Conservation Estate. There is a good selection of walks from easy to hard. Some of the trails allow mountain bikes and some are horse trails. We didn't see any bikes but there were some horses around on the weekend. Horses are well catered for with horse yards, water and hitching posts.

Harding's Paddock Picnic Area.

There is a popular picnic area at Harding's Paddock with sheltered picnic tables, toilets and walks. The little lagoons that are a feature of the picnic area where dried up and devoid of water birds this trip.

Yarning Circle.

There is a very well signposted Bush Tucker Garden next to the campground. The Yarning Circle could come in handy for family gatherings.

We walked to Goolman Lookout and returned via Rocky Knoll and the very dry wetlands walk. All up about 7.5 km. It is a bit of a slog walking up and up to Goolman Lookout but from then on it is either level or downhill. I was glad that we walked in May as I think it would be very hot to walk in the summer due to the open nature of the track. 

Walking Track.

View of Mount Goolman

Distant views of Brisbane.

I was amazed at the sheer number of birds we saw in the conservation park. There seemed to be Silvereyes and other small bushland birds everywhere we looked. I had no idea that the area was such a birding mecca. Recently, there was even a confirmed sighting of a Regent Honeyeater near the picnic area. 

Silvereye.

Rose Robin.

Jacky Winter.

Australian King Parrot.

There were also quite a few butterflies about.

Lesser Wanderer.

Glasswing.

Details for Harding's Paddock Campground, May 2019:
Where: About 55 km south-west of Brisbane or 40 km north of Boonah. The picnic and camping areas are at the end of Carmichaels Road; ignore Google Maps and keep going to the end.
Access: Carmichaels Road is a 2WD unsealed road, in good condition this trip but with pot holes last time we were here.
Sites: 8 individual numbered sites. Suitable for tents, caravans and motorhomes. 
Bookings and Fees: https://www.discoveripswich.com.au/accommodation/hardings-paddock-campground/ or phone 07 3281 0555   $12 per site per night. Up to 6 people per site. 
Facilities: Gated campground with key codes. Tables in each campsite. Communal Camp Kitchen (with tank water, sink, tables and gas BBQ's), one communal fire ring (BYO wood), toilets, shower cubicles (BYO Bag). Horse Yard with water. Walks. Information signs.
Prohibited: Pets. Fires at campsites. Collecting wood.
Caution: The Ipswich area can become very hot in the summer and there isn't much shade in the campground.

Wildlife List, May 2019: Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Red-necked Wallaby. Butterflies: Monarch, Lesser Wanderer, Evening Brown, Glasswing. Birds: Pied Butcherbird, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Pied Currawong, Australian Wood Duck, Bar-shouldered Dove, Straw-necked Ibis, Superb Fairy-wren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Grey Fantail, Australasian Figbird, Red-browed Finch, White-throated Gerygone, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Fuscous Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Jacky Winter, Laughing Kookaburra, Australian Magpie, Magpie-lark, Masked Lapwing, Noisy Miner, Spotted Pardalote, Australian King Parrot, Rose Robin, Pale-headed Rosella, Grey Shrike-thrush, Silvereye, Eastern Spinebill, Golden Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Willie Wagtail. I did get a surprise to see a Blue and Gold Macaw flying past our tent, however, this was a pet bird.