Crows Nest Falls Campground, Crows Nest National Park, QLD.

We drove to Crows Nest Falls Campground from The Woolshed at Jondaryan. The campground sites are quite heavily shaded which would normally be no problem for us but when we arrived we discovered that we had a problem with our solar storage so we decided not to camp here and moved on to the next place on our itinerary. We have camped at Crows Nest National Park several times and I have written blogs about it here. There didn't seem to be many changes except that there are now shower bags in the shower cubicles. Unfortunately, the shower bags seem to get stolen from time to time so it is hit and miss as to whether they will be there at any given time. 

The photo below shows sites 11 and 10 with the amenities block in the background.

One interesting feature at the campground is that although most sites can be booked online, there are a few sites available for self-register on arrival (except peak times such as school holidays). We have always received Telstra phone reception at the campground so, at quiet times, we have had no problem booking a site on arrival. The campground was deserted when we were there this time.

Registration booth at Crows Nest National Park.

Details for Crows Nest Falls Campground, Crows Nest National Park, QLD:
Where: Off Three Mile Road, Crows Nest. About 160 km, 2 hours, north-west of Brisbane. Sealed roads until a short entrance track.
Fees and Booking: Standard Queensland National Park Fees: $6.15 per adult per night. Some sites are only available online. A few sites are available for self-registration but not during peak times.
Facilities: 13 individual sites, pit toilets, donkey (boil your own) shower, fire rings (BYO wood), non-drinking water, walks, we had Telstra phone reception.
Prohibitions: No generators, no pets. Don't collect wood from the national park.
Caution: The campground is listed as suitable for all rig types but be aware that there are swales (humps) on the entry road that may scrape a low slung vehicle.
Of interest: Scenery, Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies.

Crows Nest National Park, QLD. Part 2.

For more details and booking information for the campground please refer to our blog Crows Nest National Park, QLD, Part 1:

http://nationalparkodyssey.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/crows-nest-national-park-qld-part-1.html

Around the Campground

Lace monitors are frequent visitors to the campground and surrounding trees. Every time one appeared the birds would start up a commotion and dive bomb them in an effort to drive them away. Australian Brush-turkeys were active in the campground and will get into your gear if you aren't vigilant. In the afternoon Common Bronzewings could be seen foraging on the ground. Just after dark, very placid Brushtail possums wandered around the campsite.

Lace Monitor Varanus varius

Australian Brush-turkey

Common Bronzewing

Brushtail Possum

Walks

We have walked the tracks at Crows Nest National Park several times at different times of the day on our two camping trips there.

Crows Nest Falls via Kauyoo Loop (including The Cascades, Kauyoo Pool and Bottlebrush Pool) is a 2.7 km, Class 3, return, loop. The short side trips to Kauyoo Pool and Bottlebrush Pool are Class 4.

At The Cascades it is possible to cross Crows Nest Creek but take care when rock hopping. On our last visit we found a couple of tourists from Europe who had crossed the creek and got lost searching for a track on the other side. We were able to direct them back to the main walk but it just goes to show how easy it is to get lost and that signs can be confusing especially for people with different language backgrounds.  The good news for us was that they had flushed out a Brush-tailed rock-wallaby Petrogale penicillata, which are vulnerable to extinction in Queensland. We were able to quietly observe it grazing for a while.

The Cascades

Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Petrogale penicllata

Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby

Kauyoo Pool has sandy edges and is usually good for shallow swimming. We saw this Brush-tailed rock-wallaby eating in the bushes near Kauyoo Pool.

Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby with Joey

Bottlebrush Pool is also a popular place for swimming.

After Bottlebrush Pool you can choose to do a loop back to the starting point, or continue on to Crows Nest Falls and do the loop back, or continue all the way to Koonin Lookout which adds about another kilometre to the return walk. 

From Crows Nest Falls Lookout you can observe the falls which drop 20 m to a waterhole surrounded by granite cliffs. Last time we were here it was only three months after heavy rains and the falls were closed due to fallen rocks. However, on our recent trip, Crows Nest Creek was under stress from the drought and in some areas the creek was stagnant.This is another good place to see Brush-tailed rock-wallabies. We have seen them in the early morning making their way from here down the steep rock faces. We have observed them stop and audibly tap their long feet on the rocks to test if the cliffs are stable before they continued their descent.

Crows Nest Falls, only a trickle in 2014

Koonin Lookout is an attractive area of large granite boulders. There is a constructed lookout with views over the deep gorge, The Valley of the Diamonds, and out over the hills and forests of Ravensbourne. Locals refer to the gorge as The Valley Of Diamonds because at times the sunlight glints of the granite.

Valley of Diamonds, viewed from Koonin Lookout

On our return walk we walked right up to a pair of King Parrots feeding on bushes on the side of the track.

Australian King Parrot, female

Australian King Parrot, male

Applegum Walk is 6 km from the national park, in Crows Nest, and we highly recommend it. We have written more extensively about this walk in the link at the start of this blog.

Applegum Walk, beside Crows Nest Creek

Speckled Warbler, Applegum Walk

Crows Nest National Park, QLD. Part 1: Crows Nest and Applegum Walk.

Crows Nest National Park is 56 km north of Toowoomba and 6 km east of the small town of Crows Nest. We camped there at Easter in 2012 and during the September school holidays this year. There are 13 defined campsites that need to be booked online for holiday times and long weekends. Sites 5 - 11 are always book online sites. Sites 1-4 and 12-13 are available for self-registration at other times. There are pit toilets, a donkey shower and two picnic tables. We had very good Telstra mobile reception. No pets or generators are allowed.

Crows Nest National Park Camping Area

On our way there we stopped off at Esk. Esk is on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail; a popular cycle, walk and horse riding trail. http://www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/bvrt/about-the-trail.html

Esk Railway Station

After leaving Esk we found ourselves at a standstill for some time as a caravan a few cars ahead of us caught fire. The people were able to uncouple it from their tow vehicle but the van couldn't be saved.

Caravan Fire on the Esk-Hampton Road

Arriving at Crows Nest Camping Area around mid-day we found the campground was full. On our Easter trip the campground wasn't full but someone was setting up on the site we had booked. When we arrived this time the site we had booked was fully occupied by two families and a full camper trailer setup.We popped over for a chat just to check that they were the people that were leaving that day and then we went to the Day Use Area.The walks start from the day use area and it is a very pleasant area on the river with picnic tables, BBQs and toilets.We thought that we would probably gain access to the site about 4.00 pm but were pleasantly surprised when the campers vacated the site in only an hour. We have no idea how they accomplished that so quickly with such a big set-up but it was really nice of them.

Bullockys Rest
After setting up our tent we headed into Crows Nest to Bullockys Rest, next to the Police Station. We were surprised by the number and variety of birds in this park.

Bullockys Rest

Galahs

Apostlebirds

Pale-headed Eastern Rosella 

Tawny Frogmouth

Noisy Miner

As it was early summer there were a number of young birds to be seen.

Apostlebirds

Juvenile Noisy Miner

Applegum Walk
Applegum Walk is a really great walk starting from Bullockys Rest park. It is a 1.5 km walk to Hartmann Park, where you can cross Crows Nest Creek and do a 500 m circuit walk before recrossing the creek. Then you can return the way you came or do a circuit by walking into Crows Nest via Willam Street and take the New England Highway back to Bullockys Rest. We did the loop through Crows Nest the first time and we enjoyed the walk so much that we came back a couple of days later and did the return walk. On the walk we saw a few goannas (lace monitors), one of which was way up high in an old tree, perhaps intent on a feed of birds eggs and an Eastern Water Dragon was perched on a rock at The Pumphole, a deep pool that used to supply water to the Butter Factory.

Goanna

Eastern Water Dragon

Some of the birds we saw were Eastern Whipbirds, Red-browed Finches, Noisy Friarbirds, Laughing Kookaburras, Superb Fairy-wrens, Variegated Fairy-wrens, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and Lewin's Honeyeaters. Pheasant Coucals could be heard but we didn't see them.

Yellow-faced Honeyeaters

Laughing Kookaburras

Crows Nest is an attractive small town. 

How to Use a Donkey Shower

On our latest camping trip we encountered donkey showers at Bunya Mountains National Park and Crows Nest National Park. We love using donkey showers, especially after a long walk, but were surprised that even quite experienced campers weren’t using them because they were unsure how they work.

At the Burtons Well Campground in Bunya Mountains National Park the donkey shower sits between a large woodpile and a two roomed uni-sex shower block. The woodpile is kept stocked by the Park Rangers and a large plastic container with a handle is provided to carry the water to the shower rooms.

Donkey Shower at Burtons Well Campground, Bunya Mountains National Park

In Crows Nest National Park the donkey shower is outside the amenities block. Here there is a shower room in the ladies end of the block and another shower room in the men’s end. The ranger had left some timber next to the donkey shower but most of it had been taken by campers to light their camp fires. Here you need to bring your own bucket to transport the hot water to the shower rooms.

Donkey Shower at Crows Nest National Park

To get started, ensure that the tank is full of water. Light a fire directly underneath the black tank of the donkey shower. The time it takes to get the water suitably hot varies depending on how cold the weather is and when the shower was last heated. If it is cold it could take up to 60 minutes to heat the water. A hot donkey shower will provide plenty of water for quite a few showers. It is not necessary to bring the water to a complete boil.

When the water in the large black tank is hot you let cold water in one end. At Crows Nest you turn the red lever to add cold water to the tank.

Turn the Red Lever to Add Cold Water to the Tank

Letting cold water into the tank forces hot water out the other end.

Place Your Bucket Here to Catch the Hot Water

Warning: the water can be boiling hot.

You can add cold water to your bucket to get the water to the desired temperature or you can add hot and cold water to the canvas bag in the shower room.

Lower the canvas shower bag to make it easier to add water.

The Canvas Shower Bag in the Lowered Position

Before adding water to the canvas bag in the shower room check that the nozzle is closed. At Bunya Mountains the nozzle was opened and closed with a lever and at Crows Nest (pictured) the nozzle was screwed up and down to open and close.

Screw the Nozzle Up or Down to Open and Close

To lift the bag into the showering position, untie the rope at the cleat and retie the rope when the bag is at a suitable height just above the person showering. The canvas bag can contain a lot of water and can get very heavy. It is easier to haul the bag into the showering position if it is only half to three quarters full.

Shower Bag in Position

There is a V-cleat in the above photo which can be used to lock the rope.I also find it best to tie the rope off in a figure eight on the lower horn cleat so that the rope does not slip under the weight of the water bag.

Tie the Rope Off to Stop the Shower Bag Dropping

To shower simply open the nozzle while you are standing underneath the bag. When you are finished, please close the nozzle so that water doesn't start pouring out when the next person uses it.

Next time you see a donkey shower give it a try and I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Warning: please supervise children at all times around a donkey shower. Even after the fire has gone out the tank and the water can still be very hot.