Green Mountain Campground, Lamington National Park, QLD.

Green Mountain Campground

We have camped at Green Mountain Campground several times but always in the winter. We decided to head up during some very hot February weather in the hope that it would be a bit cooler in the mountains. We had heard that is was easy to see Regent Bowerbirds in the summer. We did see plenty of Regent Bowerbirds but it was still very hot. The tent area in the campground is out in the open and has very little shade. We chose Site 14 because there is a shady area next to it but our tent was in the sun and our ute was parked in full sun all day.

Tent area at Green Mountain Campground.

Since our last camping trip, the Centenary Walking Track has been completed. The walking track makes it much safer to walk to the trail-heads for Morans Falls and Python Rock tracks. The down side for the campground is that the two biggest camping sites for campervans were removed to make the track. Now campervan sites 1 and 2 are smaller and campervan site 1 is next to the industrial bin and a huge pile of rubble. Hopefully, landscaping and flora plantings might improve the site over time.

Entrance to the Centenary Track from the day use car park.

Campervan Site 10, next to the exit road.

Green Mountain Campground has an amenities block with non-flushing toilets and best of all there is a shower block which has gas heated showers. Unfortunately, there is no camp kitchen or camp shelter in the campground which is a nuisance in wet weather.

Amenities Block, Green Mountain Campground.

Shower block, Green Mountain Campground.

Just past the campground, there is a huge car park for day visitors. Past the car park there is a QPWS Visitor Centre which has track information and free brochures covering Lamington National Park. In all my visits, I have never seen the Visitor Centre staffed which is a shame because I would love to talk to a ranger about the longer walks. There is now an inviting WiFi hub next to the visitor centre with free QldParks-WiFi which is handy for making bookings or checking the weather.

QPWS Information Centre.

Inside the Information Centre.

QPWS WiFi Hub at Green Mountain.

One of the reasons we come back to Green Mountain Campground time and again is because there is so much wildlife right in the campground. Red-necked Pademelons can be seen beside the tents day and night and Bandicoots graze in the evening. It is easy to spot Eastern Water Skinks sunning themselves on the tent pads.

Red-necked Pademelon.

Eastern Water Skink

There is a great variety of birds in the campground too. We had Regent and Satin Bowerbirds in the trees near our tent. Eastern Whipbirds wander around right in the open which is a surprise as Whipbirds usually like to skulk in low bushes and it is can be very hard to get a descent photo of them elsewhere. Likewise, it is easy to see Bassian Thrush. Eastern Yellow Robins are a common sight on the campsite posts and Logrunners are easy to find scratching around in the leaf litter. Previously, we have always seen Albert's Lyrebirds in the campground but unfortunately they weren't out and about this trip. We made friends with a couple of Welsh tourists who really wanted to see an Albert's Lyrebird and they checked the campground out several times with no luck. There were lots of Black Jezebel butterflies around and the Welsh guys were fascinated to find that they were so striking on the outside: as they told us that British butterflies are only colourful on the inside.

Regent Bowerbird.

Eastern Whipbird.

Bassian Thrush.

There are plenty of wonderful walks in the Green Mountain section of Lamington National Park; all accessible from the campground. There is a good selection of walks for all fitness levels and we saw several families pushing strollers around the easier walks. We were planning to walk the Toolona Creek Circuit: Grade 4, 17.5 km but we ended up leaving Green Mountains a day early due to Cyclone Oma. We did get the opportunity to walk to Morans Falls and Python Rock which I will cover in my next blog. For more information, a couple of blogs I wrote about the Green Mountain section of Lamington National Park in 2015 can be found here and here.

Details for Green Mountain Campground:
Where: 2 hours,114 km south of Brisbane via Canungra and Lamington National Park Road.
Access: Sealed roads. (Campground loop is gravel). Lamington National Park Road is not suitable for caravans, it is narrow, windy and has many one lane sections.
Fees & Bookings: $6.65 per adult per night. Bookings can be made online or by phone. I had 4 bar Telstra phone reception in the campground. There is a free QPWS WiFi hub next to the QPWS Visitor Information Centre opposite O'Reilly's Rainforest Resort. Book in advance for weekends and holidays. Maximum 21 nights.
Camping Type: Tents, campervans and small motorhomes. There are no sites for camper trailers, caravans, medium-large motorhomes, big rigs or camping beside your vehicle. No powered sites. Bush camping available from February to November.
Sites: 20 defined and numbered tent sites with hardened surface platforms, limited shade, car parking a short distance away, maximum 4 people per tent site. 10 small defined and numbered campervan sites, one vehicle only. Some campervan sites are suitable for roof-top tents. 10 Great Walk sites with maximum 2 tents per site.
Facilities: Several water taps, non-flush toilets, 1 disability toilet, gas heated hot showers, 1 table, industrial bin at top of campground next to campervan site 1. No camp shelter, camp kitchen or barbecues in campground. Access to walks. Telstra phone reception.
Picnic Area: Opposite O'Reilly's Rainforest Resort with hybrid toilets, electric barbecues and tables, some with shelter.
QPWS Information Centre and Free WiFi Hub: Just past the main carpark which is past the campground. Has free brochures and walking track information.
Prohibited: No open fires. No generators. No pets. 
Note: Tent site and campervan site numbers overlap. If you have booked a campervan site look for the campervan symbol on the marker post.
O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat: At the end of the road, past the campground. Cafe. Activities. Accommodation.

Wildlife: Red-legged Pademelon, Red-necked Pademelon, Eastern Water Skink. Butterflies: Black Jezebel, Blue Triangle, Monarch, Orchard Swallowtail. Birds: Regent Bowerbird, Satin Bowerbird, Australian Brush Turkey, Green Catbird, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Pied Currawong, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Superb Fairy-wren, Rufous Fantail, Red-browed Finch, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Brown Gerygone, Lewin's Honeyeater, Logrunner, Black-faced Monarch, White-throated Needletail, Striated Pardalote, Australian King Parrot, Paradise Riflebird, Eastern Yellow Robin, Rose Robin, Crimson Rosella, Large-billed Scrubwren, White-browed Scrubwren, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Grey Shrike-thrush, Silvereye, Welcome Swallow, Brown Thornbill, Bassian Thrush, White-throated Treecreeper, Eastern Whipbird, Golden Whistler. Heard a colony of Bell Miners on Lamington National Park Road in Eucalypt Forest.