Around Brisbane National Parks

Australian National Parks

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and is the third largest city in Australia, with a population of just under 2.0 million and an urban agglomeration of over 2.4 million people. It is a city set close to the Pacific Ocean, and is situated beside the Brisbane River on plains between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range in south-eastern Queensland.

Brisbane has a typical subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and dry, mild winters. From late Spring through to early Autumn, thunderstorms are common over the greater Brisbane area, with the more severe events accompanied by large damaging hailstones, torrential rain and destructive winds.

Click here to see a list of parks in Brisbane region

Popular areas for tourism and recreation include the South Bank Parklands, the Roma Street Parkland (which has an outdoor amphitheatre), the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens (a colonial era botanic gardens founded in 1855 in the Brisbane CBD), and the Mount Coot-tha state forest (which includes a lookout over the city), the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (contemporary botanical gardens) which includes the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium and the "Tsuki-yama-chisen" Japanese Garden, as well as Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Brisbane Forest Park, the rock-climbing cliffs which are located at the southern approach to the Story Bridge at Kangaroo Point, and the more than 27 km of bicycle pathways which line both sides of the river east and west of the city centre. Another new Brisbane attraction is the Story Bridge Adventure Climb.[11] The Story Bridge is one of only three legally climbable bridges in the world. The latest addition to Brisbane tourism is the $750 million Portside Wharf.

Blue Lake National Park - On North Stradbroke Island, Blue Lake National Park protects coastal wallum and a freshwater lake of special significance to the local Quandamooka people.

Burleigh Head National Park - A wild, natural headland in the heart of the Gold Coast offers walks along the rocky foreshore and through rainforest, and the chance to see whales in spring and sea-eagles soaring along the coast.

Fort Lytton National Park - Fort Lytton is an important historic site. Built in 1881 and used for the defence of Brisbane until the end of the Second World War, it is a pentagonal fortress concealed behind grassy embankments.

Lamington National Park - Situated on the New South Wales/Queensland border, 120km south of Brisbane, and just 50km from the Gold Coast.

Moreton Island National Park - It's a place that conjures images of an exotic location that is normally only accessible to most through the pages of a glossy travel brochure.

Springbrook National Park - Escape the summer heat and enjoy cool rainforest, eucalypt forest, sparkling mountain streams, plunging waterfalls, deep, palm-filled valleys, spectacular views and remnants of early foresting history, all accessible by graded walking track await you at Springbrook National Park in the Gold Coast hinterland.

St Helena Island National Park - St Helena Island is 7km north-east of Manly, a suburb of Brisbane, and 45 minutes by boat.

Tamborine National Park - Tamborine Mountain is about 80km south of Brisbane via Beenleigh and Tamborine Village or via the Pacific Highway and the Oxenford-Tamborine Road.

Venman Bushland National Park - Venman Bushland National Park is 40km south of Brisbane city on West Mt Cotton Rd.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service