Great Walk, National Parks, Walks, Waterfalls Mapleton National Park, formerly Mapleton and Gheerulla Falls is on the Great Walk and can www.npsr.qld.gov.au Cooloolabin (Timber) Reserves, covers 10,426ha also be accessed from Delicia Road. Gheerulla is and was gazetted as a National Park on World a contraction of the words kirar nulla of the Waka Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk Environment Day 5 June 2011. It contains about half people and means ‘dry or empty creek’. Towering bunyas, rushing waterfalls and rugged, of the Great Walk. Several shorter walks including scarred landscapes are some of the natural wonders the Turpentine Trail (7.8km return), Piccabeen Circuit to be discovered on this 58km walk. There are (6.7km) and Kureelpa Falls (8.5km) start from the several walks from two to seven hours. The Great Day Use Area. A short Pilularis Forest Walk (400m Walk map can be purchased from the Mapleton return) starts from Leafy Lane trailhead. The Linda Information Centre. Garrett Circuit (700m return) and Gheerulla Falls (2.5km return) are accessed from Delicia Road. Mapleton Falls National Park, covering 26ha, GH became a recreation reserve in 1893 and a National There are 85km of horse riding trails,a 26km trail Park in 1975. The 1.3km Wompoo Circuit walk starts bike track and two backpackers campsites, Ubajee Baxter Creek Falls is on a short sidewalk from the from the lookout and winds through eucalypts and and Thilba Thalba. The Day Use Area has picnic Great Walk near a metal suspension bridge crossing rainforest. Peregrine falcon may be sighted. The facilities and toilets. The park can be accessed Baxter Creek. Access is from Flaxton Mill Road (2km) park can be accessed from Mapleton Falls Road and from Mapleton, Yandina, and from the Eumundi/ or Suses Pocket Road (2km) off Obi Obi Road. Daymar Road (foot only). Kenilworth Road. Kureelpa Falls is in a spectacular gorge of the South Maroochy River. The falls can be sighted Mapleton Falls, originally called Baroon Falls is Kondalilla National Park, Flaxton, began as a on the 8.5km Kureelpa Falls circuit walk from the where Pencil Creek drops 120m to join Obi Obi small recreation reserve in 1906, was gazetted as a Mapleton National Park Day Use Area. Creek, which joins the Mary River. The cliffs are National Park in 1945 and has been extended many black basalt and tessellated rocks can be seen. In times. Skene Creek and Obi Obi Creek flow through Flora and Fauna 1917, Thomas Smith built a 160 foot (50m) flying the Park. Picnic facilities and toilets are situated at Mapleton boasts numerous fauna species including fox that suspended a cage above the falls. This the Kondalilla Falls Road entrance and at Narrows echidna, wallaby, reptile, amphibian, birds and was taken down in the 1920s. A spike remains in a Road which leads to the northern edge of Lake invertebrates. Many can be sighted while sitting tree near the lookout platform which is wheelchair Baroon, Montville. A 12km walking track connects quietly at The Lilyponds, walking the village or the accessible. Extensive views of the Obi Obi Valley, the two entrances. Flaxton Walkers backpackers national parks. eucalypts and bunyas can be enjoyed. The Falls campsite is in this park. car park, picnic tables and toilets are at the end of Flora varies from the native to the exotic garden Mapleton Falls Road. Kondalilla Falls is part of Skene Creek and falls species. The different seasons embrace native 90m from a popular swimming hole. Kondalilla orchids, fungi, rare flowering shrubs and fruiting is aboriginal for ‘rushing water’. The falls can be seen on the Great Walk and can also be accessed trees. from Kondalilla Falls Road. Picnic Creek Circuit walk (1.7km) leads to the swimming hole and the Kondalilla Falls Circuit (4.7km) winds its way below and crosses Skene Creek on a suspension bridge. GH GH NCL GH GH AM Photographer: Nita C Lester C Nita Photographer: Lilyponds image: Front Proudly supported by Sunshine Coast Council’s Grant Program Grant Council’s Coast Sunshine by supported Proudly www.mapletonqueensland.com Community Association Community Mapleton and District District and Mapleton farming had become important industries. important become had farming towards Kenilworth and east towards Nambour. towards east and Kenilworth towards crops. By the 21st century, tourism and niche niche and tourism century, 21st the By crops. be observed as you travel west along Obi Obi Road Road Obi Obi along west travel you as observed be farming changed to dairying, pineapples and small small and pineapples dairying, to changed farming to do and organisations of interest. of organisations and do to Road and in front of Mapleton Hall. Specimens can can Specimens Hall. Mapleton of front in and Road Depression and insect infestation, and Mapleton Mapleton and infestation, insect and Depression This brochure presents history, things things history, presents brochure This Bunya pines grow in the school grounds in Obi Obi Obi Obi in grounds school the in grow pines Bunya 1930s the citrus industry had collapsed due to the the to due collapsed had industry citrus the 1930s areas gathered for feasts of roasted bunya nuts. nuts. bunya roasted of feasts for gathered areas There was a timber industry and sawmills. By the the By sawmills. and industry timber a was There enjoy the outstanding views. outstanding the enjoy on the Blackall Range. Aborigines from surrounding surrounding from Aborigines Range. Blackall the on area, reaching peak production in the early 1900s. 1900s. early the in production peak reaching area, A beautiful place to walk, relax and and relax walk, to place beautiful A grew extensively extensively grew bidwillii) Araucaria ( Pine Bunya Mapleton quickly became a leading citrus growing growing citrus leading a became quickly Mapleton Mapleton National Park. National Mapleton place on top of a hill named Mapleton in England’. in Mapleton named hill a of top on place the forest. Magnificent stands of blackbutt exist in in exist blackbutt of stands Magnificent forest. the named Mapleton. He had read about ‘a pretty little little pretty ‘a about read had He Mapleton. named of cross-cut saw and springboard harvesting in in harvesting springboard and saw cross-cut of suggestion of William Smith the area was officially officially was area the Smith William of suggestion and bloodwood species. There is still some evidence evidence some still is There species. bloodwood and Blackall Range, then as Lutonvale. In 1894 at the the at 1894 In Lutonvale. as then Range, Blackall ) and iron bark bark iron and ) glomulifera Syncarpia ( turpentine The small settlement was known originally as as originally known was settlement small The ), mountain mountain ), resinifera Eucalyptus ( stringybark ), red red ), punctata Eucalyptus ( gum grey ), grandis and cutting timber. cutting and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus gum gum/rose flooded ), confertus and their families arrived, clearing land for farming farming for land clearing arrived, families their and Lophostemon Lophostemon ( box brush ), pilularis Eucalyptus ( Nambour and selecting land in 1889. More settlers settlers More 1889. in land selecting and Nambour Sawmills over page). Timber came from blackbutt blackbutt from came Timber page). over Sawmills Bay were pioneers of the area, walking west from from west walking area, the of pioneers were Bay was vital for the survival of the early Village (note (note Village early the of survival the for vital was Brothers William and Thomas Smith from Redland Redland from Smith Thomas and William Brothers and bunya pine. The timber industry industry timber The pine. bunya and cunninghamii) Araucaria Araucaria ( hoop ), leichhardtii Gmelina ( beech Samuel Blackall, Governor of Queensland. of Governor Blackall, Samuel timber cutters searched for red cedar ( cedar red for searched cutters timber ), ), ciliata Toona The Blackall Range was named in 1874 after Sir Sir after 1874 in named was Range Blackall The selectively logged until the mid 1990s. The original original The 1990s. mid the until logged selectively managed separately as hardwood forests. They were were They forests. hardwood as separately managed in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Coast Sunshine the in was originally two timber reserves which were were which reserves timber two originally was of the scenic Blackall Range, 402m above sea level level sea above 402m Range, Blackall scenic the of timber reserve in 1882. Mapleton National Park Park National Mapleton 1882. in reserve timber Mapleton is a picturesque village on the northern end end northern the on village picturesque a is Mapleton Much of the Blackall Range was gazetted as a a as gazetted was Range Blackall the of Much Timber Industry Timber ‘ Memories of Old Mapleton’ Mapleton’ Old of Memories Artist Keith Blake Keith Artist to the north. north. the to sandstone soils which resulted from volcanic action action volcanic from resulted which soils sandstone There are grey cracking clays and grey decomposed decomposed grey and clays cracking grey are There and along Flaxton Drive. Flaxton along and red soils are clearly visible throughout the Village Village the throughout visible clearly are soils red of Maleny between 31 and 27 million years ago. The The ago. years million 27 and 31 between Maleny of Mapleton basalt soil, the result of volcanic activity south west west south activity volcanic of result the soil, basalt waterfalls. Mapleton has extensive areas of red red of areas extensive has Mapleton waterfalls. water which left behind a mass of hills, valleys and and valleys hills, of mass a behind left which water years of constant interaction by volcanoes and and volcanoes by interaction constant of years The Blackall Range was formed over 200 million million 200 over formed was Range Blackall The Geology.