Gold Coast Hinterland

The Gold Coast Hinterland in south-east Queensland, Australia, comprises of the stunning Mcpherson Range which in turn, makes up part of Australia's longest mountain range, the Great Dividing Range. There are various National Parks throughout and some great bushwalking to be done. Some famous areas of the range include O'Reilly's, Natural Bridge, Springbrook Mountain and others.

Notable Mountains

Some of the largest mountains in the Hinterland are:

Springbrook Mountain at over 900 metres high

Mount Warning at 1156 metres high

Mount Nimmel at 489 metres high

Mount Tambornie at 560 metres high

Mount Cougal at 739 metres high

Tamborine Mountain/Mount Tamborine at about 600 metres high

Suburbs and Townships

On the Eastern foothills of the ranges lie the small Gold Coast suburbs of Mudgeeraba, Tallebudgera, Currumbin Valley and Nerang. At the foot of Mount Nimmel lies Austinville, Queensland and if you head past Mount Nimmel you can eventually reach the towering plateau of Springbrook Mountain, on top of which lies a small township by the same name. Some have commented some of these sleepy suburbs are reminiscent of a 19th century village, as these areas are some of the oldest in the relatively young Gold Coast.

National Parks

Springbrook National Park covers 2720 hectares of rainforest, plenty of which is accesible by walking trails. Remnants of early forestry history await you as well as several waterfalls, not the least of which is the spectacular Purlingbrook Falls, as well as stunning gorges and beautiful forest.

Lamington National Park covers 20,590 hectares of rainforest, comprising mainly of two sections, the Green Mountains and Binna Burra. The longest available walk is 24 kilometres, about 8 hours walking time. Much larger than it's neighbor Springbrook National Park.

Tamborine National Park covers 1160 hectares of the Tamborine Plateau. [Tamborine Mountain was once part of the giant Tweed Volcano. These days there is less volcanic action and more tourism happening.

References: [http://www.tageo.com/index-e-as-mountain-AUS.htm] [http://www.australianexplorer.com/gold_coast_hinterland.htm] [http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/find_a_park_or_forest/lamington_national_park/] [http://www.gold-coast.net/nationalparks/springbrook.html]