After a somewhat challenging bushwalk along the West Canungra Creek Circuit yesterday, today I’m doing a few easier bushwalks in the D’Aguilar National Park. The Morelia Walking Track promises some nice views from a lookout on Mount Nebo, and is only 45min from Brisbane. The well-signposted trail starts from a large carpark on Mount Nebo Road, with the trail ascending gradually through open forest.
The track traverses open eucalypt forest and cool rainforest, with groves of cabbage tree palms spreading their fan-shaped leaves above like umbrellas in the sky.
Among the cabbage tree palms are some enormous strangler figs.
The ascent is very gradual and track very well made, so it’s easy walking – it doesn’t really feel as if you’re walking uphill.
Just after a marker indicating that there’s 1/4 mile to go before the lookout, the trail converges with a wide service trail. (Roughly parallel to the Morelia Walking Track is a service trail which provides an alternative route to the lookout – but it’s not as nice to walk on.)
I’m at the Mount Nebo lookout in about 45min – although I’ve seen a few people on the trail, I’ve got the view to myself. From a large rock platform, you can see out through a gap in the trees over Samford Valley, Mount Tempest and Moreton Bay, with Moreton Island in the distance.
After admiring the view, it’s back down the Morelia Walking Track; the entire walk takes just over an hour (you could do a slightly longer loop by returning via the service trail, but this would involve a short walk along the road).
Getting to the Morelia Walking Track
The start of the walk is about 45min from Brisbane via Mount Nebo Road, or slightly longer via Mount Glorious Road. Or, you can do a scenic drive by combining Mount Nebo Road and Mount Glorious Road, which goes past a couple of lookouts including Jollys Lookout and Westridge Lookout (below).
More information on D’Aguilar National Park
The D’Aguilar National Park claims to be “the closest, large-scale national park to any capital city in Australia”, and is approximately 36,000ha in size. Being between 10km and 35km north-west of Brisbane’s city centre, the claim may be true; Sydney’s Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is slightly larger, but is also slightly further away from the city centre. The park was named in 1827 by Sir Thomas Mitchell (the Surveyor-General for the Colony of NSW) after Sir George D’Aguilar, a military officer. Prior to European occupation, the first known inhabitants of the D’Aguilar Range National Park were the Kamilaroi Aboriginal people.
- Parks QLD – Morelia Walking Track
- D’Aguilar National Park Map – walking trails
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