The open road is calling, but we’re looking for something more than a standard road trip. From tantalising tasting trails to family-friendly fossil frolicking and chasing iconic ‘big things’, these seven themed Queensland road trips are sure to get the tyres spinning.
Queensland Music Trails, state-wide
Queensland Music Trails is a first of its kind event series blending outstanding musical performances with roving Queensland backdrops. From opera to DJs and everything in between, performers will take to the stage across seven distinct trails. The curtain raises in April when the Outback Trail roams through St George, Cunnamulla, Tambo and Charleville across eight days of blues, folk, jazz and retro tunes. The Long Sunset in the Scenic Rim follows on April 29, seeing crowd favourites Lime Cordiale headline alongside a superb line up of Queensland talent (Hatchie, Sycco and Tia Gostelow).
Switching gear, billowing ballads of the opera will ring through the countryside for the Southern Trail. Historic Jimbour House in the Darling Downs will the star-studded symphonies of Opera Queensland, Ensemble Q and a 26-piece Orchestra from Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. The final four trails – taking in the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Great Barrier Reef and Tropical North – will be announced in coming months. Stay tuned.
Australian Dinosaur Trail, Outback Queensland
Jurassic Park fans and budding palaeontologists alike will want to head due west to unearth Australia’s prehistoric past on the Australian Dinosaur Trail. Start the expedition in Eromanga and say g’day to Australia’s largest dinosaur, a 90-something-million-year-old titanosaur called ‘Cooper’, at the Eromanga Natural History Museum. In Winton, get digging at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs – the enormous museum is home to the largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils, and is located on the summit of a stunning butte. While here, volunteer to help prep a dino or take part in a paid dinosaur dig (held on select dates throughout the year).
Just over an hour’s drive southwest of Winton is the Lark Quarry Conservation Park and Dinosaur Stampede National Monument – the site of the only recorded dinosaur stampede on earth. Pass back through Winton and onto Hughenden to meet ‘Hughie’, a seven-metre replica of a 110-million-year-old Muttaburrasaurus found in 1963. Finish the trail in Richmond, the Fossil Capital of Australia, and wind back the clock 120 million years at Kronosaurus Corner. The museum holds 1,150 local fossils from the Cretaceous Inland Sea that covered a large section of Queensland millions of years ago.
Outback Queensland Masters, Outback Queensland
Australia’s most remote golfing event, the Outback Queensland Masters, sees a brigade of amateur golfer’s trek more than 2,000km across Outback Queensland. The 2023 tournament stretches from St George to Mount Isa, with players taking to the ‘green’ in Cunnamulla, Quilpie, Richmond and Karumba in between. The final stop in Mount Isa sees players take a swing at the coveted Million Dollar Hole-In-One challenge – making the event one of the richest amateur golf tournaments in the world. Those following the event route have plenty of time between tee offs to visit other country towns like Windorah, Winton, Longreach, Hughenden and Cloncurry.
Savour Southern Queensland Country Tasting Trails, Southern Queensland Country
The Savour Southern Queensland Country Tasting Trails are a must do for foodies – each trail calls for empty baskets and empty bellies. Six delectable self-drive itineraries wind through the rolling hills, towering mountain ranges and sprawling countryside west of Brisbane. Choose from cellar doors and vineyards, food-focused events and workshops, local producers, breweries and distilleries, picnics and country pubs. Whether it’s a day trip or a multi-night culinary journey, travellers have the flexibility to follow just one trail or combine different experiences from a few, tailoring the trip to individual tastebuds.
Atherton Tablelands Waterfall Circuit, Cairns & Great Barrier Reef
If there was ever a place to ignore the advice of 90s pop sensation TLC, it’s in the Atherton Tablelands – we say DO go chasing waterfalls! The Atherton Tablelands lie in the hinterland southwest of Cairns, boasting freshwater creeks and lofty mountain plateaus that produce gushingly gorgeous waterfalls. The Waterfall Circuit starts and ends in Cairns with stops at some of the most photogenic cascades in the country such as Josephine Falls, Tchupala Falls, Nandroya Falls, Millaa Millaa Falls and Zillie Falls. Break up the trip with a walk through the canopy at Mamu Tropical Skywalk, cool off at Lake Eacham, or refuel with a visit to one of the many local producers dotted throughout the highlands. Continue the rainforest theme by staying in treehouse accommodation at Canopy Rainforest Tree Houses and Wildlife Sanctuary or Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat.
Great Beach Drive, Sunshine Coast/Fraser Coast
Queensland road trips don’t get much more epic than the Great Beach Drive. Adventure and nature collide on this five day, 380km 4WD journey along the golden sands of the Sunshine and Fraser Coasts. Starting in Noosa, take the vehicle ferry across the river to Noosa Northshore – the gateway to The Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve. Drive onwards to Double Island Point, home to the world’s longest right-hand surf break, and onto Rainbow Beach. A short jaunt up the beach to Inskip Point, followed by a barge across the Great Sandy Strait, takes travellers to the southern tip of World Heritage Listed K’gari (Fraser Island).
The beach driving doesn’t stop there. Cruise the eastern fringe of the island along 75 Mile Beach and take in scenic K’gari (Fraser Island) spots like Lake McKenzie, Eli Creek, Indian Head, Champagne Pools and Pile Valley. Want to tackle the Great Beach Drive without getting behind the wheel? Join the experts at Great Beach Drive 4WD Tours or Discovery Fraser Island on a guided 4WD tour.
The ‘Big Things’ Road Trip, state-wide
It’s only fitting that Australia’s second largest state is home to a monumental assortment of ‘big things’. Tick many of them off your ‘big bucket list’ on a blockbuster voyage, which spans the length of Queensland’s coastline. Starting in border town Stanthorpe you’ll see Australia’s answer to the ‘big apple’, before turning to the coast to drool over the Big Pie at Yatala’s famed pie shop. Head north on the Bruce Highway to the Sunshine Coast, home to the Big Pineapple and ‘Matilda’ the big kangaroo from the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games (located at Kybong, just south of Gympie). Another iconic Aussie character, a towering statue of Ned Kelly, can be found in Maryborough.
The namesake of Bundaberg Rum, ‘Bundy’ doesn’t do beverages by halves. The big Bundaberg Barrel serves up refreshing Bundaberg Brewed Drinks. Still thirsty? Check out the big beer bottle near Childers. It will come as no surprise that Australia’s beef capital, Rockhampton, boasts six ‘big bulls’ while in Sarina, south of Mackay, Buffy the Big Cane Toad stands guard on the main street. For something sweeter, the ten-metre high Big Mango in Bowen welcomes visitors to the town made famous by the tropical fruit. In Tully, stand next to the Golden Gumboot to gain a sense of how much rain fell there in 1950 – the highest annual rainfall ever recorded in Australia. On the Cassowary Coast, seek out the Big Cassowary at Mission Beach, and in the tropical north, climb inside the Big Croc Head in the Daintree or meet Krys the Big Crocodile in Normanton.
Head to www.queensland.com to uncover more themed Queensland road trips and epic drives.