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Mapleton/Baxter Falls and Wooroi Track

Mapleton/Baxter Falls and Wooroi Track
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22/05/2022

 

Sunshine Coast

Australia

 

26° - 27°S
153°E

21 - 436m ASL

 

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ARRIVING at Mapleton Falls in the early morning, I headed out onto the platform to look over the water tumbling from Pencil Creek in a fine mist into the deep valley below under vertical walls of rock. The valley below spread out between the ridges to join the upper Mary Valley hidden under a thin veil of white fog. Another think layer of cloud covered the tops of the Conondale Range on the other side of the valley.

From the lookout I headed to the nearby path of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk, and followed it along the road for about two kilometres before turning off along a side road and entering the northern end of Kondalilla National Park. From here the somewhat rough and slightly muddy track descended the ridge for over half an hour before I reached Baxter Falls. I followed the rocky track up to the pool under the waterfall and relaxed there for a few minutes before heading back up the hill to the Mapleton Falls lookout.

The clouds had long lifted from the valley floor, with just a few puffy clouds hanging a kilometre or two overhead and increasing from the sea breeze starting to blow in from the Sunshine Coast on the other side of the range behind me.

From the falls I continued following the Sunshine Coast Hinterland track heading into the small Mapleton Falls National Park, a forested area occupying the bluff above the waterfall. Passing the picnic area just above the waterfall, I started hiking around the Wompoo circuit, named after the brightly coloured wompoo pigeon. Starting as rainforest, the bush gradually became cedar forest as I headed around the circuit, briefly stopping at Perigrine Lookout. Upon reaching the next junction, I continued along the great walk heading up the hill through the forest before descending through a back residential farm road, then crossing a road to enter the large Mapleton National Park. I followed the track for another kilometre before reaching the number 4 trailhead, and crossed the road to explore the Mapleton Cemetery.

From the cemetery I returned along the great walk to the junction where I completed the Wompoo circuit cutting through tall rainforest before returning to Mapleton Falls Lookout.

From the lookout I drove off the range heading back through Nambour and following the Bruce Highway further up turning off to follow the Noosa Road, where I continued until reaching Tewantin National Park, where I stopped at teh Wooroi day use area. From there I walked along the Wooroi Track, one of the few in this area allowing walkers. Most of the tracks in this part of the park are for mountain bikes only, but the wider firebreak tracks allowed walking.

The track was quite boggy with big puddles a few cyclists were getting very wet as they rode through them. The track followed a swampy stream for a while before starting to rise along the edge of the range. The track rose moderately steeply before reaching a clearing through which a line of power lines descended from the ridge down towards Noosa which was visible in the distance. A rough track went in either direction which I tried following, but didn't get very far. Another track continued from the main one heading back into the forest. I didn't do this one, but made a note to do it at a later date.

I returned to the day use area for dinner before driving up to Sunrise Road following the top of the range, where I stopped at one of the parking areas at the top of the power lines I had reached earlier. From there I watched the reverse sunset over Noosa in the distance before calling it a night here.

 
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