Baronia Trail and Fig Tree Point

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PARKING at the junction of Gympie - Kin Kin Road and the start of Cooloola Way, I set out from where I had left off a few weeks ago hiking along the gravel Cooloola Way with not a cloud in the still sky. The scrubby eucalypt forest quickly gave way to an exotic pine plantation which the rough four wheel drive road passed through for about two kilometres before reaching the edge of the drop into the Kin Kin Creek valley. From here the flat land to the left was tall pine forest, and the land sloping moderately to the right was covered in native bush.

Two more kilometres passed before I reached the junction where Cooloola Way continued heading to the north whilst Harry's Hut Road began a moderate descent to the right. I decided to rest here but quickly changed my mind upon seeing an enormous brown snake slither away from the log I was going to sit on. I decided to rest on the other side of the track.

After my brief rest I started the descent along Harry's Hut Road under the shelter of the tall eucalypt forest. The descent was short lived dropping about fifty metres around a couple of bends to a long straight through open pine forest across a flat gradually rising towards a low hill. Upon reaching the end of the straight, the road rose up and down over a couple of hills as the pine forest gave way to native eucalypt forest again. I continued following the road until reaching an open gate. Thankfully the gate was open as the road floods further ahead when the Noosa River floods.

Shortly after passing through the gate and about nine kilometres from where I started this morning, I reached the start of the Baronia Trail. I stopped here for a while before setting off following the somewhat overgrown track through the eucalypt forest. This track wasn't as well maintained as most other tracks I have recently hiked due to the bridge crossing Kin Kin Creek ahead being washed out several years ago closing the start of the Cooloola Wilderness Trail. Since the bridge was washed out, this track was seldom used.

The scrubby forest appeared surprisingly dry given all the rain that has fallen here this year. Several small trees had fallen across the track making progress a bit slow. After a couple of small rises and falls the track gradually descended through increasingly thick forest until reaching an old firebreak. The track followed the firebreak from here being wider than it had been previously. The eucalypt forest quickly gave way to wetland everglade forest with fan palms taking over much of the undergrowth. Thankfully this part of the track was quite wide despite a few small washouts. Progress was a lot quicker through here.

The firebreak trail came to an end at a T junction. Signs pointed along each trail, showing I head reached the end of the Baronia Trail and I was now on the Cooloola Wilderness Trail. The track to the right was closed with a large sign due to the bridge being washed out several years ago and no serious plans to rebuild it yet.

I followed the track to the left, passing through the wetland everglade forest. Fortunately it was reasonably dry but parts were a bit overgrown due to the lack of recent maintenance. I found a large fallen tree trunk beside the track to rest for lunch. Kin Kin Creek was just visible through the trees to the right. The forest was almost completely silent.

After lunch, I continued following the track, overgrown in places but still very easy to navigate. Large fan palms towered overhead in between the wetland forest species I wasn't familiar with. The track was covered in silty sand in places where Kin Kin Creek had flooded over earlier this year. Apart from the occasional puddle the track was reasonably dry. Parts of the track had clusters of coloured toadstools and other fungi growing out of it.

After a while the track came closer to Kin Kin Creek with the occasional clear view over the mirror smooth water which wasn't flowing as it was at the level of Lake Cootharaba, it's destination. There were several viewpoints along the wide stream but I continued following the track knowing my progress was a little slow on the rough track.

I reached a large fallen tree over the track, but managed to find a way around it along a path a few people have worn over the past couple of weeks. Shortly afterward I could hear voices echoing through the forest, which I assumed were from a boat on the creek now unseen. A few minutes later two young guys hiking briskly along the trail caught up with me to my surprise. Very few people hike this track, so I wasn't expecting to see them. Like me, they were on their way to Fig Tree Point to camp for the night, so I let them go ahead at their faster pace.

The track continued to roughen passing through a few boggy areas but managed to keep the water out of my boots. Fortunately the track continued to be easy to follow but progress was getting slower now. The track was still following close to the creek which was getting wider as I continued downstream. I reached a small creek meandering beside the track until a sloping wooden bridge crossed it.

At one stage the track turned inland heading away from Kin Kin Creek heading gradually uphill through the everglade forest. There were no longer any wet patches on the track, but there were still quite a few bushes fallen over the track continuing to make progress slow.

Eventually the track ended at a four wheel drive firebreak. A sign on the other side of the firebreak pointed in either direction. I turned to the right to follow the firebreak track towards its end at Fig Tree Point. As well as being the main track and a firebreak, this was also a service road to the camping ground. It was a relief to be on a good track again after several hours of following the overgrown track through the everglade. I had not noticed until now that the perfectly clear sky was now completely covered in cloud.

After following the firebreak track descending for about a kilometre, I reached another signpoint directing the Cooloola Wilderness Trail track to the left along a narrow well maintained track of small gravel. The track wound its way through the swampy everglade forest, fortunately being dry from being elevated. The forest here was stunning, and very different to anything I was used to.

After a couple of hundred metres I reached a clearing at the Fig Tree Point Day Use Area. This is a popular stopping point for canoeists and kayakers exploring Lake Cootharaba. Each grassy section of the day use area had rustic furniture constructed from logs. Trees and low bushes partitioned each part of the day use area into fairly private sections. Nobody was here, so all of today's groups had already left for the day. To the left was a small block of toilets and to the left of that was the start of the camping ground. I selected one of the small campsites and set up my tent as the two guys who had passed me on the track earlier returned to their camp after having explored the area.

Through the trees I could see the lake, and I saw a boat motoring past having come out of the Noosa River, and now crossing the lake towards Boreen Point.

Once my camp was set up, I decided to explore the area. Just before the toilets was a short track to the canoe landing. I followed this track for about twenty metres to where numerous canoes were beached in a small clearing, ready for the next boat load of tourists to come and set out to explore the Noosa River. Just past the clearing was the edge of the lake where I rested on one of the log seats.

From here I could see about a square kilometre of lake. A long headland where the Noosa River flowed into the lake blocked the view of the rest of the lake covering fifty square kilometres. This is the largest natural lake in Queensland.

To the right in the far distance I could make out the wide mouth of Kin Kin Creek, with an information centre on the other side accessible by track or water several kilometres from Boreen Point village. The sun was almost setting now and the clouds were clearing.

I returned to the day use area clearing and headed to the other side of it to explore. I found another track which followed a boardwalk over the swampy reeds winding its way between the trees for a hundred metres to reach a small jetty looking over the lake. This gave me a better view of the eastern side of this section of the lake than I had at the canoe landing. From here I could see an entrance to the Noosa River where boats can continue upstream. I watched the sky darken with the dusk before returning to my camp to have dinner and go to sleep after a big day of hiking.