Detailed info about the Cooloola Great Walk

1. thoughts of the hike

2. camp ground names, distances & condition

3. travelling from interstate & getting to the start

4. butane gas canisters & flying

5. gallery

1. Thoughts of the hike

A great multi-day hike to get away from it all, just like most hikes are. The walk along the beach was enjoyable, although it was not as long in comparison to the entire hike. It was amazing to see sections of the path that were totally covered in leaves, & I found the tall trees to be very impressive. The walk-in campsites were fantastic, as they provided a secluded spot for each camper, ensuring privacy from neighboring hikers. While the hike was not overly difficult, it still required pushing through 20 kilometers in a day. Overall, this hike is a great way to disconnect from the hustle & bustle of everyday life and enjoy the beauty of nature. One thing that was unfortunate was we had such clear nights but the tall trees at the walk-in campsites obstructed my view of the night sky and any potential star gazing. Take advantage of Brahminy camp site, it was the only location with a decent view. We did this hike August 2023.

Tim's review of the walk

2. Camp ground names, distances & condition

The hike is a great point-to-point trail that offers flexibility in terms of starting or finishing locations. You can choose to start either at Noosa North Shore or Carlo Carpark in Rainbow Beach. As you make your way from south to north, there are several campgrounds along the trail.

1. Noosa North shore to Brahminy - 17.5k, plus 2.5k if you walk from getting off the barge to the actual start, so 20k in total. It took us 6-7 hours. This 2.5k stretch along Maximillian road is easy walking, but if you get friendly with someone on the short barge ride, you may score a free lift & save your self the extra 2.5k.

2. Brahminy to Dutgee - 20.5k, about 6-7 hours

3. Dutgee to Litoria - 15k, about 5 hours

4. Litoria to Kauri - 20.5k, about 7 hours

5. Kauri to Carlo carpark, Rainbow beach - 15.5k, about 5 hours

There is two sections that involves some full on sand walking, picture walking through a desert, not lost & destitute, but amazed. These are the Cooloola sandpatch & Carlow sandblow. The topographical maps recommend using a compass & map, (which is alway recommended on any hike for safety) however, you can easily walk these sections without the compass. I suppose if you had a full on overcast or foggy day it could make it challenging but again it is very manageable.

The path conditions were ideal for our hike. We were fortunate to have beautiful, sunny days with temperatures reaching a comfortable 24° Celsius (75°F), but I suppose that is Queensland in general, which meant the track was dry and easy to navigate. The signage along the way was clear & we never got lost. The Cooloola sandpatch section, around 1.5 kilometers long, & the Carlo Sandblow, about 1 kilometer in length, involved walking on pure sand. Although it did slow us down a bit, it was worth it because we were able to fully appreciate the breathtaking views. The toilets at the campsite were clean & acceptable for hike sites, but it's important to bring your own toilet paper as there was none provided. Each campsite had access to water, but it's always advisable to treat it before consuming. Additionally, it is recommended to store your food in the metal boxes provided (see first picture below) at each tent site to prevent animals from accessing it during the night.

3. Travelling from interstate & getting to the start!

Booking Qantas airlines tickets & campsites was the easy part. The next step involved the following challenges:

1. Getting from the airport to our accommodation

2. Getting from our accommodation to the start of the hike

3. Where to keep our suit cases while on the hike

4. Finish the hike, but now where to?

5. Gas canisters & flying

So how do you get to the start of Cooloola Great Walk? If you are flying in from interstate (or overseas) to do this hike, the closest airport is Sunshine Coast Airport (also called Maroochydore Airport). If you are starting at the southern end of the hike, at Noosa North shore, it's a little over a 30 minutes drive from the airport. Driving from the airport to the northern part of the hike it's a little under 2 hours.

Points 1&2 from above initially did my head in. My initial plan was to simply hire a car from the Sunshine Coast Airport, get some accomodation on airbnb near the hike, but then the challenges came along. It sounded simple enough, but doing it was difficult. Instead of boring you with what went on in my little head trying to calculate it all, this is what we did & learnt for future interstate hikes.

Airbnb is great, however often you need to spend at least 2 nights at the one place, & we only needed one night before the start of our hike. So I looked at booking.com instead as they often have more hotel & motels listed which are generally ok with one night. This decision fixed all our concerns with one phone call.

We came across a traditional bed & breakfast in Tewantin, Queensland. I booked knowing that we had a good duration to cancel before confirmation & payment, & that they generally send you a confirmation email with the hosts contact number. And voila, as soon as I booked, the confirmation email with their phone number came through. I promptly phoned & spoke to a very accommodating host by the name of Pam. Pam & her husband, a very energetic couple, were happy to pick us up from the airport, (for a small cost). They knew about the Cooloola walk & had assisted other hikers before.

So after a friendly conversation, Pam was happy to pick us from the airport & drive us obviously directly to their house & accommodation.

Getting to the start of the hike still proved a small challenge but easily fixed. Pam's husband drove us to the start of the hike,..well I should say as close as possible . You see, to get to the start of the Cooloola Great Walk from the Noosa North shore end you need to catch a barge (a type of boat) to cross the river. You can put your car on this barge, but as we didn't have a car we were considered 'walk ons' & for $1.00 each (must be in cash, rather coins) we were shipped to the other side. It only takes about 10 minutes. Then it was a fairly easy 2.5k walk to the start of the hike. Granted it adds 2.5k to an already 17k walk, but the overall distance for the day was very manageable. The walk along Maximillian road is actually a good start. In the 2.5k's it took us to walk we may have had half a dozen or so cars pass us, in other words, you might be able to snag a lift, if you can't be bothered walking, however we managed the walk ok.

The airbnb couple were also happy to pick us up from the end of the walk, Rainbow beach, mind you a hour & half drive for them, & bring us back to their accomodation where we would spend our final night before heading home. We had what they referred to as their superior room as we had a ensuite attached to it.

They were happy because it meant another nights accommodation had been booked with them & they made extra for picking us up at the end of the hike.The next morning, we were able to squeeze in breakfast at Noosa then they drove us back to Maroochydore airport for our flight.

We were happy because our transport had been sorted, & they were looking after our suit cases while on the hike because we were coming back. Win win!

We really have nothing but praise & appreciation for our hosts. It was clean, they were more than friendly, provided breakfast & in a sense acted as our chauffeur while we were there.

So in short...use booking.com with hosts that can act as a chauffeur for you.

4. Butane gas canisters & flying

So we were able to pack all our hiking items into a suit case each but what about the butane canister use for cooking our dinner? I personally emailed the Qantas Dangerous Goods team on this subject & received this response:

"Thank you for contacting the Dangerous Goods team.

Flammable gas canisters of all types are forbidden to travel i.e. carry-on or checked baggage.

You will need to send these via freight through a Dangerous Goods Freight Forwarder."

So as we need to eat when we hike, & we prefer hot food particularly for dinner, how was this going to work!?

We got around this by using our accomodation hosts. Prior to leaving Melbourne we purchased 2x 230g canisters online from the BCF in Maroochydore. Once landed & picked up by our hosts, they were again happy to pass by BCF to collect our order on the way to the accommodation. While, we didn't completely empty them, it was still good peace of mind having 2 full canisters, there is only so much we can control.

One tip, once I place the online order, I phone the store, speak to a manager, & inform them I'm coming from interstate & will pick up on this particular date. This can help prevernt them from selling out, or thinking it was an incorrect order.

To summarise...don't place these canisters in your flying luggage rather plan ahead by purchasing online.

We've found these 227g butane gas canister from K-mart to be the amongst the cheapest around, generally around $5.00 each, but again they wont deliver this item, you need to collect it yourself.

5. Gallery of Cooloola Great Walk