The Scenic Rim is a group of forested mountain ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located south of Brisbane agglomeration, straddling the border between south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. [1] In 2021, the Scenic Rim was named as a Lonely Planet top destination for 2022. [2]
Yugarabul (also known as Ugarapul and Yuggerabul) and Yugembah (also known as Yugumbir, Jugambel, Jugambeir, Jugumbir, Jukam, Jukamba) are Australian Aboriginal languages of the Scenic Rim, South-East Queensland.The Yugarabul language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Brisbane City Council, Ipswich City Council and the Scenic Rim Regional Council. [3] The Yugembah language areas include Gold Coast, Logan, Scenic Rim, Tweed River Valley, Albert River, Beaudesert, Beenleigh, Coolangatta, Coomera, Logan River, Pimpama and Tamborine, within the local government boundaries of the City of Gold Coast, City of Logan, Scenic Rim Regional Council and the Tweed River Valley.
The Scenic Rim has been described as one of Queensland's great natural treasure troves. [4] The landscape is visually stunning. [4] The topography is varied and rainfall fairly high, especially in the east. In the west dryer conditions lead to distinct vegetation types, such as dry eucalyptus forest, dominating. [4] The Scenic Rim lies in a zone where tropical, temperate and western species overlap in a biodiversity hot spot. [4] Biologists refer to this region as the Macleay-McPherson Overlap. [4]
The mountainous landscape forms a quarter circle ridge positioned roughly from south of Toowoomba around to Springbrook. Tamborine Mountain, Lever's Plateau and the Lamington Plateau are part of the rim formation. [5] The scenic rim is considered part of the Gold Coast hinterland. Parts of the rim are well developed, crossed by highways with facilities for tourists like Cunninghams Gap, others are privately owned agricultural properties and rural villages such as Beechmont and Tamborine Mountain. Much of the rest is protected in national parks and nature reserves.
The ranges include the Little Liverpool Range, [6] Main Range, [7] Mistake Mountains, [8] McPherson Range, [9] Teviot Range [10] and the Tweed Range. [11] Valleys of the Scenic Rim include Laidley Creek, Christmas Creek, Lockyer Valley, Fassifern Valley, Numinbah Valley, the Albert River, Logan River, Coomera River and the Bremer River.
The geology and landscape of the Scenic Rim is largely volcanic in origin, deriving from the prehistoric Tweed Volcano, including the Mount Warning shield volcano, and the Focal Peak and Main Range volcanic rocks. Some areas of sedimentary origin include parts of Mount Barney and eastern Lamington national parks. The deeply weathered, mainly basaltic, soils support rainforest and vine thicket ecosystems, as well as rare eucalypt and grassland communities. The area has a subtropical climate with (at the lowest altitudes) average minimum winter temperatures of 6 °C, average maximum summer temperatures of 29 °C, and average annual rainfall of 1555 mm. [12]
Areas protected in national parks and other conservation reserves include the Border Ranges National Park, Glen Rock Regional Park, Koreelah National Park, Lamington National Park, Limpinwood Nature Reserve, Main Range National Park, Mebbin National Park, Moogerah Peaks National Park, Mount Barney National Park, Mount Chinghee National Park, Mount Clunie National Park, Mount Nothofagus National Park, Mount Warning National Park, Numinbah Nature Reserve and Springbrook National Park. Parts of the Scenic Rim, Gondwana Rainforests, are listed as a World Heritage Site, [13] and some are designated Wilderness Areas. [12]
A 1,351 km2 area encompassing the Scenic Rim has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of endangered eastern bristlebirds, black-breasted button-quails, rufous scrub-birds, Albert's lyrebirds, pale-yellow robins, paradise riflebirds, green catbirds, regent bowerbirds and Australian logrunners. [14] There are also historical and recent sight records of the critically endangered Coxen's fig parrot. [12] Migratory cuckoos can be seen and heard from Spring to Summer. [4]
There are many recreational activities for day-trippers, rockclimbers, hikers and nature lovers on the ranges. [15] The concept of the Scenic Rim was first described by Arthur Groom and Romeo Lahey in the 1920s. [16] They were campaigning for the protection of the forests from Main Range to the Lamington Plateau. At about the same time the Binna Burra Lodge and O'Reilly's Guesthouse were established as the popularity of the area grew with tourists.
The Border Ranges National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. A small portion of the national park is also located in South East Queensland. The 31,729-hectare (78,400-acre) park is situated approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) south of Brisbane, north of Kyogle.
The Lamington National Park is a national park, lying on the Lamington Plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border in Australia. From Southport on the Gold Coast the park is 85 kilometres (53 mi) to the southwest and Brisbane is 110 kilometres (68 mi) north. The 20,600 hectares Lamington National Park is known for its natural environment, rainforests, birdlife, ancient trees, waterfalls, walking tracks and mountain views. The park protects parts of the Eastern Australian temperate forests.
The Springbrook National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Gold Coast hinterland of Queensland, Australia. The 6,197-hectare (15,310-acre) park is situated on the McPherson Range, near Springbrook, approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Brisbane. The park is part of the Shield Volcano Group of the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.
The Logan River is a perennial river in the Scenic Rim, Logan and Gold Coast local government areas of the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The 184-kilometre (114 mi)-long river is one of the dominant waterways in South East Queensland that drains the southern ranges of the Scenic Rim and empties into Moreton Bay after navigating the City of Logan, a major suburban centre located south of Brisbane. The catchment is dominated by urban and agricultural land use. Near the river mouth are mangrove forests and a number of aquaculture farms.
The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border between the states of New South Wales and Queensland. Further west of the McPherson Range is the Main Range. Towards the coast the range continues into the Border Ranges and other mountainous terrain formed by the Tweed Volcano.
The Albert River is a perennial river in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Its catchment lies within the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region local government areas and covers an area of 782 square kilometres (302 sq mi). The river provides potable water for the town of Beaudesert.
Natural Bridge is a rural locality in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It borders New South Wales. In the 2016 census, Natural Bridge had a population of 108 people.
Binna Burra is a parcel of private land and mountain lodge within the locality of Binna Burra and surrounded by Lamington National Park in Queensland, Australia. It is also a locality in the Scenic Rim Region. The lodge lies in the north-eastern corner of the Lamington Plateau in the McPherson Range, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south of Brisbane in the scenic rim hinterland of the Gold Coast. Binna Burra lies within the catchment of the upper Coomera River.
Numinbah Valley is a rural locality in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Numinbah Valley had a population of 218 people.
The Scenic Rim Region is a local government area in West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and beyond. The main town of the region is Beaudesert.
Beechmont is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Beechmont had a population of 842 people.
The Gold Coast hinterland is an area of South East Queensland, Australia that comprises the Tweed Range, Nimmel Range, Tamborine Mountain, Numinbah Valley, eastern parts of the McPherson Range and western parts of suburban Gold Coast, such as Mudgeeraba. This undefined unit of area is known for its tourist attractions including resorts, rainforest, lookouts, national parks, its diversity of fauna and flora and as a green backdrop to the coastal strip. It overlaps part of the Scenic Rim and is part of both the City of Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region and includes Springbrook, Binna Burra and O'Reilly.
Springbrook is a rural town and locality in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Springbrook had a population of 659 people.
The Tweed Range is a mountain range which is the western extension of the Tweed Volcano caldera rim, part of the Scenic Rim of the Great Dividing Range, located in northern New South Wales, near the southeastern border of Queensland, in Australia.
Numinbah Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The reserve was gazetted in December 1981 with a further addition made in 1989 to make the reserve to its current area of 858 hectares. The reserve is situated north-east of the rural locality of Numinbah, and south of the Queensland town of Springbrook and defines part of the state border between New South Wales and Queensland.
Illinbah is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Illinbah had a population of 129 people.
Lower Beechmont is a locality in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is situated in the Gold Coast hinterland. In the 2016 census, Lower Beechmont had a population of 1,046 people.
Tamborine is a rural town in the Scenic Rim Region and a locality split between the Scenic Rim Region and the City of Logan in Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Tamborine had a population of 3,950 people.
Binna Burra is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. It borders New South Wales. In the 2021 census, Binna Burra had "no people or a very low population".
Ferny Glen is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census Ferny Glen had a population of 84 people.
This Wikipedia article incorporates CC-BY-4.0 licensed text from: "Yugarabul". Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map. State Library of Queensland . Retrieved 28 January 2020.