Monto - National Parks

Cania Gorge National Park

castle mountain cania gorge national park
The view from Castle Mountain, Cania Gorge National Park.

Discover the natural wonder of one of Queensland's best kept secrets!  Sheer towering cliffs, countless rock formations, hidden caves and the beautiful Castle Mountain - best viewed in the late afternoon sun!

Cania Gorge National Park is the closest park to the coast in which you can see the sandstone landscapes of central Queensland. 

Visitors enjoy an amazing variety of scenery, wildlife and history along the many walking tracks available. 

Indigenous people have lived in Cania Gorge for thousands of years and the freehand art on remote sandstone walls is a reminder of their special way of life.

The Cania Gorge National Park is world renowned for its beauty. With the stunning sandstone landscapes, extensive bushwalking tracks, aboriginal art and secluded pockets of stunning rainforest, it is little wonder people come from all over Australia to visit this area. 

Park Features

There are more than 150 different types of plan communities found in the Cania Gorge region. This includes briaglow forest, eucalypt woodland, cypress pine woodland, dry rainforest and grassland. 

The birdlife is abundant - being home to more than 90 birds species!

Culture and History

"Big Foot" Aboriginal Art at Cania Gorge
"Big Foot" Aboriginal Art at Cania Gorge

Cania Gorge was carved out of sandstone by the slow movement of water. 

Indigenous people have lived in Cania Gorge for at least 19,000 years. They used the gorges as they offered access to predictable water and food resources. Archaeologists are continuing their research on Aboriginal occupation of the gorge over time. Within caves teeth, bone and stone tools have been recovered. 

There are nine recorded Aboriginal art sites in Cania Gorge, but these are not all accessible to the public. Paintings include handprints and images of animals and their tracks. The art style in Cania Gorge is freehand painting - very different to other parks found in the west and south-west, and serves as a reminder of their special way of life.  

Thomas Archer was the first European to explore the headwaters of the Burnett River. 

During the 1850s Cania Station was established and ran sheep until 1883 when beef and dairy cattle were introduced. In 1870 gold was discovered to the north of Cania Gorge and quickly the township 'Cania Goldfields' appeared along the Three Moon Creek. Mining ended in the early 1920's and the population declined. Lake Cania now covers the remains of the goldfields.

Cania Gorge National Park was gazetted in 1977, with futher additions made in 1979, and in 1989 the Francis fmaily, owners of Cania Station, donated the land that comprises the central section of the park. 

Wildlife

Afternoons are the best time to see some of Cania Gorge's wildlife. Be sure to bring your camera and binoculars you'll never know what you might find! 

Look up at the cliffs where a peregrine falcon or wedge-tailed eagle may be soaring. You might also hear the joyful calls of sulphur-crested cockatoos, currwongs, king parrots, dollarbirds, wompoo pigeons or regent bowerbirds. Lace monitors might be disguised among the trees. 

On the forest flore, rainbow skinks, wood geckos or eastern pebble-mound mice might be seen. Whiptail wallabies, black-striped wallabies and Herbert's rock-wallabies live around the Gorges and Park. 

Australian brush-turkeys often rustle through the undergrowth, building nesting mounds on the forest floor for egg incubation.

Sheathtail bats often hide in the sandstone cracks, crevies and caves during the day. 

cania gorge national park wildlife birds bird watching parrot
Wildlife at Cania Gorge National Park. Photo Credit: Tourism
and Events Queensland.

Platypus live in the waterholes below the dam wall 

After rain or in the wet areas like Dripping Rock or The Overhang, listen for choruses of frogs.

At night, different animals appear. Yellow-bellied gliders take cover in hollow trees during the day and at night can glide up to 100 metres! They make distinctive cuts in the bark of eucalypts.

Getting here

Cania Gorge is about 225km west of Bundaberg or about 500km north-west of Brisbane.

Once you reach Monto, travel 12km north on the A3 Burnett Highway. Branch off onto the sealed Cania Road for 14km passing through the small settlement of Moonford to the main picnic area.

Facilities

Picnic shelters, barbecues, interpretive display, public toilets and car parking available at the Cania Gorge Picnic Area.

Accessibility

Cania Gorge Wallabies wildlife
Cania Gorge National Park. Photo credit: Tourism and Events
Queensland

Wheelchair-accessible toilets and picnic tables are available at the Three Moon Creek picnic area. You will have to cross grassy areas to reach the covered picnic tables and barbecues. The shelters are paved sandstone. 

Camping at Cania Gorge National Park

Camping is not permitted in Cania Gorge National Park.

Caravan and camping parks and other accomodation are provided nearby to the Park and in Monto.

Walking Tracks

Within the 3000 hectare park there are a variety of walking tracks ranging in length from 300m to 22km.

View weird and wonderful rock shapes - Elephant's Head, Dripping Rock, Big Foot, The Overhang and Dragon Cave with Jacob's Skull

Ensure you carry plenty of drinking water for each walk and be cautious on loose gravel surfaces.

Use the walking track grades to choose the most suitable walks for your fitness and bushwalking experience. Allow more time to include rests if you are an inexperienced bushwalker or walking with young children. 

For a map on the walking trails, view: https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/cania-gorge/pdf/cania-gorge-np-map.pdf

For walking track information, maps and park alerts please check: https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/cania-gorge/

 

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cania gorge national park dripping rock
"Dripping Rock" - Cania Gorge National Park

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