WHAT TO SEE AT STANTHORPE
For the bushwalking enthusiasts and the wine connoisseurs make sure you put Stanthorpe on your list for your next place to visit. Here’s just a few things listed so you make the most of your stay.
GRANITE BELT WINERIES
Stanthorpe’s Local Wineries
Queensland’s wine capital is famous for its excellent wine making qualities. Add to your collection of wines by visiting one of more than 40 cellar doors and 55 wineries and taking a tour around the local vineyards. An experience not to be missed. Stanthorpe also supports a variety of fresh produce including apples, pears, stone fruits, vegetables, grapes berries and olives.
All Local Wineries
Queensland’s Wine Capital
NATIONAL PARKS
Monsters In Hills Made of Pure Granite
The Granite Belt is unique for not just the local wineries but the many national parks. You can climb the Pyramid, Castle Rock or Mount Norman and you will be sure to find a granite monster to climb. The Queen Mary Falls have many beautiful walking track and if you have a 4WD you will find this an advantage in some parts of the national parks. A beautiful place for peaceful picnics or a challenge for the energetic crew.
Girraween, one of four National Parks is 25mins from Stanthorpe via Ballandean. It is excellent for family camping and bushwalking where you can discover the scenic creeks and the endless variety of plants and wildlife.
As you pass through the various walking tracks the breathtaking waterfalls, massive boulders and vast eucalypt forest, leave nothing to your imagination.
Sundown National Park can be found 60 mins from Stanthorpe via Glen Lyon Dam Road. This ‘rough and tough’ landscape captures the beauty of sedimentary and igneous rocks revealing the steep ridges and spectacular gorges offering this magnificent view.
Make friends with the grey kangaroos, wallaroos, possums and gliders that greet you in their domain. This is for the adventure seeking, self-sufficient campers who can enjoy fishing, swimming and canoeing in the plentiful waterholes.
Bald Rock rising 200m above the surrounding forest is the second largest monolith in Australia. If you like a work-out when you walk, then take a this challenge for 3kms to experience the grand views from the 200 metre summit.
Bald Rock National Park is 55 minutes from Stanthorpe via Tenterfield, with access from the Mount Lindesay Highway, via a 6 kilometres drive on gravel road. Camping, picnic and barbecue facilities are available at Bald Rock rest area close to the base of the rock.
Be charmed by the main attraction – the Boonoo Boonoo Falls. The Boonoo Boonoo River winds its way through riverside vegetation and smooth granite boulders.
The many rock pool and swimming holes are a perfect resting place after a walk or just to cool off in summer. You can follow this river and see the magnificent views to take you to where it escapes 210 metres into an awaiting gorge.
This 78 hectare park has picnic grounds for all to enjoy. You find Queen Mary Falls by following a winding path through the section from Spring Creek. The water rushes over the 40 metre drop crevasse rocks to join the Condamine River.
The Queen Mary Falls Caravan Park provides facilities for campers. For the bushwalking enthusiasts please contact the Ranger as the tracks lead to remote areas of Main Range National Park.
An astronomer’s delight! SKY TOURS are from run from 8:30 pm and bookings are essential. These are subject to weather conditions. Bookings are normally for in house guests only but occasionally if they have availability ( the observatory holds 6 people only) you can make a booking. Please see their website for directions and safety getting off the highway at night.
View the Moon, Venus (sets about 9:30 pm) Jupiter and Saturn, Double stars, Star Clusters, Nebulae Galaxies and geostationary satellites through the 18” (46 cm) telescope. Find this observatory at New England Highway, Ballandean, near Vineyard Cottages.