Mt Maroon
(Mt Barney National Park)Mt Maroon is provides some of the best views in South-East Queensland, with 360 degree views ranging from Lamington NP through Mt Barney, the length of Main Range and the Moogerah Peaks.
Getting there
The track leaves from the end of Cotswold Rd which turns South of Boonah-Rathdowney Rd 2.7km East of Maroon township. The track ends at a small dam about 3.5km from the turnoff.
Maps
The Maroon 1:25000 covers the area.
Route/Trail notes
Follow the open hill just south-west of the dam. A reasonably clear track leads up the hill reasonably quickly (I wouldn't say it's steep, but if you've been doing graded tracks it'll get the heart pumping).
This track leads into a gully with some spectacular cliffs off to the right. If you're into rock climbing this cliff offers some good options. Just search for Ruby of India to get started.
Climb up the gully, taking care not to dislodge rocks down on your fellow hikers. At the top of the gully a track leads through a small area of vegetation before emerging at the base of the main, bald peak. Simply wind your way up this peak to the large cairn at the top and enjoy the views.
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Comments
hazwing on 19 May, 2012
spectacular view up the top. On our first attempt on this trail, we ended at the cliff face that people have previously mentioned, and ended the walk there. Our second time, we actually made it to the summit. Have a read of the previous comments, so you don't miss the trail. Moving in a group of 4 at a leisurely pace, it took us about 6 hours including about 30mins at the summit.WorldWalker on Apr, 2012
Loved this walk/climb. Steep in, then a scramble up the gorge to a few peaks with 360 views. Can be cold up top.ggoodey on 10 Mar, 2012
Great walk. Went solo and didn't run into anyone else. My fitness is pretty low at the moment, so it was quite a slow ascent. The track is not always well defined, but I managed to find the track leading off the the right with no trouble - I didn't have to turn back after hitting the cliff as others have mentioned. I can see how you'd ignore it, as it heads quite a way down before going back up. As there have been rock slides/track changes since it was written the 'Take a Walk in SEQ' guide was not perfect in places, but useful in others. This time of year it is best to head up early as it gets quite hot out there, but there was shade to be found in most parts. Spent quite a bit of time at the top and was back at the carpark in 5 hours.CH33 on 21 Feb, 2012
Great walk. But beware the trail is not well marked and a crucial point is where you are at the top of the ridge you have to turn right and go down to reach the gully for the scramble climb.If you miss this point and keep going up the ridge for another 100 metres you will reach a cliff face. If you are a everyday hiker it is obvious that it is too steep to climb but I do a lot of free climbing/scrambling on pretty steep faces. So when I was there I didn't know I was at the wrong route and started to climb that cliff face, we went up by about 50 metres it got more steep, though I could keep going my friend that came along with me couldn't and we didn't bring rope. He had a very hard time going back down (close to nearly needing to be rescued).
So basically just want everyone to know when you reach the cliff face please turn back it is not the main route and if you go up it you may get stuck. It does look like it's possible to go up to the peak from that climb but it not recommended without rope.
davealex on 22 Jan, 2012
Great walk with excellent company. K2 Extreme Adventure guide with our group totalling 6. Very hot day and didn't eat right before hand ( lesson learnt ). Incredible views from the peak to Mt Barney and surrounding areas into northern NSW. Could make out the peak of Mt Warning in the distance. Garmin eTrex GPS was absolutely spot on with 1:25000 Topo MGRS references.peter10001 on 23 Dec, 2011
Quite a steep hike, with a bit of scrambling. Enjoyable!!jen on 5 Nov, 2011
Great walk. beautiful views. Took 4hrs 4mins to get back to the car after stopping for lunch and exploring the amazing peaks. Not many markers but is easy enough to get through without them. Loved the rock climbing.Badger on 29 Oct, 2011
Experienced a 'white out' on the mountain for ascent to summit and descent - take precautions.Laurence Hallam on 27 Sep, 2011
Had a walk up to the top via Cotswold. loose underfoot and the gully seems to be steeper.mika28au on 2 May, 2011
My third time here but this time it was via paddy's plain since the closure of the Cotswold route. This way is very interesting with a great diversity of landscapes, but it's a long walk including exploring Paddy's falls it took around 9hrs to complete.Laurence Hallam on 10 Sep, 2010
Another great walk! Although it is closed now due to rock fall in the gully! Hope it is not closed as long as last time.Laurence Hallam on 8 Aug, 2010
Another great climb took the nephew. Magnificent sunrise!exo karpos on 24 Jul, 2010
Cotswold track is a classic ridge track & gully hike.Enjoy the slog up the ridge, observe the main gully under the cliffline to your right this is the gully you need to take, the track descends down a little into the gully under the cliff, then ascend this gully.
Laurence Hallam on 18 Jul, 2010
Left home at 3.30am. Got there at 5.15am. Watched the glorious sunrise from the summit and descended. It was rather chilly at the top but a hot cup of coffee and the sun rise was worth the effort.Boris Zoubakin on 9 Jan, 2010
Very steep rocky walk. Navigational skills required.Boris Zoubakin on 9 Jan, 2010
Due to a recent fire some of the green markers on the trees are not visible. Most of the markers are visible on the downward route but hard to find when making your way to the top. Two orange triangle markers are easily visible on the rocks. some trees have markings on them.Allan Allport on 31 Oct, 2009
Over the winter months the trail has been remarked. Just follow the green dots!Richard Mason on 7 Jun, 2009
Still a great view. A recent rockfall (last year or so?) has made the track a little harder to follow, but still basically same approach.Still worth the walk!
Allan Allport on 25 Apr, 2009
It's pretty steep going for the first few kilometres and not to mention poorly marked. We spent most of the walk trying to find the track, but instead found other walkers who were equally as lost.If you keep following the ridge from the dam straight up, you'll eventually get to a nice cliff wall. Go back about about 200 metres and on the left (facing back to the carpark) there'll be a track down the valley.
Once you descend the valley and pass the rock climbing walls, you'll head up again with a bit of a scramble in points until you reach a camp site. Once again, we couldn't find any markers, so a bit of an explore lead to us following the creek bed, onto some rocks and then off to the summit!
Excellent views and an excellent walk. But once again, I only saw about 4 markers the entire time, and all but one was a green spot on a rock or tree (making it a bit difficult to spot). We completed it in under 5 hours, including a large time spent contemplating the view from the top with a nice cold drink.
Susan Edwards on 1998
climbed in my younger, fitter days. a real challenge, but memorable