Mt. Tunbubudla is in fact two mountains known as The Twins. Not easy to access and certainly not easy to climb, and the view of the rest of the Glasshouse Mountains from the South really isn't visible through the trees on the summit. However, it can provide and excellent challenge in bush-bashing or in steep rocky ascents.

4WD Required
Scrambling or Climbing
No Dogs Permitted
No Camping Permitted
Eucalypt Forest
353m
Maximum Elevation
294m
Total Climb

Getting there:

Unless you have a 4WD, then there is only one way in and then only if the weather has been dry for at least a week!

Follow the Steve Irwin Way to Beerburrum and turn west along the Beerburrum Road. After 1.6km, turn right onto Eaton Road and follow this unsealed road for 3.5km to the 'T' junction with the power lines running right and left, where you can park. The start of the walk is directly opposite you.

Maps:

The Twins

Route/Trail notes:

Follow the dirt bike track as it winds around the Eastern Twin for 1.4km till you reach a fork in the track. Take the right hand track and follow for 500m to the mountain's saddle. A less obvious but 'pink flagged' track to your right will take you to the top; add to the rock cairn that marks the summit.

This final pathway is extremely slippery, due to the scree and loose rocks. This is more hazardous on the way down and positively dangerous when wet.

You now have the option to return to the 'saddle' and climb the opposite West Twin or return the way you came.

Permits/Costs:

None.

Other References/Comments:

Glass House Mountains

Comments

Walked east and west summits. I made a 5-min video with drone footage and maps here: https://youtu.be/1iIOJB9YN6E

Richard Pattison on 13 Oct, 2023

Took the trail that lead straight up. Easy to follow but quite steep and lots of loose scree. Lost the trail on the way down and ended up having to do a little rock scrambling. Enjoyable anyway.

Olwyn on 26 Jan, 2021

Enjoyed this walk (east) but probably wouldn’t do again. Fun scramble up - pretty loose & slippery on the way down. Nice idea to have rock cairns to add to on the way and at the summit. Disappointed that there was no view at the top! Will do the west one next time for the better view.

JulesD on 7 May, 2020

The National Park sees infrequent visitors from the mainstream tourist route as it is accessible by 4WD only, so the quality of wildlife is enriched and trash is scarce. The walk to is flat enough to stretch the muscles before the steepened scramble to the summit, which is very steep and very crumbly. Please be careful.

The buzzkill is, is that there are NO views from the top! So if you're willing to precariously bush bash to find a nice cliff face the only decent view you get is of the west summit as you're half way up/down the mountain which is, in it own right, unique ... but I came for vast views from summit tops ...

Be aware of dirt bikers who might not see you coming around a corner! (They shouldn't be dirt biking in a national park anyway...)

basalamant on 2020

bit scrambley

kmuki on 6 Oct, 2019

Really need nice walk at the bottom. The climb up and down was really challenging. It’s pretty much straight up apart from a section in the middle where you skirt around the side of the mountain. The scree was interesting on the way down. There was no bush bashing though. Parts of the track are a little overgrown towards the top but it wasn’t too tricky. There are pink ribbons all the way up but we didn’t see too many on the way up, probably because we were watching our feet rather than the trees. They were more obvious coming down. We definitely wouldn’t do it after rain. It would be terrible.

Ian and Sue on 27 Jul, 2019

Did East and West peaks in one day. Recommend doing the East peak first as it does take slightly longer and you can save the better view from the West peak for last.

JayWalker on 30 Jun, 2019

After reading the comments I came here expecting the worst, was actually pleasantly surprised. I drove in following the transmission line road and parked where the National Park gate was. Nice well marked tracked up into the saddle between the 2 peaks. From there it was a well marked track up to the summit which was steep and slippery but no more than Mt Eerwah (not Beerwah). The view was pretty non existent and there were a lot of mosquitoes but as far as walks go it was not too bad, there was never a point where I was bush bashing.

Vonsnrub on 5 Feb, 2019

Very solid scramble to the summit, there’s a route marked with pink ribbon up but there’s also one that went off, no idea where it went so I decided to stick to the well worn track.

Caleb J. Stanton on 2 Aug, 2018

Not a simple climb, but very satisfying

Stephen Pinel on Aug, 2018

The instructions given to arrive at the trail starting point were not exactly accurate, but I get the feeling that the 4x4 dirt roads out there change a lot. Our party of four ended up forging our own trail up the eastern side of the mountain through heavy bush. I still have the scratched up legs to prove it. In our quest to conquer all 13 of the climbable Glasshouse, Mt. Tunbubudla East was the very worst. Even after arrived at the summit and found the pink ribbon trail back down, 3/4 of us had rough slips on that path back down. One involved a close call with a tree between the legs.

Once we survived that and jogged the trail back to the "main" road, we saw where we had missed a gate to nowhere and a National Park sign. We marked this entrance with sticks and rocks. This trail takes you to the valley between East and West for access to both ascending trails.

K E Harasimowicz on 13 Nov, 2017

More of a slide and scramble than a walk, lots of loose rocks, not the most pleasant climb, but it sure was a laugh. The view up the top is mostly blocked by trees, happy to tick it off the list, but won't be doing it again any time soon.

courtlalala on 7 Aug, 2016

Not the most enjoyable climb we have ever done and it took us two attempts just to find the access points. However, that ticks off yet another Glass House Mountain, with just three to go.

F.A.B. on 25 Jul, 2016

As I only have 2WD I parked on Beerburrum-Woodford Rd and walked the 4wd roads to get to the Northern gate. Followed the bike trail to the saddle (unmistakable) from there I turned left up the rocky section and through the grass before heading steeply upwards on the rocky slopes following the orange-ribbons all the way up.
As some said before, rock cairn at the top is the most interesting thing of this climb. The slide down the scree is unpleasant at best and just not fun.
I did this to complete all the Glasshouse summits but I will not be back in a hurry. By far the worst climb of any of the peaks as it is difficult the whole way with no reward.

Wont be back soon, West peak is better.

dalehikes on 22 May, 2016

Thought I'd follow another hiker's instructions and do East peak before the West one. From the saddle we went right through a bit of dry bush land. Soon we reached a well defined rock/greville path with loose soil. That pretty much followed all the way to the top. Not a pleasant hike up this way due to loose footing. Would be very messy if it rained.

From the top we went looking for another way down on the other side of the peak. Found a couple of ribbons at the top so we carried on on that path down which was considerably more stable. Soon there were no other markings but we continued to look for a path of least resistance. At times we went along the ridge rather than straight down due to grass bushes that were very good at tripping us over on steep terrain. But soon we found a dry rocky water trail and followed this pretty much all the way down with the occasional bush bash if it felt easier. Near the bottom we walked North towards the bike track through the grass. This got us down on the bike track North from where we started. We went right here until we saw the cable poles where we turned right again for another 2km walk to the start of the walk (end of Eaton rd). This descent was a lot nicer than the other would've been although longer. Took us about 4h with about 1 h or more total stops.

Wish I started with the West peak which apparently it's easier to ascend and wouldn't have turned off the group so much. However if you know what you're in for, then hiking the two peaks should not be a problem.

agms on 6 May, 2016

Access is though an unmarked gate on the west side of Old Gympie Road opposite the Eaton Road fork. 4WD highly recommended to get there.

Walked through gate along what is initially 4WD track, trail twisting and turning a fair bit (hard to judge accurately but probably around 2ks long). Trail has two forks in it, I took the right (heading towards mountains) both times, though I suspect it was part of a loop and you could have gone the other way? Eventually it narrows and goes uphill to the saddle. This is where you want to begin ascent by heading to the right (east) side of the track - note that the access trail continues onwards and downhill along the other side of the saddle - I followed it for a few minutes out of curiosity but didn't reach the end.

For the first 50m or so I could not find any trail. I ascended through fairly wild vegetation onto a smallish rocky hillock between the saddle and Mt Tunbubudla proper. After this I located orange blazons (ties) which took me on a rough but reasonably apparent path all the way to the summit. The way was very steep, involved some scrambling and some slopes of loose scree/rocks, had denser vegetation, and it is definitely the harder of the two twins, however the path and blazons were fairly easy to keep to.

MDWL on 20 Mar, 2016

Early start this morning, bit hard trying to locate which 4wd track it is ( GPS confused) but eventually found it , parked car and walk further. After few days of a rain a 4wd was required. Unsure if those 4 green wooden boulders are ment to be the gate ( descriptions on here not very clear re-entrance of tracks ) but there was a small thin track leading up, hard climb, loose rocks and scrambled up , came down same way did same for the other one.

J on 30 Aug, 2014

Found the mountain no problem although we did commence the walk at a different gate further west. Made our own way up to about half way when we found some of the orange tape on the trees. Followed these to the top where the views were amazing as were all the way up. Cloudy day and the rain held off just perfect for us. A lot of scrambling involved and grass, leaves and dead undergrowth that covered rocks so had to be careful when we trod. Overall a most enjoyable and a little challenging climb with half the adventure being staying to the track.
Took us a little under 2 hours up and back.

julieo on 31 May, 2014

Upon reaching saddle between east and west I branched to the right and followed a faint pad marked intermittently by orange ribbon around trees. Quite steep and very loose underfoot. Upon reaching summit was disappointed with the lack of views due to the heavy foliage. Western summit has much better views. There is a rock cairn at the summit.

Grumps on 2 Dec, 2013

Great fun walk scrambling up the side of the Eastern Twin.

Greg on 28 Jul, 2013

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