Atrax Circuit

Easy

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A short circuit walk starting at the Manorina day-use area in the southern section of D'Aguilar National Park, officially listed on parks.qld.gov.au.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

0.45 km

Est. time

8 min

Elevation gain

15 m

Route type

Loop

Steepest stretch: +22m over ~300m (around the 0.0km mark)

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in D'Aguilar National Park (Manorina), Brisbane / D'Aguilar Range. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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In-depth guide

Atrax Circuit, D'Aguilar National Park: Quick Guide

A short easy loop at the Manorina day-use area in D'Aguilar National Park — real distance, difficulty and dry eucalypt forest wildlife.

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Spotted Gum

Corymbia maculata

Iconic south coast forest eucalypt▾

Iconic south coast forest eucalypt

A tall eucalypt with distinctive smooth, mottled bark. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service notes Murramarang as one of the rare places in Australia where spotted gum forest grows right down to the edge of the ocean.

How to spot it

Smooth, mottled pinkish-grey or bluish-grey, often dimpled bark rather than the rough bark of many eucalypts. Lance-shaped adult leaves 80-210mm long, flower buds in groups of three, and white flowers from March to September.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service — Murramarang National Park

Narrow-leaved Ironbark

Eucalyptus crebra

Dry-forest ironbark of D'Aguilar's lower slopes▾

Dry-forest ironbark of D'Aguilar's lower slopes

A hardy ironbark reaching up to 35m. Wikipedia's D'Aguilar National Park article names it as a dominant tree of the park's drier, shallow-soil sections, where rainfall is noticeably lower than on the wetter Mount Glorious plateau above.

How to spot it

Persistent, thick, deeply furrowed greyish-black 'ironbark' running from trunk to small branches — unlike the shedding, patchy bark of the spotted gum and grey gum nearby. Linear to lance-shaped dull green leaves 55-180mm long, white flowers in groups of seven, nine or eleven.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: D'Aguilar National Park; Wikipedia: Eucalyptus crebra

Photo: Ethel Aardvark (CC BY 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Grey Gum

Eucalyptus propinqua

Dominant mid-altitude eucalypt of D'Aguilar NP▾

Dominant mid-altitude eucalypt of D'Aguilar NP

A tall eucalypt to 40m that Wikipedia's D'Aguilar National Park article describes as dominating the park's mid-altitude forest, in the band between the drier ironbark-spotted gum foothills and the moist subtropical rainforest near the Mount Glorious summit.

How to spot it

Smooth, mottled grey, cream and yellowish bark shed in long strips, leaving a patchwork trunk quite different from the rough ironbark lower on the range. Lance-shaped leaves, paler underneath, and white flowers from January to April.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: D'Aguilar National Park; Wikipedia: Eucalyptus propinqua

Photo: Mark Marathon (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Pink Bloodwood

Corymbia intermedia

Mid-altitude forest eucalypt, D'Aguilar Range▾

Mid-altitude forest eucalypt, D'Aguilar Range

A medium-to-tall tree (20-30m) with rough, tessellated bark and profuse perfumed white flowers. Wikipedia's D'Aguilar National Park article lists it among the mid-altitude forest species, growing alongside grey gum and brush box where rainfall is higher than the drier foothill woodlands below.

How to spot it

Rough, tessellated (checkerboard-patterned) bark running right up the trunk and branches, unlike the smooth, shedding bark of the grey gum it often grows beside. Lance-shaped adult leaves and flower buds in clusters of seven; fruit are urn- or barrel-shaped, without winged seeds.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: D'Aguilar National Park; Wikipedia: Corymbia intermedia

Photo: Mark Marathon (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Brush Box

Lophostemon confertus

Rainforest-margin tree of D'Aguilar's mid-slopes▾

Rainforest-margin tree of D'Aguilar's mid-slopes

An evergreen tree that can exceed 40m in wild forest, with a dome-like crown of dark, leathery leaves. Wikipedia's D'Aguilar National Park article lists it as a dominant species of the park's mid-altitude forest, the transition zone between dry eucalypt woodland and the park's moist rainforest gullies.

How to spot it

Dense, dark green, leathery leaves forming a rounded, deeply shading canopy — a noticeably closed crown compared to the more open eucalypts nearby. Rarely sheds large limbs (safer to camp or picnic under than the surrounding gums), with clusters of small white flowers on the outer canopy.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: D'Aguilar National Park; Wikipedia: Lophostemon confertus

Photo: Awinch1001 (CC0) via Wikimedia Commons

Johnson's Grass Tree

Xanthorrhoea johnsonii

Grass tree of D'Aguilar's exposed ridgelines▾

Grass tree of D'Aguilar's exposed ridgelines

Wikipedia's D'Aguilar National Park article notes that the park's ridges are 'dominated by grass trees.' Xanthorrhoea johnsonii is the grass tree species most widely recorded across southeast Queensland's ranges and is the region's common 'steel grass' — the most likely species on the park's exposed ridge country (the source names the genus but not an exact species).

How to spot it

A blackened, fire-scarred trunk to about 5m topped with a dense skirt of tough, wiry leaves — old-timers called the durable older foliage 'steel grass' because it holds its shape in floral work. Sends up a tall flower spike, especially in the seasons after fire. Look for it on drier, exposed ridgelines rather than the moist gully rainforest.

Family Asphodelaceae · Source: Wikipedia: D'Aguilar National Park; Wikipedia: Xanthorrhoea johnsonii

Photo: Mark Marathon (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Common Death Adder

Acanthophis antarcticus

Critically Endangered — ACT: Restricted Trade Species, QLD: Vulnerable, VIC: Critically Endangered, WA: Data Deficient▾

Critically Endangered — ACT: Restricted Trade Species, QLD: Vulnerable, VIC: Critically Endangered, WA: Data Deficient

The common death adder is a species of death adder native to Australia. It is one of the most venomous land snakes in Australia and globally. While it remains widespread, it is facing increased threat from the ongoing Australian cane toad invasion.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near D'Aguilar National Park (Manorina) (Atlas of Living Australia, date unrecorded) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Elapidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Common Death Adder