Box Forest Track

Hard

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A 5km return track from The Crest or West Gap Creek picnic area through rainforest and open forest, named after the brush box tree and documented as an official journey on parks.qld.gov.au.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

5.16 km

Est. time

1 hr 57 min

Elevation gain

357 m

Route type

Out & back

Steepest stretch: +62m over ~300m (around the 2.8km 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 Main Range National Park, Scenic Rim. 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

Box Forest Track: How Long, How Hard, and What to Expect

Real terrain data for Main Range National Park's Box Forest Track — steepest section, distance, and critically endangered 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.

Silky Oak (White Beefwood)

Orites excelsus

Cool Mountain Rainforest Native▾

Cool Mountain Rainforest Native

A tall rainforest tree of cool mountain rainforest above 750m elevation, with Main Range National Park marking the southeastern Queensland extent of its range down from Barrington Tops, NSW.

How to spot it

Grows to 30m, elliptic to lance-shaped or egg-shaped leaves 40-185mm often lobed with regular marginal teeth, fragrant white/creamy flower spikes.

Family Proteaceae · Source: Wikipedia - Orites excelsus

Photo: Geoff Derrin (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Rainforest Spinach

Elatostema reticulatum

Rainforest Ground Herb▾

Rainforest Ground Herb

A coarse mat-forming herb of Main Range National Park's wet shaded rainforest and wet sclerophyll gullies, often found growing right beside streams and on wet rock faces.

How to spot it

Coarse straggly herb 50-100cm, prominent reticulate (net-like) leaf venation, forms dense mats on the forest floor near water.

Family Urticaceae · Source: Wikipedia - Elatostema reticulatum

Photo: Peter Woodard (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Shaded Rice-flower

Pimelea umbratica

Rocky Ridge Shrub▾

Rocky Ridge Shrub

Grows in shrubland above the rainforest line on the rocky slopes and ridges of Main Range National Park, part of a small distribution across southeastern Queensland and northeastern NSW.

How to spot it

Densely branched shrub 0.6-1.5m, narrowly elliptic to oblong leaves 3-26mm, white flowers 12-14mm long borne singly or in small groups, young stems covered in soft brownish hairs.

Family Thymelaeaceae · Source: Wikipedia - Pimelea umbratica

Photo: Murray Fagg (CC BY 3.0 AU) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

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

Coxen's Fig-Parrot

Cyclopsitta diophthalma coxeni

Critically Endangered (IUCN & EPBC Act)▾

Critically Endangered (IUCN & EPBC Act)

One of Australia's rarest and least-seen birds, this fig-parrot subspecies has declined severely with rainforest clearing across south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales, historically ranging from Gympie and the Blackall Range south to the Macleay River. Main Range National Park's Flora and Fauna section explicitly lists it among the park's threatened species.

How to spot it

Tiny, dumpy, short-tailed parrot giving it a top-heavy, big-headed look. Mostly yellowish-green with a blue forehead, scattered red feathers, and orange-red cheeks bordered by a mauve-blue band. Usually detected by soft high-pitched calls from the canopy of fig-bearing rainforest rather than seen.

Family Psittaculidae · Source: Wikipedia - Coxen's fig parrot; Wikipedia - Main Range National Park

Elizabeth Gould (historical illustration, digitised by Rawpixel), CC BY-SA 4.0

Eastern Bristlebird

Dasyornis brachypterus

Endangered (EPBC Act)▾

Endangered (EPBC Act)

A ground-dwelling songbird now reduced to around 2,500 individuals across four isolated populations spanning eastern New South Wales and southern Queensland. Main Range National Park's fauna section names it among the park's threatened species, part of the small northern population that numbers only around 40 birds.

How to spot it

Small, brown, secretive bird rarely seen in the open - most often detected by its loud, distinct melodic territorial song. Nests low in dense, clumped grasses and tussocks rather than shrubs or trees, and is reluctant to fly, preferring to run through thick ground cover.

Family Dasyornithidae · Source: Wikipedia - Eastern bristlebird; Wikipedia - Main Range National Park

H. Gronvold (historical illustration), Public Domain

Black-breasted Buttonquail

Turnix melanogaster

Vulnerable (IUCN & EPBC Act)▾

Vulnerable (IUCN & EPBC Act)

A plump, ground-dwelling quail restricted to fragmented pockets of dry rainforest from Hervey Bay south to north-eastern New South Wales. Main Range National Park's fauna section lists it among the threatened species recorded in the park, where it depends on deep leaf-litter for foraging.

How to spot it

17-19cm, marbled black, rufous and pale brown plumage with prominent white spots and stripes and pale eyes. Females are larger and more boldly coloured than males, reversing the usual pattern. Look for distinctive circular 'platelets' of scratched-bare leaf litter on the forest floor, a reliable sign of feeding activity even when the bird itself stays hidden.

Family Turnicidae · Source: Wikipedia - Black-breasted buttonquail; Wikipedia - Main Range National Park

Aviceda, CC BY-SA 3.0

Hastings River Mouse

Pseudomys oralis

Vulnerable (IUCN)▾

Vulnerable (IUCN)

A native rodent found only in scattered high-altitude sites across northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, up to 1200m elevation. Main Range National Park's fauna section lists it among the threatened mammals recorded in the park.

How to spot it

Slightly larger than most native mice, roughly 145mm head-body length with a similarly long tail and greyish-brown fur. Distinguishing it from introduced rodents in the field is difficult and best left to trapping surveys - most hikers will never see one, but its presence is a strong indicator of high-quality, undisturbed forest.

Family Muridae · Source: Wikipedia - Hastings River mouse; Wikipedia - Main Range National Park

Doug Beckers, CC BY-SA 2.0

Albert's Lyrebird

Menura alberti

Restricted-range rainforest endemic (Least Concern)▾

Restricted-range rainforest endemic (Least Concern)

A ground-dwelling songbird endemic to a small pocket of subtropical rainforest straddling the Queensland-New South Wales border, with its largest population on the Lamington Plateau. Wikipedia's account of the species confirms populations at Tamborine Mountain, Springbrook, Mount Barney and Main Range National Parks, all part of the McPherson Range refuge that is the species' entire world range.

How to spot it

Large, chestnut-brown ground bird with a rufous throat and rump. Males display an elaborate tail of ribbon-like plumes during courtship, though the tail is far less showy than the famous Superb Lyrebird's. Best detected by its extraordinary mimicry of other rainforest birds, delivered from a mound of scratched-up leaf litter at dawn.

Family Menuridae · Source: Wikipedia - Albert's lyrebird

gwynmwilliams, CC BY 4.0