The Mount Beerburrum summit hike is one of the best ways to get a bird’s eye view of the Glass House Mountains. While there is no rock scrambling and few uneven surfaces, the paved second half of the walk is very steep.
Check out all the details and how we found the walk to see if you can make it part of your Glass House Mountains Road trip.
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Quick Glance – Length & Difficulty
Length – 3.5km return, time – 1.5 – 2 hours, difficulty Grade 3.
The first 1km is an easy, gently undulating track through eucalypt forest. The last 750m is a very steep, paved path to the summit.
Where is Mount Beerburrum?
Mount Beerburrum is in Beerburrum, is a small town in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Established in 1916 as a settlement for returning World War 1 soldiers, there is interpretive signage around the town celebrating its military history.
Beerburrum is approximately 40 minutes from Maroochydore and 60 minutes from Brisbane.
Where do you Park & Start
The car park and trailhead for the Mount Beerburrum hike is located between the Beerburrum State School and the post office.
At the far end of the carpark, you’ll find an information shelter and signage for not just the Mount Beerburrum walk, but also the Yul-yan-man Trailhead, the Soldiers Settlement Trail (8.5km circuit) and the Tibrogargan Circuit Trailhead (5.4km).
Don’t get tricked like us into thinking there is parking further up Beerburrum Road. There is a National Park access road here, but it is closed to the public. Our navigation system sent us here first.
Is it busy?
Despite it being school holidays and Mount Beerburrum being one of the more accessible peaks, we only saw a few other people on our walk up and down.
The path certainly wasn’t a human highway for our hike. We found it was much busier at the other popular Glass House Mountains summit hike – Mount Ngungun.
What is at the Top of Mount Beerburrum
When you reach the summit there are no facilities, but you will get great views of the Glass House Mountains. There is also a fire tower which you can climb part way up which is worth doing to see over some of the trees.
On a clear day you can make out the Brisbane skyline. You can also see Mount Tibrogargan, Mount Beerwah and the smaller Mount Coonowrin and Mount Tibberoowuccum.
Our Experience
This really was a walk of two parts. The first part of the track is a lovely walk along a dirt path through eucalypt forest and ferns. The forest gets thicker and thicker as you go along. At one point you are walking under a canopy of trees and low hanging vines.
There is plenty of bird life and we spotted some beautiful golden orb spiders. Then you get to the second part of the walk – this is when things get a bit tough.
You go from a dirt track to cement path (which won’t please some people) and it is steep. It might only be 750m, but it feels much longer than that.
We had several stops along the way to catch our breath. There are some nice views to distract you and keep an eye out for the feather tree near the top too. You’ll know it when you see it!
The track flattens out right at the top and as you make your final walk to the fire tower and then the views of the Glass House Mountains appear in front of you.
Once out heart rates dropped, and we felt a cooling breeze up on the tower we could relax and take in the views.
The walk back down, which we figured would be easier, was still a challenge. The slope gives the front of your legs a good work out. If you don’t walk regularly, your legs might be a bit stiff the next day from bracing against the slope on the decent.
We spotted lots of lizards on the path on the way back down which was a bit of fun too.
Mount Beerburrum Final Thoughts
If you take your time, the walk to the top of Mount Beerburrum is something most people can achieve. We wouldn’t want to push a stroller up there, but if you take it easy the views at the top are worth the effort.
Would kids like it? It will depend on how they enjoy walking. One of ours would love it, the other would have turned around and walked back to the car at the first sight of the ramp to the top.
The Mt Ngungun Walk might offer more for kids, but it is much rockier and a bit longer. But for grown-ups, if you are happy to get your heart rate up, this is a fun, challenging and rewarding walk.
If you enjoyed this story you might also like:
Wompoo Walking Guide | Buderim Forest Walk | Mary Cairncross Reserve
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