Locked gates in S.E. Queensland

No

Moreton ,Fraser,Noosa,Bribie,or WEST.

No there are not.

The closest used to be Condamine River at "The Head" near Boonah but it is getting tamer all the time but is still worth a drive.

Unfortunately, the Forestry think they own the place and you are not encouraged to go near their tracks without permits of traverse and around Brisbane at least they will give you a ticket. If it has any adventure, it will be closed because they are paranoid about being sued.

Pity we can't be responsible for our own welfare.

The only real alternative is commercial 4X4 parks/farms etc where you pay entrance fees and drive private tracks.

We usually go south to NSW forests where permits are not required and you are made more welcome but they have also caught the capitalist bug and are fast turning their place into a place for the rich with entrance fees to Border Ranges now and camp fees in Richmond Ranges with most of the side tracks gated. The main road through the Richmond Ranges is now sutiable for pretend 4X4 and in fact many 2WD drive through there. Pretty place but pretty annoying also.

Getting Forestry Permits is damned easy. Contact EPA and ask them to email you permits for the areas you want eg Bellthorpe State Forest, Keniloworth etc.
They are free and will process them in less than a week.

Getting lost in the forest in optional :-)

Sorry you have to be a local to get the master key to all those gates. :-)

Try Canungra area, a lot of clubs use it I think, someone on here might know exactly where the tracks are. when we went there the tracks were good - easy to hard.

In the sunny state a lot of good tracks are on private run properties geared to the 4wd/camping scene.

Goomburra/Janowen, Landcruiser Mountain park etc

John

When I lived in Townsville we used to head up to tracks out the back of Ingham that were Forest areas. To get a permit we just had a form to fill out, faxed it to Ingham Forestry Office with vehicle details and where we were planning to go and got a permit back on the same day.

Yes it is a pain but I only had one refusal and that was because a rally was on the the area we were heading that weekend. We went and watched the rally anyway.

Hi Brian,

As suggested earlier try North Stradbroke Island, Moreton Island, Fraser Island and the beach from the Noosa North Shore to Rainbow Beach. Included in the area around Rainbow Beach you will find some tracks such as the Freshwater Track, Camp Milo Track, Poverty Point Track and Kings Bore Track.

Places like Kenilworth in the Sunshine Coast hinterland are good also and permits are dead easy to get once you speak to the local rangers. Another option is to head out through Cunninghams Gap to the Goomburra area where there are private parks and some crown land you can drive through. Check out www.epa.qld.gov.au and have a scratch around for some info.

There are also a number of private parks within an easy drive of Brisbane.

A good source of information is the Dirty Weekends in South East Queensland book as it gives a pretty good overview of what is on offer in the area.

Have a good one.