Cania Gorge National Park

Australia: The Land Where Time Began

Cania Gorge National Park Photo Gallery

What's special?

Cania Gorge is a near-coastal outlier of Queensland’s extensive sandstone belt. Here, you can see towering sandstone cliffs, caves and gorges without travelling all the way to “the outback”.

Dry open eucalypt forest grows along Three Moon Creek and on ridges above the 70m sandstone cliffs while dry rainforest with mosses, orchids, figs and vines grows in the moist, sheltered gorges, providing a varied habitat for wildlife.

Cania Gorge preserves a valuable remnant of the Brigalow Belt natural region. More than 150 plants grow here in brigalow forest, eucalypt woodland, cypress pine woodland, dry rainforest and grassland. More than 90 species of birds have been recorded in the park. Brush-tailed rock-wallabies and common bent-wing bats are also seen.

Aboriginal people have lived in Cania Gorge for at least 19,000 years. Freehand art on the sandstone walls is a reminder of their special way of life.

Exploring Cania

Have a picnic at Three Moon Creek below the ochre-coloured cliffs or at the West Track carpark near the entrance. Toilets, picnic shelters, water and electric barbecues are provided at Three Moon Creek.

Find out about the park’s wildlife, vegetation and history at the display shelter in the main picnic area. Go bushwalking along one of the many tracks. Climb up a sandstone escarpment to Giant’s Chair Lookout for a view over the park.

Go wildlife watching. You might see lace monitors, dollarbirds, king parrots, wompoo pigeons, regent bowerbirds or whiptail wallabies. Look for platypus in waterholes below the dam wall. See red kurrajong flowers in spring.

Camping is not allowed in the park but there are two private campgrounds nearby. Cania Gorge Tourist Retreat is at the park entrance (07) 4167 8110. Cania Gorge Tourist Park is in the gorge 7km north of the picnic area (07) 4167 8188.

Find out about the park’s gold mining past at the Shamrock mine. Canoe or picnic at nearby Lake Cania, 11km north of the picnic area.

Walking

See the park’s lush rainforests and spectacular cliffs and overhangs on the walking tracks. Some walks are fairly strenuous. Take water and wear a hat and sunscreen.