Isla Gorge National Park
Author: Glenn Leiper
Published: Journal December 2022
On a recent trip with a mate heading along the Leichhardt Highway, we stopped off at Isla Gorge National Park for a few hours of exploring. Isla Gorge NP, an area of 80 square km, is 515km by road north west of Brisbane, and just south of Theodore. Access to the park is off the highway onto a short well-formed dirt road through eucalypt forest along a ridge, passing a camping area and arriving at a large covered seating/eating area and toilet block.
There appears to be only the one main walking track which follows the ridge, becoming narrower and rockier at times but never dangerous, until it ends a few hundred metres along at a bare rocky lookout providing expansive views over the surrounding countryside. And the views are amazing! For as far as you can see, there are ridges, deep gorges, sheer cliffs, and mountains off in the distance. Having never been here before, I was blown away by the scenery.
The track along the ridge is lined with wattles
The sandstone ridges, cliffs and peaks of Isla Gorge NP
Walking out along the ridge, we saw a wonderful diversity of plants, and being almost the end of winter, were mostly in flower. Wattles were common and in full bloom, saturating the air with their heady fragrance. David Hockings had brought my mate here some years ago to show him this magnificent place. David had obviously explored some of the gorges and ridges and knew of some wonderful plants down in the gorges and on the steep slopes, but those places weren’t an option for us today unfortunately.
Some of the plants we saw included a range of Acacias as mentioned before, Hibbertias, Hoveas, Phebaliums in bright pink flower, Ricinocarpos with dazzling white flowers, purple Dampieras, Pultenaeas, Daviesia, some daisies including Oxylepis, Hibiscus sturtii, Goodenias and an Olearia.
The sandstone here, as is often the case, provides a perfect habitat for plant diversity. A plant list from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) lists 171 plant species which includes 17 wattle species, and 16 gums (six Corymbia species and 10 Eucalypt species).
Pink Phebalium Phebalium nottii bushes are
common on the ridge track
Fine-leaved Wedding Bush Ricinocarpos
linearifolia plants were a sight
Fan Flower Dampiera discolor
Small-leaved Olearia daisy Olearia microphylla
Golden Forest Daisy Coronidium oxylepis
subsp. lanatum
An unusual upright form of the usually prostrat Round-leaved Goodenia Goodenia rotundifolia
Small-leaved Olearia daisy Olearia microphylla
Masses of Oleander Wattle Acacia neriifolia lined the highway entrance to the park
Hairy Geebung Persoonia sericea in fruit
Purple Pea Bush Hovea parvicalyx
The following information is courtesy of the QPWS website about Isla Gorge –
“Isla Gorge National Park is a complex maze of gorges and isolated sandstone monoliths. Soft precipice sandstone has eroded into a breathtaking panorama of cliffs, peaks, overhangs, tunnels and arches. The rock changes from yellow to orange and pink with the angle of the sun.
Outstanding scenery and rich plant life were the main reasons for gazetting this area as national park in 1964. Brilliant displays of flowering wattles appear from mid-winter and boronias, red grevilleas and grasstrees blossom in August and September.
This wild landscape is the result of a long and turbulent geological history. The sandstones of this region were created from vast sheets of sand deposited on river plains in the Jurassic Period, about 190 million years ago. After millions of years of uplift and erosion, the sandstones remain today as cliffs, gorges and valleys. In some places, basalt from volcanoes caps the sandstone ridges.
Isla Gorge National Park was extended in 1990 to include the remains of a hand-paved road at the north-western tip of the park near Flagstaff Hill. This historically significant road was constructed in the early 1860s by hand, using large rock slabs. It was built less than 15 years after white settlement of the area and was used to carry wool from Roma to the port of Rockhampton. Drains on the side carried stormwater downslope and, even to this day, have prevented erosion.”
If you’re travelling in the district, pop in or camp at Isla Gorge NP as its stunning scenery and beautiful plants are well worth the visit.