Noosa National Park
Encyclopedia
Noosa National Park is a national park in Queensland
, Australia
, 121 km north of Brisbane
. It is situated near Noosa Heads
between the Pacific Ocean and the Sunshine Coasts
's northern area of urban development and extends southwards, past Lake Weyba
to Coolum. The 4,000 hectare park is divided into four sections; Headland Section, Peregian Section, Emu Mountain Section and the East Weyba Section. Noosa National Park is the most popular national park in the country, with more than 1 million visits each year.
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Several beaches in the park provide good locations for swimming. These beaches are not patrolled. Swimmers should be aware of strong currents at Alexandria Bay. The southern end of Alexandria Bay is unofficially clothing optional. Rockclimbing, fishing, surfing and snorkeling are other recreational activities undertaken in the park, while camping is banned.
Advocates for the park's protection were active in the early 1960s when the Noosa Parks Association was formed at time when urban development was threatening the wilderness area. A management plan for the park was released in October 1999.
In 2003, an extra 300 hectares at Coolum were added to park. On 27 May 2008, an elderly woman and her husband were assaulted while walking through the national park. A 26 year old man was found mentally unfit to stand trial for the attack which resulted in serious injuries.
forest, wallum
heath
s, pandanus palms
and grasslands. The Peregian Section is known for its wildflowers which blossom in spring, particularly the rare swamp orchid
and Christmas bells
.
s is found in the park, as are mammal species such as the short-nosed bandicoot
, common ringtail possum
, brushtail possum
. Birds such as the Eastern Ground Parrot, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Eastern Yellow Robin
, Rufous Fantail
, Satin Bowerbird
and Crimson Rosella
are all found in the park's forests. Headlands in the park are a popular place to watch migrating humpback whale
s.
runs from the Noosa River
mouth along Hastings Street
town centre and then out around the Noosa National Park headlands and beaches to Sunshine Beach
.
The highest point in the park is Noosa Hill. One of the walking track
s in the park leads to the top of the 147 m hill. There are a total of five walking tracks with the longest being 8 km. Another track leads to Hell's Gate, one of the park's headland
s. This track is the most traversed trail in Queensland.
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 121 km north of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. It is situated near Noosa Heads
Noosa Heads, Queensland
Noosa Heads is one of the three major centres of the Noosa region on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is located north of Brisbane, the state's capital. The Noosa River forms one boundary of the town, the headlands of the Noosa National Park another...
between the Pacific Ocean and the Sunshine Coasts
Sunshine Coast, Queensland
The Sunshine Coast is an urban area in South East Queensland, north of the state capital of Brisbane on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Although it does not have a central business district, by population it ranks as the 10th largest metropolis in Australia and the third largest in...
's northern area of urban development and extends southwards, past Lake Weyba
Lake Weyba
Lake Weyba, a large, shallow salt-water lake, is an important fish-breeding habitat. In the early 1900s, Lake Weyba had a large number of stingrays, which would have been easy targets for the spears of the Aboriginal people....
to Coolum. The 4,000 hectare park is divided into four sections; Headland Section, Peregian Section, Emu Mountain Section and the East Weyba Section. Noosa National Park is the most popular national park in the country, with more than 1 million visits each year.
History
The early settlers of Noosa Heads set aside a reserve to protect the area in 1879. The reserve officially became a national park in 1939.Advocates for the park's protection were active in the early 1960s when the Noosa Parks Association was formed at time when urban development was threatening the wilderness area. A management plan for the park was released in October 1999.
In 2003, an extra 300 hectares at Coolum were added to park. On 27 May 2008, an elderly woman and her husband were assaulted while walking through the national park. A 26 year old man was found mentally unfit to stand trial for the attack which resulted in serious injuries.
Flora
The Headlands Section of the park contains pockets of rainforest where hoop and kauri pines dominate. There are also areas of open eucalyptEucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
forest, wallum
Wallum
Wallum, or Wallum country, is an Australian ecosystem of coastal south-east Queensland, extending into north-eastern New South Wales. It is characterised by floristically-rich shrubland and heathland on deep, nutrient-poor acidic sandy soils and regular wildfire. Seasonal changes in the...
heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
s, pandanus palms
Pandanus
Pandanus is a genus of monocots with about 600 known species. They are numerous palmlike dioecious trees and shrubs native of the Old World tropics and subtropics. They are classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae.-Overview:...
and grasslands. The Peregian Section is known for its wildflowers which blossom in spring, particularly the rare swamp orchid
Phaius tancarvilleae
Phaius tancarvilleae is a species of orchid found in India, New Guinea, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. In Australia it is found as far south as Brunswick Heads, New South Wales and further north in tropical Queensland...
and Christmas bells
Blandfordia
Blandfordia is a genus of flowering plants, placed in the family Blandfordiaceae of the order Asparagales of the monocots. The genus is native to eastern Australia. Plants in this genus are commonly referred to as Christmas Bells due to the shape of their flowers and the timing of their flowering...
.
Fauna
A population of koalaKoala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
s is found in the park, as are mammal species such as the short-nosed bandicoot
Short-nosed bandicoot
The short-nosed bandicoots are members of the order Peramelemorphia. They can be found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and in Albany, Western Australia.-Species:There are three species in this genus:...
, common ringtail possum
Common Ringtail Possum
The common ringtail possum is an Australian marsupial. It lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, as well as flowers and fruits. These dietary factors have, over time, aided burgeoning introduced populations in New Zealand...
, brushtail possum
Brushtail possum
The brushtail possums are the members of the genus, Trichosurus, a genus of marsupial in the Phalangeridae family.It contains the following species:*Northern Brushtail Possum, Trichosurus arnhemensis...
. Birds such as the Eastern Ground Parrot, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Eastern Yellow Robin
Eastern Yellow Robin
The Eastern Yellow Robin is an Australasian robin of coastal and sub-coastal eastern Australia. The extent of the Eastern Yellow Robin's residence is from the extreme southeast corner of South Australia through most of Victoria and the western half of New South Wales and north as far as Cooktown...
, Rufous Fantail
Rufous Fantail
The Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons inhabits the east coast of Australia. The base of its tail is bright orange-red in colour and their wings are greyish brown. They have a black and white breast that grades into a white colour on the chin and throat....
, Satin Bowerbird
Satin Bowerbird
The Satin Bowerbird, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus is a bowerbird endemic to eastern Australia.A rare natural intergeneric hybrid between the Satin Bowerbird and the Regent Bowerbird is known as Rawnsley's Bowerbird.-Distribution:...
and Crimson Rosella
Crimson Rosella
The Crimson Rosella is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The species as it now stands has subsumed two former separate species, the Yellow...
are all found in the park's forests. Headlands in the park are a popular place to watch migrating humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
s.
Walking tracks
An oceanwayOceanway
An oceanway is a form of foreshoreway that provides sustainable public access along an oceanfront area. The terminology was derived to avoid the perception of a pavement favouring either pedestrians or cyclists ....
runs from the Noosa River
Noosa River
The Noosa River is a river situated in South East Queensland. The catchment starts in Wahpoonga Range near Mount Elliot in the coastal Great Sandy National Park and meanders south through a lakes district around Tewantin....
mouth along Hastings Street
Hastings Street
Hastings Street is the name of the fourth album from the Los Angeles-based band Brazzaville. David Brown, the principal songwriter and vocalist wrote, "Hastings Street... is named after the infamous Hastings Street in Vancouver. It is basically the skid row of Vancouver, full of junkies and...
town centre and then out around the Noosa National Park headlands and beaches to Sunshine Beach
Sunshine Beach, Queensland
Sunshine Beach is a suburb in Noosa, Queensland, Australia. The area south of Noosa Headlands was formerly known as Golden Beach but was rarely visited before the 1920s. In 1928, Thomas Marcus Burke gained land there in exchange for building roads and bridges from Tewantin...
.
The highest point in the park is Noosa Hill. One of the walking track
Trail
A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...
s in the park leads to the top of the 147 m hill. There are a total of five walking tracks with the longest being 8 km. Another track leads to Hell's Gate, one of the park's headland
Headland
A headland is a point of land, usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends out into a body of water.Headland can also refer to:*Headlands and bays*headLand, an Australian television series...
s. This track is the most traversed trail in Queensland.
See also
- Great Sandy National ParkGreat Sandy National ParkGreat Sandy is a coastal national park and suburb in Queensland, Australia. The park features untouched beaches, large sand dunes, heathlands, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove forests....
- Protected areas of QueenslandProtected areas of QueenslandQueensland is the second largest state in Australia. It contains 470 separate Protected Areas with a total land area of 69,388 km² . 223 of these are National parks, which is the highest number of any Australian state or territory, totalling 65,871 km²...