Sandstone Gorges and Brigalow Country on the Expedition Range

Overview

Expedition National Park sits in Queensland’s Central Queensland Sandstone Belt, west of the coast and between Taroom and Rolleston. It is a large, rugged park made up of separate sections across the Expedition Range and the edge of Arcadia Valley, protecting sandstone escarpments, narrow gorges, creek headwaters, springs and broad areas of remnant bushland.

What gives the park its character is the contrast between dry plateau country and the greener creek lines and gorge floors below. Across the park you find open eucalypt forest, grassy woodlands, softwood scrub, riparian vegetation and pockets of dry rainforest scrub tucked into sheltered side gorges.

Highlights

The scenery here is shaped by long runs of sandstone cliff line, with colour and texture changing from one escarpment to the next. Robinson Gorge is one of the standout natural features, winding for 14km between sheer sandstone walls that rise to about 100m and narrowing from a broad basin in the north to deeper pools and a tighter gorge further south.

Elsewhere, the park’s elevated sections look out across Arcadia Valley, the Dawson River country and the ranges beyond. In the Lonesome section, the Candlesticks create a striking sandstone silhouette, while the Beilba section protects intact escarpment country and an important corridor linking the Dawson River to Baffle Creek.

Best Time to Visit

Late winter and spring are especially rewarding, when wildflowers bring colour to the cliff tops and open country. The park’s grevilleas, flannel flowers, acacias and pea flowers are a noticeable part of the landscape at that time, and the cooler months generally suit the exposed sandstone terrain better than the heat of summer.

Plants and Animals

Expedition National Park protects a rich mix of plant communities, from sandstone heaths and bloodwood-budgeroo open forest to grassy woodlands, brigalow, lancewood and softwood vine scrub. More than 545 plant species have been recorded here, with many of the significant species concentrated along the sandstone cliff lines. One of the important botanical features is the mature spotted gum forest, noted as the only intact forest of this type in the park, along with a large softwood scrub remnant around Mount Cannondale in the Amphitheatre.

Creek lines and gorges support a different suite of life again. Carnarvon fan palms grow along many of the park’s creeks, and Robinson Gorge is lined with Dawson River palms, bottlebrushes and wattles. The park also supports a range of conservation-significant animals, including glossy black-cockatoos, squatter pigeons, powerful owls, eastern long-eared bats, large-eared pied bats, northern quolls, collared delmas and brigalow scaly-foots.

Culture and Heritage

Aboriginal cultural heritage is an important part of the park, with significant sites spread across the landscape. Stencil rock art occurs through the gorge country, including stencils of hunting and fighting implements such as boomerangs, and burial sites have also been observed within the park.

The park also carries traces of more recent pastoral history. Robinson Gorge was first gazetted as a national park in 1953, and other parts of today’s park were added later to protect the area’s scientific, scenic and conservation values.