Everyone can share their Brisbane Valley Rail Trail experiences. Share your thoughts with other trailgoers.

Horse riding
by Emily Jayne Granzien.

I love riding my horse along the rail trail, but there aren't many signs to tell you where you are so if I fell off and broke my leg Mum would ring someone and just have to say we got on at Toogoolawah and we are 30 mins in to the trail. I'm not saying it's a bad trail, just saying that they still need to add a few things. Anyway it's great to have the trail in the first place. It's easier than riding along the side of the road.

Good fun, lots of gates!
by Mary Mitchelhill.

Four of us (2 couples) decided to embark on the rail trail. It is something my husband has wanted to do for a while now. So we finally locked in a weekend before the weather got too hot and went last fri and sat (16+17 Sept). We set off from Brisbane in two cars and tried to find where the trail could start at Wanora, but it got too hard so we went to Fernvale where it was listed clearly listed. We did a car shuffle so we had a car at Esk (50kms in) where we planned to finish that day. We set off and the weather was beautiful. A few km in we got a bit confused where the trail went. If you kept going straight it headed into a property so we soon worked out to turn right and keep parallel to the road. It was a warm day so a couple of us got through our small camelbaks and bike bottles quickly. Come Coominya we need refill. No water available (I'm pretty sure the leaflet warns you), which is a shame but we just went to the pub and they filled our water containers from their tap which was much appreciated!

Most of the time the signage was good. I would ignore in this section the "easy" signs and just watch the trail as you go. We are experienced mountain bikers (3 out of 4) and there needs to be signs that have the "moderate" or "advanced" symbols nearing the creeks where the bridges go over. Just for those not all that confident. Just get off and walk anyway which you will have to do on alot of these creek crossings. They make for awesome photos though. The water wad only ankle deep in any creek in the whole journey so nows a good time. When we got to Esk we had a chat to Bruce at the Information Centre who was surprised we were doing it and was keen to hear how we went so we updated him on our adventures in this first 50kms.

We stayed the night at Twilight Grove B and B. Isla and Ken are awesome hosts so we would highly recommend staying there. They are 10kms up the road and on a lovely farm. They were so friendly, accommodating, warm, helpful, our home is your home while you are staying here. Fantastic breakfast too which filled us up on day 2 of our journey. We had two legs left. Esk to Toogoolawah and Moore to Blackbutt. So we elected to car shuffle and do Blackbutt to Moore first. We figured it might have a slight decline out of the ranges and we right! Definitely do it in this direction as it is nice and flowing.

Us mountain bikers had a bit of fun on some bumps at speed too! Great photo opportunities through the picturesque ranges and at Linville. Signage was best in this section. If something was moderate it was sign posted appropriately. There was even a toilet along the way, bike stands, seats. Actually just remembered, as soon as you start from Blackbutt you reach a sign that suggests you go left. Ignore it and go straight. Really confusing!! The last bit from Toogoolawah back to Esk wasn't all that exciting but there was that sense if achievement knowing we had done the last leg of the (open to the public) rail trail. The whole journey is doable. Nothing overgrown. Creeks were fine to get across. Lots of nice scenery. We recommend people doing it especially because it doesnt seem many have...well not this year...no doubt as a result of the floods. But get out there. Get a couple people together with a couple cars to car shuffle so you have a car at the end of each section.

Take your time, enjoy, take a camera, take lots of water and trail nibblies (or a wallet to buy stuff in the towns along the way!) There are awesome brochures for the Trail. This website is great too. Do the 50km ish from the start to Esk, stay at the B and B in Esk, have a pub feed at the friendly Club Pub in town and start off at Blackbutt the next day (car shuffle in the middle) and work back towards Esk (leaving out the bit that is shown on the map as not open yet) and enjoy some awesome Qld country history and scenery. There are lots of gates to open and close so be prepared! We didn't mind. We were taking it all in and in no rush. Kinda broke up the trail a bit too!

Good times with good gear
by Ed Pirts.

So I rode up from Fernvale to Lowood on the beautifully maintained hard pack surface. Opening and closing gates as required, my comp grade XC (cross country) MTB making a snack of this section. Stopped at Lowood "station" for a quick drink (NON alcoholic...) and continued on. The track quickly became loose over hard (small ballast over a hard surface) with some mud, but this was no worries with the right bike set up, so I continued on venturing further out into the spectacular counry side. The trail made its way around the blocks of land that people live and work on. I had to slow down for a herd of cattle on the trail, slowly and quietly making my way throught the curious bovine I continued on. Its like the trail has been broken into mini segments punctuated by gates, but everytime I left a gate behind me its was like having a little win.

Words can not convey the vast beauty of this land we live in. No lens is wide enought to capture its essence, so just get out there... Yes, there are gates to open and close, barricades to keep out dirt bikes and 4x4s that you will have to lift your rig over and demanding loose stoney muddy sandy surfaces to ride over. If you cant deal with this stay at home and have a winge on facebook. Seriously, why did you buy a MTB? Why are you out here? Caution, you will need a decent bike to go further than Loowood and suitable tyres for a "loose over hard" surface. This ain't no concrete bike path leading down to your favourite latte joint, you better be prepared or be prepared to suffer.

Toogoolawah to Fernvale - a tough ride.
by Lynette Wallis.

My son and four other boy scouts have just ridden from Toogoolawah to Fernvale on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. The plan was to start at Toogoolawah, ride to Esk and spend the night in tents at Esk, and continue on to Fernvale the next day. However, the track was extremely rough and blocked by numerous locked gates, so progress was painstakingly slow. The track appears to be geared to horse riding only. The track surface is mostly left over ballast from the railway track and is consequently made up of fist sized stones - making it extremely rough to ride on. The numerous gates are made for horses to step over and not for bicycles. The boys had to lift their heavily laden bikes over these "horse" gates more than a dozen times. Needless to say the trip was very slow and rough.

The only section of the track that could be recommended for bike use is the Lowood to Fernvale section. This is the only section of the 67km trip the boys took that did not have "horse" gates and had a reasonably smooth surface. While the boys enjoyed the scenery and the numerous pretty, flowing creeks, the whole experience was spoiled by the gates and rough surface. We would not recommend any section of the Toogoolawah to Fernvale Rail Trail for bicycles except the 8km between Lowood and Fernvale.

Horse ride
by Sharon Flynn.

The Brisbane Valley Rail Trail initiative held over 9 days in April was a fantastic experience. Thanks to Athra and all those involved in developing the trail. Can't wait for next year.

Cominya to Esk - logs!
by Michael Freemantle.

Rode this about a month ago before going to NZ to ride the Central Otago Rail Trail. Not sure what the thinking is behind the design of the entrances with two logs across the trail have allow horses to move unimpeded while cyclists have to dismount and fill their bicycles over the obstacles (logs). Not sure if the locals communities have any idea of the potential for passing trade that this trail will have to offer - needs to be contiguous before people will be looking for overnight accommodation - I can't wait until access to available for the entire length of trail.

Moore to Blackbutt and return - I had a great time!
by Geoff Perkins.

I have just ridden the Moore to Blackbutt section of the Brisbane Valley rail trail on 31 December and thought I would share my experiences, and a few random thoughts, with other trail users.

Firstly let me say it was a great experience and I will certainly be doing this section of the trail again when I get another opportunity. I left Moore under a cloudy sky at about 9:00AM and reached Linville about 9:30 after having a little trouble locating the trailhead at Moore. I did not check the actual location of the trailhead before leaving home and wrongly assumed it would start at the location of the railway station, but I eventually saw a sign pointing to the trail and I was on my way. After passing through a heavy shower I collected a key at Linville from a very friendly Ron at the store and headed off up the trail to Blackbutt.

The trail is easy to follow with a good surface for my standard mountain bike and I had no trouble reaching my destination about 2 hours later in the middle of another heavy shower. The distance markers on the trail were helpful and the new toilet about halfway up would have been a welcome relief for those needing it. After an early lunch at Blackbutt and a chat with the ladies in the information centre I left on the dot at midday, and was rained on twice again before arriving back at Linville at 1:30 (a little faster going back down the hill!) for a welcome bottle of soft drink and another (longer) chat with Ron. I eventually arrived back at Moore at around 2:15.

Overall my rail trail experience was really good and I look forward to doing more of them in the future.