Great Sandy National Park is a coastal

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in the

Fraser Coast Region The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains Fraser I ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia.

Geography

The park features untouched beaches, large

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

s, heathlands, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove forests. Great Sandy National Park is divided into two sections. The Cooloola Recreation Area section is situated on the coast between

Noosa Heads Noosa Heads is a coastal town and suburb in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Noosa Heads had a population of 4,484 people. It is a popular holiday destination. Geography The suburb is bounded to the west by We ...

in the south and

Rainbow Beach Rainbow Beach is a coastal rural town and locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,249 people. It is a popular tourist destination, both in its own right and as a gateway to Fraser Islan ...

in the north and covers . The Fraser Island (also known as K'Gari and Gari) section encompasses almost all of the world's largest

sand island A sand island is an island that is largely made of sand. The largest sand island in the world is Fraser Island, Australia. Other examples of large sand islands are Moreton Moreton may refer to: People Given name * Moreton John Wheatley (183 ...

, which is situated north of Rainbow Beach, covering .

Environment

Birds

The land within the park is classified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as the Cooloola and Fraser Coast

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

because it supports a large population of

black-breasted buttonquail The black-breasted buttonquail (''Turnix melanogaster'') is a rare buttonquail endemic to eastern Australia. As with other buttonquails, it is unrelated to the true quails. The black-breasted buttonquail is a plump quail-shaped bird in length ...

s as well as many

bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

and

beach stone-curlew The beach stone-curlew (''Esacus magnirostris'') also known as beach thick-knee is a large, ground-dwelling bird that occurs in Australasia, the islands of South-east Asia. At and , it is one of the world's largest shorebirds. At a mean of in ...

green catbird The green catbird (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which soun ...

regent bowerbird The regent bowerbird (''Sericulus chrysocephalus'') is a medium-sized, up to 25 cm long, sexually dimorphic bowerbird. The male bird is black with a golden orange-yellow crown, mantle and black-tipped wing feathers. It has yellow Beak, bill, ...

s, mangrove honeyeaters, and

pale-yellow robin The pale-yellow robin (''Tregellasia capito'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Petroicidae. It is Endemism, endemic to eastern Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is a nondescript bird ...

s. Cooloola is also home to the

eastern ground parrot The eastern ground parrot (''Pezoporus wallicus'') of Australia is one of only five ground-dwelling parrots in the world, the others being its closest relatives, the western ground parrot (''Pezoporus flaviventris''), the extremely rare night par ...

and has one of the last coastal populations of the

emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...

Rainforest in the Great Sandy National Park, Cooloola

Features

The Cooloola section contains the

Cooloola Great Walk The Cooloola Great Walk is a coastal bushwalking route in the Great Sandy National Park of South East Queensland, Australia. Opened in 2010, it runs from Noosa North Shore through Cooloola to Rainbow Beach, and is planned as a five-day trek. ...

, a five-day hiking trail. Boat tours and

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

along the

Noosa River The Noosa River is a river situated in South East Queensland. The catchment starts in the Como Escarpment near Mount Elliott in the coastal Great Sandy National Park and meanders south through a lakes district around Tewantin. Lakes situated on ...

are popular visitor activities. On Fraser Island is the 90 km long Fraser Island Great Walk.

Lake Cootharaba Lake Cootharaba is a lake on the Noosa River within the locality of Noosa North Shore in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. It is the gateway to the Everglades, a popular tourist attraction for Noosa, being 20 km away from Noosa ...

offers fishing, sailing, and canoeing opportunities.

Whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins ( cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

, fishing, four-wheel driving, and

bushwalking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

are also popular. The park also features two

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

s; the SS ''Maheno'' and the '' Cherry Venture''. The only place in the world where tall

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

grows in sand is on Fraser Islsand. The sand island has coloured sand cliffs on its eastern beach and numerous walking tracks from short

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...

s to longer walks, which cross sand blows. Fraser Island also has more than 100 freshwater lakes including the largest perched lake in the world, Lake Boomanjin. Lake Wabby is a popular swimming and fishing spot. A unique feature of Great Sandy National Park is the coloured sands, which are formed by old sand mixed with clay into a consolidated mass. The visible hues include red, brown, and yellow, which are a reflection of the iron-rich minerals embedded in the sands for thousands of years and brought to the surface by wind and water eroding the land. A170, Great Sandy National Park, Australia, Fraser Island, Lake Wabby, 2007

A170, Great Sandy National Park, Australia, Fraser Island, Lake Wabby, 2007

Access

Access to Fraser Island ideally requires a high-clearance 4WD vehicle. Parts of the Cooloola section are also inaccessible without a four-wheel drive. Vehicles entering the park need to obtain a vehicle permit for both Fraser Island and the Cooloola Recreational Area. Both sections have numerous

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

areas.

Camping

Permits are required to camp in the park. About 15 camp sites are in the Cooloola section. Only

electric motors An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate force ...

and non-motorised vessels are permitted past Campsite 3.(21 August 2014)
Southern Cooloola, Great Sandy National Park: Frequently Asked Questions
. Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

Fines

Fines are issued for feeding Fraser Island's wild

dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

population or leaving food or rubbish that may attract them.

References

External links

* for K'gari (Fraser Island) section * for Cooloola Recreation Area section {{authority control National parks of Queensland Protected areas established in 1971 Important Bird Areas of Queensland Wide Bay–Burnett Fraser Island Fraser Coast Region 1971 establishments in Australia