Lockyer National Park is a national park in north of the
Lockyer Valley Region
The Lockyer Valley Region is a local government area in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, between the cities of Ipswich and Toowoomba. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Gatton and the Shire of Laidl ...
in
South East Queensland
South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. T ...
, Australia. The landscape is dominated by the foothills of the
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
and features
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
gorges and eucalypt forest. There are four separate sections which form the Lockyer National Park. Alice Creek, Redbank Creek and Fifteen Mile Creek, all tributaries of
Lockyer Creek
The Lockyer Creek is a creek located in South East Queensland, Australia. A tributary of the Brisbane River, the creek is a major drainage system in the Lockyer Valley. Rising on the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range, the creek flows ...
, lie within the park. The park covers 11,079 ha with another 7,790 ha designated for recovery.
The park is home to significant plant and animal species such as the
helidon ironbark,
mountain guinea flower,
brush-tailed rock-wallaby
The brush-tailed rock-wallaby or small-eared rock-wallaby (''Petrogale penicillata'') is a kind of wallaby, one of several rock-wallabies in the genus ''Petrogale''. It inhabits rock piles and cliff lines along the Great Dividing Range from abo ...
and
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 ...
.
Access
There are several unsealed roads which provided access to the various sections. The main road into the park heads north from
Helidon.
Recreation
Lockyer National Park is popular with bushwalkers, mountain-bikers as well as motorbike and 4WD drivers.
Authorities have targeted unlawful use of recreational vehicles in the park in an effort to reduce damage to the environment.
Facilities
There are no formed tracks and camping is not permitted.
See also
*
Protected areas of Queensland
Queensland is the second largest state in Australia. It contains around 500 separate protected areas. In 2020, it was estimated a total of 14.2 million hectares or 8.25% of Queensland's landmass was protected.
List of terrestrial protected are ...
*
Edmund Lockyer
Edmund Lockyer, (21 January 1784 – 10 June 1860) was a British soldier and explorer of Australia.
Born in Plymouth, Devon, Lockyer was the son of Thomas Lockyer, a sailmaker, and his wife Ann. Lockyer began his army career as an ensign in t ...
References
External links
*
{{National Parks of Queensland
National parks of South East Queensland
Protected areas established in 2008
2008 establishments in Australia