Dularcha National Park, Landsborough, QLD.

Dularcha National Park is in Landsborough, approximately 25 km from Maroochydore and about 90 km north of Brisbane. There is no camping at Dularcha but there is a caravan park in Landsborough and Coochin Creek camping area is a National Parks QLD camp ground in nearby Beerwah State Forest.

We have previously visited Dularcha National Park by parking at the southern end, near Beech road. 

This time we walked in from the northern end. The car park can only be accessed from Dorson Drive or you can walk in from the Mooloolah railway station via Paget Street. Within the park, there are shared trails for walkers, mountain bike riders and horse riders.

As soon as we parked our car we could hear cockatoos calling out from overhead. We have seen Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos in the park on previous visits. On the walk in we saw Blue-faced Honeyeaters and a Forest Kingfisher.

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Forest Kingfisher

We started on the Tunnel Track, a 6 km return, Class 2 track and made our way to the historic railway tunnel which is only 900 meters from the start of the walk. The tunnel was built in the 1890’s and has a curved shape.

Dularcha Tunnel

On previous visits we have seen bats roosting in small crevices in the roof of the tunnel but it appeared that the tunnel had undergone a major cleanup and we couldn't find any bats this time. While we were busy checking for any sign of the bats we noticed a pair of Striated Pardalotes flying in and out of a small hole in the wall of the tunnel. Every time they entered with a mouthful of insects their young would break out in a clamouring cacophony magnified by the tunnel acoustics.

Striated Pardelote

We walked further along the Tunnel Track and turned right into Roses Circuit then right again into the Ridge Track. These Class 4 tracks are hilly with some short steep sections. It rained several times while we were walking and we soon found that the clay soil on the ridges was very sticky.

 Both Golden Whistlers and Rufous Whistlers are common at Dularcha.

Golden Whistler, male.

Another common bird here is White-throated Treecreeper.

White-throated Treecreeper.

There is a variety of flora in Dularcha National Park. The tracks traverse eucalypt forests and riparian areas with flooded gums, cabbage tree palms and rainforest plants.The pea bushes were blooming.

Hairy Bush Pea.

Purple Pea Bush

We turned right into Roses Circuit and walked over the top of the tunnel and returned to the tunnel on the Tunnel Bypass Track. The pardalotes were still busy feeding their young and seemed completely oblivious to our presence so we were able to video their laborious task. Unfortunately, I haven't been successful in uploading the video here. I've still got a few things to learn about blogging.

We had to keep putting our cameras away due to the rain showers so we missed some photo opportunities. It has been very dry lately and the birds seemed to be out enjoying the rain. Usually, when it is warm and sunny, the Ridge Track is a good place to see goannas.

The Ridge Track