Coalstoun Lakes National Park



Rising 200m above a broad cultivated valley, Mt Le Brun contains two large craters which occasionally fill with shallow lakes. The crater lakes are protected in Coalstoun Lakes National Park. Formed more than 600,000 years ago, the mountain is one of the youngest volcanic formations in Australia. Melaleucas and blue gums fringe the lakes which are sometimes completely dry and covered in sedgelands. The vine scrub covering the crater sides is one of the few dry rainforest remnants in this area. Bottle trees, crows ash, leopard ash and other trees tower over the dense vine scrub. The heart-leaved bosistoa Bosistoa selwynii found in this forest is vulnerable to extinction. The lakes were named after Coalstoun in Scotland by Wade Brun, manager of nearby Ban Ban Station.

With no facilities, this is a park for birdwatching and nature study. Leave your car at the base of the mountain and walk up the steep outer side of the northern crater for a great view over the vine forest and crater. Continue down into the crater. See the intact patch of brigalow scrub next door to the park as you head up the northern crater. Camping is not allowed in the park.

Walking: Wear a hat, sunscreen and protective clothing to avoid being scratched by prickly shrubs in the vine thicket.

Getting there: Turn off the Isis Highway 20km south of Biggenden or 4km north of Coalstoun Lakes into Crater Lakes Road. Follow the gravel track to the base of the northern crater.



Ban Ban Springs is the site of a waterhole that was the first place in Queensland to have been formally registered as an Aboriginal cultural heritage place  being a Dreaming place of great significance to the Wakka Wakka people. The site has high significance to the Wakka Wakka people.

In 2005 the springs were entered on to the State's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage register: "Ban Ban [Springs] is a sacred site and has a Dreamtime association with the Rainbow Serpent which is believed to have surfaced there. It spoke to the elders of the tribe telling them the secrets of the sacred waters and how to use it. The Rainbow Serpent also told of talks he had had with the seven sisters and of the wonders he had seen while making the pathways for the sacred water to flow in this area. This legend is retold on a mural erected at the site by aboriginal elders."

Unfortunately, in September 2006 the Shire of Gayndah, in seeking to improve the visitors' experience of the area, sought to re-vegetate and beautify the place. Rocks were moved around and the area was bulldozed, and in so doing Gayndah's Wakka Wakka people cultural heritage was compromised. Negotiations between the Shire Council and tribal elders aimed at somehow rehabilitating the springs and better managing the Aboriginal cultural heritage area failed to achieve their goal. Due to irrigation in the area since 2015, the springs are usually dried up and travellers are confronted with a disappointing sight.