Central Queensland and The Western Downs is a vast inland area of rural Queensland encompassing the central section of Queensland on and to the west of the Great Dividing Range. The eastern section of this region is often referred to as the Golden West but is better known to many as the Darling Downs, one of the richest agricultural areas in the world.
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Rainbow Falls
Blackdown Tableland National Park: Rising abruptly above the surrounding dry plains, Blackdown Tableland protects spectacular sandstone scenery with gorges and waterfalls at the north-eastern edge of the central Queensland sandstone belt. The tableland the traditional home of the Ghungalu people who have visited this place for thousands of years and left behind rock art, vivid reminders of their special culture.
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Mount Morgan: This is one of, if not the most beguiling, eccentic former mining town in Australia. Home to one of the world's richest gold discoveries, Mount Morgan's history is a quintessentially Australian story. The town's grand buildings, swinging bridges, museums, massive man made caverns dug out by the early miners and uncovered Jurassic dinosaur footprints all combine to make a visit to this charming place a totally unique experience.
The Overlander's Way: a 1550 kilometre driving adventure across the breadth of Queensland and into the Northern Territory, the Overlander's Way follows the paths of our droving heroes who brought vast herds of live cattle from the east Kimberley to the coast. The route, which later served as an important supply line during World War II, starts at Townsville and takes in the outback towns of Charters Towers, Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek, Cloncurry, Mount Isa and Camooweal.
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Carnarvon National Park: Carnarvon Gorge is an oasis in the semi-arid heart of Queensland. Here, towering white sandstone cliffs form a spectacular steep-sided gorge with narrow, vibrantly coloured and lush side gorges. Boulder-strewn Carnarvon Creek winds through the gorge.
Remnant rainforest flourishes in the sheltered side gorges while endemic Livistona nitida cabbage tree palms, ancient cycads, ferns, flowering shrubs and gums trees line the meandering main gorge. Grassy open forest grows on the cliff-tops.
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The Darling Downs: a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range. The landscape is dominated by rolling hills covered by pastures of many different vegetables and cereal crops. The region is popular with tourists because of its many natural and heritage attractions.
Cania Gorge National Park: Not far from the town of near Monto, this Park conserves a spectacular landscape of prominent sandstone cliffs, caves, eucalypt forest and dry rainforest on sheltered slopes. While side gullies and creeks provide moist, cool conditions for ferns and mosses, above 70m cliffs is a dry, rugged expanse of open woodland typical of central Queensland's extensive sandstone belt.
Lake Cania is the ideal spot to view the unspoilt beauty of the awesome sculpted sandstone rock formations, such as Castle Mountain and the overhanging cliffs that form the escarpment of Cania Gorge. The lake has been well stocked with a variety of fish.
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Longreach: If you have ever dreamt of visiting Australia's heartland, there are few places in Australia that can offer everything you are looking for like Longreach. The birthplace of Australia's airline, Qantas, it is the biggest town in Queensland's far west and has much to offer the visitor or traveller seeking a taste of outback Australia, without straying too far from the creature comforts associated with home.
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Isla Gorge National Park: At the southern end of the Dawson Range near Taroom, Isla Gorge National Park protects spectacular sandstone scenery in the central highlands. Here, among a complex maze of gorges, sandstone outcrops and striking rock formations change colour throughout the day. Scenic Isla Gorge is fairly broad and contains Gorge Creek, a tributary of the Dawson River.
Isla Gorge is a great place for an inland stopover. The picnic and camping area overlooks the gorge and is just 13km off the highway. You can catch the sunset over the orange-coloured cliffs of Isla Gorge and then camp overnight.
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Hughenden: An outback service and administrative centre for the surrounding Flinders Shire on The Overlander's Way (Flinders Highway), Hughenden is located at a point scientists consider to be the edge of Australia's ancient inland sea, consequently there have been a number of important fossils found in the area. Undoubtedly the most important of these was the skeleton of a Muttaburrasaurus which is displayed prominently in a building in the centre of town. The skeleton was the first entire fossil to be found in Australia.
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| Visiting The Region: The Facts |
Best Time To Go: it is recommended that you visit between April and September, which are the cooler, drier months. Summer temperatures in the west can climb to over 40 °C, and high rainfalls can also occur in summer, followed quickly by floodwaters.
The further west you go, flooding can occur up to two weeks after rain in the catchment. Rain can fall at any time of year and even a small amount of rain can make roads impassable. Check with the RACQ or local council offices for current road conditions before your trip.
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How to Get There: the mid region of Central Queensland (Toowoomba; Dalby; Miles; Roma; Charleville; Blackall) is accessed by road from Brisbane via Warrego Highway and the Darling Downs.
Capricorn Highway connects the northern region (Blackwater; Emerald; Barcaldine; Longreach) with Rockhampton and the Capricorn coast.
The southern, or Goldest West region (Goondawindi, St George Cunnamulla) is accessed from Brisbane via New England Highway to Warwick, then Barwon and Balonne Highways.
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