4 Day Scenic Rim Trail Experience

4 Day Scenic Rim Trail Experience

Real Aussie Says:

Set deep within the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, the Scenic Rim Trail guided multi-day hikes explore some of the beautifully unique, ancient and diverse Heritage Listed Gondwana Rainforest. Our trails will take you through a 2,000ha private nature refuge owned by Spicers Retreats with ever-changing unique eco-systems and environments that host a vast variety of both plant and animal species. Take a break from everyday life, reconnect with nature and let us take care of your every need. 3 day/3 night walking experience Weekly departures, season runs from March – October Total distance: 34.5km Accessed from Brisbane with transfers included (or self-drive) Accommodation: lodge based experience, glamping at Spicers Canopy Inclusions: accommodation, transfers, food and wine, guides, experiences, loan of backpack, hiking poles and rain jacket

4 Day Scenic Rim Trail Experience
Tour itinerary - 4 Days

• Day 1 Mt Mitchell Plateau(Full Day Walk)
  Your journey starts at our meeting point on our private property at 7791 Cunningham Highway, Clumber, 4309. If you have elected to self-drive, please make your way to the above address, to meet the rest of the group and your Scenic Rim Trail guides at 8:30am on the morning of your departure. If you have pre-booked a complimentary transfer from Spicers Balfour Hotel, please be there no later than 7:00am. Upon arrival at our Clumber address, you will be met by your Scenic Rim Trail guide and given a briefing about what to expect over the coming days. We will then kit you out with your hiking equipment (daypack, lunch, water bottle & bladder, hiking poles, hat and mug) while you enjoy a tasty morning tea. Today on the Scenic Rim Trail we delve into the history and early exploration of this relatively unknown but awe-inspiring region called the Scenic Rim. Our guides will take you back to the days of the first European settlers. You will learn how the early pioneers crossed the Great Dividing Range and why the notable Spicers Gap road had such a profound impact on the Queensland area. Our guides will take you through a region that many are yet to fully discover or understand. The Gondwanan rainforest of Main Range National Park is World Heritage Listed and borders our private, Nature Refuge. Few places on earth contain such a diversity of plant and animal life, which fossil records show us have remained relatively unchanged across the ages. For these reasons, and many more, this part of the world is vigorously protected so that future generations will be able to enjoy and explore this pristine piece of nature. You’ll start your journey with a vehicle transfer to Mount Mitchell where you will commence the 5 kilometre hike to the summit. As you gently ascend the mountain, the sounds of the busy Cunningham Highway will transition to the melodic call and song of native birds. Along the way, your guides will identify the local plant and animal species and share stories from the rich local history of this region. From three hundred-year-old red cedar trees and plant species the Indigenous tribes of the region used for weaving baskets, to identifying the songs of rare and local bird life of the mountain, your guides will help you discover this unique region and all the treasures it contains along the way. While you wind your way along the trail, you will see glimpses of the beautiful Fassifern Valley, Warwick and even through to Brisbane in the distance. Once you reach the summit and take in the full 360-degree views, you will be able to see Spicers Canopy, your ultimate destination for the day. Enjoy a light lunch immersed in the cool rainforest on the summit while your guides discuss the next stage of the journey. After one last look from the summit, you will make your way back down the trail along a path less travelled as you enter the Spicers Peak Nature Refuge. For the remaining 8 kilometre journey to Spicers Canopy, you will travel along our exclusive trails on Spicers private property. By now, the rainforest is long gone, and you are walking through a vast dry eucalypt forest until you reach Millarvale Creek where you will have a brief stop for afternoon tea. Depending on the rainfall of the season, listen to the soft-flowing and soothing sounds of the water running over the rocks on the creek bed and feast your eyes on an abundance of birdlife including bright blue superb fairy wrens and rich red scarlet honeyeaters. Keeping your eyes peeled for wallabies, you will cross open woodland forest to Spicers Canopy at around 4pm. A warm welcome from our Camp Host and onsite Chef await along with freshly made afternoon tea and cold beverages. There is now time to unwind, relax in a bean bag, take a dip in the hot tub and have a hot shower before meeting your group back in the main lodge for your chef-prepared and locally sourced evening meal. After dinner, the journey continues around the outdoor fire as your gaze up to the night sky and discover the constellations, learning the ways the early settlers used the starts to navigate their way through this region. The generous blanket of stars you’ll view tonight is one of our favourite features of the Scenic Rim.
• Day 2 River Loop (Morning Walk / Free Time)
  Start your day with a light (optional) yoga stretch followed by a hearty breakfast, before turning your focus to today’s theme- Indigenous culture- Lead by a local Aboriginal person from the Ugarapul tribe. You will begin by walking through a smoking ceremony before setting out to explore Millarvale Creek in more detail. Along the way, the Indigenous guide will show you demonstrations with significant plants, rocks and other elements of nature that are still in the Scenic Rim today, that the Aboriginal tribes of yesteryear would have relied on to survive. Knowledge handed down to generation after generation over 50,000 years will be passed on to you by your Indigenous guide. You will learn how to view the landscape through the eyes of a hunter-gatherer, searching for bush tucker and medicinal plants. With an open mind, you will discover new things and push your boundaries. You will see a new side of the Scenic Rim region today, being at a lower altitude, you’ll discover a different variety of plant and animal species including wallabies and a wide range of birds, that your guides will be pointing out along the way. It is only a half-day walk today so you will be back at Spicers Canopy to enjoy lunch of home-made wood-fired pizzas. Sit on the deck with a glass of wine, or inside next to the open log fire with a nice hot beverage. During the afternoon, your Indigenous guide will lead workshops on how to create traditional Aboriginal instruments, art pieces, and provide insight into the correct way to throw spears & boomerangs. There will also be a chance for you to discover during the afternoon, some historical relics from the Ugurapul people in a static display which will include historically significant items such as weapons, traditional dress and instruments. Later in the afternoon, join the group back at the main lodge for another delectable chef-prepared themed meal with a focus on food from the land, starting with our Chef showing you how to make damper around the fire pit. After dinner, take a seat around the fire as our Indigenous Guide takes you on a journey through the Dreamtime and you discover the traditional stories and beliefs of the Ugurapul tribe and their ties to the Scenic Rim Region while toasting marshmallows.
• Day 3 Spicers Peak Exploration (Full Day Walk)
  Your path today has only been traveled by a select few and on this journey, we hope you make lasting discoveries and connections with the natural world and those around you. After breakfast, you will begin a gentle meander along Oakey Creek on Spicers private property, where you’ll have the opportunity to look for goannas, wedge tail eagles and koalas. From here, we turn east and begin our ascent to Spicers Peak, and by mid-morning we take a break and boil the billy. From here, you will continue climbing, but it is worth the effort as you break above the tree line and are rewarded with panoramic views of the Great Dividing Range, Mount Mitchell and Spicers Canopy in the distance. There is one final push before lunch, using a support rope to climb up to where the trail leads from a drier grass tree plateau, through to the dense rainforest of Spicers Peak, complete with giant ferns, grass trees and awe-inspiring three hundred-year-old hoop pines. After a lovely relaxed walk through the cool temperate forest, take a seat at our designated stop and enjoy a well-deserved lunch before pushing on for the last 2 hours of the hike. A stretch of downhill leads you across a saddle and onto the final ascent up Cedar Mountain where you will find the luxurious Spicers Peak Lodge. You have made it! Congratulate each other on completion of the walk at the top of the mountain and from there walk as a group to our rest stop at Spicers Peak Lodge, where refreshing towels and beverages will be waiting for you. Cheers to finishing the walk, before you are all transferred back down to Spicers Canopy to enjoy your final night on with us on the Scenic Rim Trail. The celebratory dinner is your chance to relish in the achievement of the last three days and cement the lasting friendships forged out of a shared experience. Today’s hike is graded hard (grade 4 – click here for more information).
• Day 4 Travel home
  Enjoy your last breakfast with us in the main lodge at Spicers Canopy at approximately 8:00 am, after which the Scenic Rim Trail team will collect your bags and transfer you either back to the starting point to pick up your vehicle or back to Spicers Balfour Hotel in Brisbane.