Hinterland

The hinterland of the Sunshine Coast is known as the calm behind the coast. It features far-reaching mountain ranges, tumbling valleys of emerald green, lush rainforests, paddocks spotted with dairy cows, pineapple farms that cross-hatch the earth and the ancient, monolithic Glass House Mountains. 

Maleny is a community-driven town where hippies, retirees and young families co-exist harmoniously within an idyllic rural setting. There is a superb selection of boutique, entrepreneurial farms that produce milk, cheeses, ice creams, marinades and exotic vegetables to supply the town’s restaurants and eateries as well as the international and national food circuit. Maleny has a thriving arts community with a buzzing co-operative owned restaurant that supports original music by local, national and international artists and a film society that hosts art house movies in the community hall. 

If you love your Sunday driving, whether its motorbike or car, the Blackall Range has a plethora of winding mountain drives. Mountain View Road in Maleny offers one of the best vantage points to appreciate the Glass House Mountains. Local tip: Make sure you stop at Mary Cairncross Reserve to take your happy snaps and wander through the rainforest. Another popular drive is the Blackall Range Tourist Drive that sweeps along the escarpment, drinking in far-reaching coastal views and skipping between mountain villages.

Montville is a quaint mountain village with a blend of Tudor, English, Irish and colonial Queenslander cottages. The hillside town has a flourishing shopping precinct where visitors can purchase a vast array of items from homemade fudge to cuckoo clocks to antiques to craft. Supporting the town is a network of bed and breakfasts and its very own vineyard. 

Mapleton is the most northern village along Blackall Range and is the gateway town to the Mapleton Forest Reserve and Mapleton Falls National Park (both are popular amongst walkers) and the lush Obi Valley. Mapleton has a pocketful of businesses including a deli, second-hand bookshop, antique shop and a Queenslander-style pub. 

The Blackall Range is home to Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk, a 58km walk through some of the hinterland’s most spectacular natural regions including tropical rainforest, open eucalypt forests and cascading waterfalls. 

The Glass House Mountains is a family of volcanic mountains that are a magnificent, awe-inspiring sight rising out of the earth scattered between pineapple fields, pine forest and cultivation. The five mountains sit within the Glass House Mountains Conservation Park and offer visitors a variety of activties from walks, picnic areas, rock climbing or abseiling. The towns that sit in the shadows of the imposing mountains are Glass House Mountains, Beerwah, Beerburrum, Peachester and Landsborough. 

 

SECRETS ONLY A LOCAL WOULD KNOW

• For horse riders Ewen Maddock Dam is one of the most picturesque riding trails on the Sunshine Coast. Unload the horses at the end of Gympie Street North and stick to the well-marked trails. The riding track snakes you in, around and across the dam and there are a couple of sneaky jumps here and there. If you don’t have a horse, these trails are ideal for biking or walking.
• salt has been told that bass fishing is the most popular type of fishing on the planet and luckily the Sunshine Coast has two hot spots. One is Ewen Maddock Dam which is well stocked with Australian bass as well as yellowbelly, saratoga and spangled perch. Fishing is restricted to bank angling, paddle canoes, kayaks and boats. The other alternative is Lake Borumba at Borumba Dam, which is a perfect setting to fly fish for bass and we’re told by the experts to try your hand at some diving lures, jigs and spinner baits. 
• For all mountain biking enthusiasts, you simply can’t pedal past the Mapleton Forest Reserve.
• Panoramic views of the Sunshine Coast will greet you as you reach the top of Wild Horse Mountain. Sitting high between Caloundra and Bribie Island, Wild Horse Mountain Lookout is the place to breathe in the late afternoon colours as you watch the sun rest its head behind the spectacular Glass House Mountains. Take the Wild Horse Mountain exit off the Bruce Hwy.
• For a picture-perfect shot of the Glass House Mountains and the farmland at their feet that you won’t find on a postcard, take a drive up Old Peachester Road, Beerwah. Enjoy the rural setting and a few hundred metres from the turnoff Peachester Road, look left towards the mountains. Cast your eyes over the pineapples in rows and admire the old, imperfect peaks.
• Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve comprises 55 hectares of pristine subtropical rainforest overlooking the Glass House Mountains. A remnant of the rainforests that once covered the Blackall Range, the reserve is a living museum of diverse plant and animal life, which promises to delight with its tranquillity and beauty. There is a well-signed walking track that weaves visitors through the lush reserve.
• Lake Baroon is the main source of water for Caloundra and Maroochydore and is a lovely freshwater destination positioned between Maleny and Montville. Spend a day in the picnic area with sheltered tables and barbecues while you swim, fish, sail and canoe. For anglers the lake is stocked with a variety of species including bass and golden perch.  
• If you have small kids, a dog, or both, the Maleny Showgrounds Boardwalk is a great spot. Starting at the showgrounds and finishing on Coral Street, the 20-minute stroll sticks to a path cocooned by Australian native plants. 
• To feel a hint of the Sunshine Coast as it once was, a trip out bush to Mapleton National Park is well worth the time. With top views of Mapleton falls and the perfect Obi Obi Valley, this small but significant remnant of the forest once covered the whole hinterland.
• A beaut little camping spot in the cool Sunny Coast hinterland is at Coochin Creek, east of Beerwah. The shady cool spot has great tent and caravan sites, picnic tables and a terrific swimming hole. 
• The Maleny Film Society has a following as large as its library of foreign films. Salt can’t decided whether its popularity is because of its delicious gourmet dinner   served before screening, the red wine that you can sip while watching the film or the carefully selected art house films that originate from Russia to France to     Germany. The society screens films every fortnight in the community centre, in Maple Street. malenfilmsociety.info or  5494 2882.
  
• The Upfront Club, positioned in the middle of Maple Street in Maleny, is the throbbing heart for live music in the mountain town. On any given Friday or Saturday night there will be live music seeping onto the street and Monday nights are dedicated to the musicians’ blackboard. Budding musicians have centre stage for 15 minutes to peddle their artistic wares. upfrontclub.org
  

TO MARKET TO MARKET

• Artists on the Green – held every second Saturday – Montville Village Green 
• Maleny Handcrafts Market – held every Sunday – Community Hall, Maleny
• Beerwah Market –  held on the first Sunday of each month – Woolworths Car Park, Beerwah