Mount Barney
FreeSouth East Queensland's hardest day hike, under two hours from Brisbane
Climb a 1,351-metre peak on a route with no marked track and no easy way down. Mount Barney sits in the Scenic Rim about 117km south of Brisbane, and the summit routes are scrambles, not walking tracks. The South East Ridge is the usual day attempt from Yellow Pinch car park, roughly 15km return with 1,100 metres of climb, and most parties take seven to eleven hours. Lower Portals and Cronan Creek Falls are the graded walks if you want the park without the summit.
Step by step
From start to finish, what to expect.
Leave Brisbane before dawn to reach Yellow Pinch car park by 7.30am
Three to four hours up the South East Ridge, scrambling the upper sections
East Peak summit and lunch with the Scenic Rim laid out below
Descend South Ridge or Peasants Ridge, slower than the climb and harder on the knees
Cost breakdown
Estimated per person, in AUD.
How you get there
Your options for the trip.
Drive yourself
Local tips
Stuff your mates would tell you.
This is not a graded walking track, so you need bush navigation and rock scrambling experience before you attempt the summit
Start at first light, because parties regularly get caught out finishing the descent in the dark
Camp at Mt Barney Lodge the night before, a flat 1km from the Yellow Pinch car park, so you are walking at dawn instead of driving at dawn
Carry more water than feels sensible, as there is none on the ridge
Tell someone your route and expected return time before you leave the car park
Access roads flood after heavy rain, so check closures the night before
Cronan Creek Falls is a 12km graded alternative if conditions or confidence are against the summit
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