Bunya Mountains National Park Southern Queensland Country

Enjoy a picnic on a quiet grassy 'bald' surrounded by forest. Photo credit: Robert Ashdown © Queensland Government

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Westcott picnic area

Enjoy a quiet picnic with scenic views of distant plains and excellent birdwatching, then set off on a walk to a lookout.

Accessible by

  • Conventional vehicle
  • Bicycle

Attraction facilities

  • Toilets (flush)
  • Wood-fired barbecue (BYO wood)
  • Picnic tables
  • Wheelchair access (may require assistance)

Relax over a quiet picnic at one of the Bunya Mountains' many grassland 'balds' surrounded by forest with views over distant plains to the west.

Birdwatch from the forest edge. Look for the park's three species of fairy-wrens—variegated, red-backed and superb blue fairy-wrens. You may also see red-browed finches, double-barred finches and grey fantails flitting in and out of foliage. Look for brown quail and several varieties of skink in areas of thick tussocky grass.

After your picnic, head off on one of the walks that start from Westcott, such as Paradise to Westcott track, Koondaii circuit and Westcott to Cherry Plain track.

Getting there and getting around

The Westcott picnic area is in the Bunya Mountains National Park, 200km north-west of Brisbane and 125km north-west of Toowoomba in the South Burnett region.

  • The picnic area is 4km along Bunya Mountains Road from the south-eastern park entrance.

Several steep, narrow and winding routes, signposted as the Great Bunya Drive, lead to the park. The Bunya Mountains Road passes through the park from the south-east to the north.

From Brisbane via Toowoomba

  • Drive 138km west along the Ipswich Motorway and Warrego Highway to Toowoomba.
  • Continue 44km along the Warrego Highway to Jondaryan and turn right towards the Bunya Mountains.
  • Travel 34km to Maclagan, turn left and follow the signs for about 31km to the park; 2km of this road is gravel.

From Brisbane via Yarraman

  • Travel up the Brisbane Valley through Esk, or the D'Aguilar Highway through Kilcoy.
  • Drive to Yarraman then turn left onto the New England Highway towards Toowoomba and travel 20km.
  • Turn right to Maidenwell on Kingaroy-Cooyar Road, then turn left to the Bunya Mountains; about 3.8km of the road is gravel.

From Nanango

  • Drive 30km to Maidenwell on Nanango-Tarong Road and turn right to the Bunya Mountains. This 55km route has about 4km of gravel road.

From Kingaroy

  • Drive via Kumbia on the Bunya Highway and turn left onto Bunya Mountains Road and drive to the northern park entrance. This 56km route is sealed road.

From Dalby

  • Travel 25km along Dalby-Cooyar Road to Kaimkillenbun, then drive 30km via Yamsion to Bunya Mountains Road and through to the south-eastern park entrance. These roads are sealed.

Wheelchair access

The toilets are wheelchair accessible.

Before you visit

Opening hours

Westcott picnic area is open 24 hours a day

Check park alerts for the latest information on access, closures and conditions.

Visiting safely

For more safety information see Visiting Bunya Mountains safely.