About Mount Coolum

Park features

Spectacular coastal views, rare and threatened plants, wildflowers, birdlife and geology feature here.

The impressive dome-shaped Mount Coolum, which rises 208m above sea level and is visible from many locations across the Sunshine Coast, is a central feature of this small park.

Montane heath—a plant community with many rare and threatened species—survives on Mount Coolum’s summit. On the Sunshine Coast this plant community only grows here and on a few peaks in Glass House Mountains National Park.

The protected coastal plains within the park conserve a range of plant communities including wallum, paperbark wetlands, open eucalypt forest and rainforest remnants. They were all once common across the Sunshine Coast prior to extensive clearing for a rapidly increasing human population. Approximately half of all the plant species that occur on the Sunshine Coast are represented in Mount Coolum National Park.

Looking after the park

Help protect natural resources by being a minimal-impact visitor.

• Leave your domestic animals at home. They are not allowed in Mount Coolum National Park. Domestic animals can distress or kill native animals that live here.
• Do not feed or leave food for animals. Human food can harm wildlife and cause some animals to become aggressive.
• Everything within the national park is protected. Do not take or interfere with plants or animals.
• Take all your rubbish out of the park. Remove excess food packaging at home before your visit to the park, and pack strong sealable bags or containers to store food and rubbish.
• Stay on the walking track to avoid damaging plants.

See the guidelines on caring for parks and forests for more information about protecting our environment and heritage in parks.

Park management

Mount Coolum National Park was first gazetted in 1990 as a small area covering the mountain. In 2001 the Marcoola sections on the coastal plain were added increasing the park size to 367.24ha and further enhancing conservation of the rapidly disappearing coastal and open forest communities of the Sunshine Coast.

Mount Coolum National Park is managed by the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 to preserve and present its remarkable natural and cultural values in perpetuity.

Surrounded by urban development and receiving around 130,000 visitors a year, the park’s values need to be carefully managed.

Recovery plans exist for the endangered Mt Emu she-oak Allocasuarina emuina and vulnerable wallum frog species, including the wallum sedgefrog Litoria olongburensis.

A special management area (controlled action) has been declared over part of Mount Coolum National Park. The area is being managed to protect and restore eastern ground parrot habitat as part of an environmental offset project and in support of the management intent for this area as outlined in the Mount Coolum National Park Management Plan (PDF, 1.5MB) . Controlled vegetation management activities, including targeted removal of native Melaleuca quinquenervia, may be allowed in this area to restore the habitat (heathland), subject to ongoing monitoring.

• Download a copy of the special management area notification (PDF, 84.6KB)

The Park is within Kabi Kabi peoples’ traditional Country and the Kabi Kabi are an active partner in park management.

The park supports birds on the National List of Migratory Species, and is subject to the World Heritage Convention, the Bonn Convention, the China–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement, Japan–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement and Republic of Korea–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement. For this reason, provisions of the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 also apply.

The South East Queensland Regional Plan 2009–2031 is the statutory regional planning strategy under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 that guides growth and development in south-east Queensland. Under this regional plan, Mount Coolum National Park is classified as a ‘Regional Landscape and Rural Protection Area’ and, therefore, is subject to the management objectives and policies applicable to this classification.

See natural environment, culture and history for more information about the history and values of Mount Coolum National Park.

Tourism information links

Visit Sunshine Coast Information Centres
visitsunshinecoast.com
ph 1300 847 481 (within Australia)
email visit@visitsunshinecoast.com

Visit Noosa information centres
visitnoosa.com.au
ph (07) 5430 5000 or 1300 066 672
email info@visitnoosa.com.au

For tourism information for all regions in Queensland see Queensland Holidays.