A Visit to Noosa National Park

Noosa is a popular holiday beach town on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, a bit over an hour’s drive north of Brisbane. Despite spending a lot of my childhood in Noosa and around the Sunshine Coast, I hadn’t spent a lot of time in Noosa in year, and couldn’t remember ever visiting Noosa National Park – or not since I was old enough to remember it.

Noosa National Park looks like the kind of tropical paradise in some far flung corner of the world that you’d pay too much to visit. Yet here it was, just 150km north of Brisbane where I spent the first twenty two years of my life.

On a trip back to Queensland to visit my family, which I spent between Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, my family humoured my wishes to stop in to Noosa National Park. We were on our way back from the Eumundi Markets in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, when we veered towards Noosa on the coast.

Read more: Queensland Travel Guide

Wildlife in Noosa National Park

Noosa National Park is an important conservation area and is home to lots of native Australian wildlife, including koalas. We didn’t notice any, but we did spot some humpback whales in the water, as the made their annual migration along the Queensland coast. You can spot whales along the Queensland coastline from June to November – I’ve been whale watching trips from the Gold Coast and from Brisbane, and can’t recommend it more if you’re here during the season.

Walks in Noosa National Park

There are 15km of walking trails inside the park, and I really want to do the walk to Hell’s Gate next time I’m back in Queensland, followed by a stand up paddle boarding lesson and a swim.

Unfortunately on the day, none of us were dressed for a hike (or a swim), so we wandered a little way into the park and sat by the water for a while. If you’re planning a visit, check out these Noosa National Park walking maps.