Mount Coolum
Postcode: 4573
Dome-shaped Mount Coolum rises 208m above the sugar cane fields and coastal resorts to dominate the skyline in the Sunshine Coast lowlands. Mount Coolum National Park contains most of the mountain with its craggy cliffs. After rain, waterfalls cascade over the sides.
Open eucalypt forest skirts Mount Coolum’s lower slopes while grasslands and montane heath grow towards the summit. This is one of only two coastal places where montane heath grows. The park extends south and west of Mount Coolum protecting coastal wallum, paperbark wetlands and rainforest remnants which have largely disappeared from this part of the Sunshine Coast lowlands.
The park contains rare and threatened plant species, Allocasuarina thalassoscopica and Bertya sharpeana. About 40 percent of known fern families grow in the park. Peregrine falcons nest along the cliff faces.
Mt Coolum is significant to the Gubbi Gubbi people and features in stories about the way the landscape was formed.
Have a picnic. Wood barbecues are provided. The rest of the park is undeveloped and suitable only for keen bushwalkers. Take your binoculars and go birdwatching.