Poona Lake walk

Getting there

Start at Bymien picnic area. Turn off 4km south of Rainbow Beach, onto Freshwater Rd until you reach Bymien day-use area. 2WD vehicles can access the first 3km—off Rainbow Beach Road—to a small rainforest patch surrounding the Bymien picnic area, a cool, shaded spot with information displays, toilets and tables (wheelchair-accessible) and a short walk among some of the area’s best representative rainforest species.

Maps

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/great-walks-cooloola/pdf/cooloola-gw-topo.pdf

Route/Trail notes

From the Bymien day-use area enjoy this magical walk up a rainforested sand dune and then down to the secluded paperbark-fringed lake. Turn off the Dundathu circuit, and meander through tall rainforest with towering kauri and hoop pines, strangler figs engulfing their host trees, and thin, tall piccabeen palms reaching for sunlight. Large, broad-leaved lilly pillies flower in spring then blanket the rainforest floor with white berries, attracting fruit-eating birds.

Listen for catbirds and wompoo pigeons and glimpse noisy pittas. Walk down through carrol scrub to the shores of the scenic perched lake and marvel at the variety of plants that grow in the Cooloola sandmass.

Permits/Costs

Free

Other References

https://findapark.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/cooloola/poona-lake-walk-track

GPS Tracks

No GPS available for this walk yet.

Comments

I was expecting it to be a perfectly flat walk, but there is a bit of a hill in the middle. Easy enough though.

Spotted plenty of blue tongues and countless birds. Almost stepped on a snake.

I imagine all the moss and mushrooms would look stunning after a bit of rain. Plenty of rainforest sections.
Acasualhiker on 4 Sep, 2024

A terrific, short, out and back hike to a beautiful lake! Not much wildlife to see at 8am but it was a peaceful walk only coming across 1 other person.
The road to Bymien picnic area could do with some maintenance though - Some sections of corrugations and large potholes.
S K on 8 Feb, 2022

Chris and the Aussie bushwalking team were amazing! The walk was super fun, and great exercise so good for the heart! Beautiful scenery, amazing wildlife, superb instructions, and all you need to have a fabulous time. 2 thumbs up, way up!!! Highly recommended!!!
JOHN HIGGINS on 7 Oct, 2021

Bring your togs. The lake is bigger and clearer than I expected. Lovely spot for a swim to cool off. Pleasant walk through rainforest, a bit steep in parts for the unfit like me, but doable.
Sue H on 7 Oct, 2021

A nice walk through rainforest down to the lake. A few people were swimming in the lake while we were there.
Debbie on 11 Apr, 2021

Nice walk with an enjoyable swim at the end with a beautiful tan in the water
Polarbear88 on 26 Dec, 2020

We came here at dusk for the frogs! It's a magical spot. Well worth the walk down to the lake, although of course, plenty of mosquitoes in the evening.
Tori on Dec, 2020

Good easy walk some inclined but relatively easy walk. Nice white sands and tea coloured water.
RTM on 4 Aug, 2020

Great little walk with my love to start our QLD Road Trip - arrived at Rainbow Beach late in the afternoon and took this walk arriving at the lake right as the sun was going down. Temptation was there to take a refreshing dip
maverick0208 on 25 Jun, 2020