Ships Stern Circuit

Combines rainforest, palm groves and open eucalypt forest, wildflower vegetation and excellent lookouts over the Numinbah Valley. A short side trip takes in the Lower Ballanjui Falls. The Ship's Stern Walk is one of the most magnificent walks in the Park. It is particularly excellent in winter and spring, especially the latter when wildflowers are often abundant. The Binna Burra lodge offers convenient accommodation for an early start or an overnighter, and also has a cafe with a view that's a great way to finish this track.

Waterfalls

Lookouts

Bird Watching

Picnic Facilities

BBQ

Toilets

No Dogs Permitted

Rainforest

Eucalypt Forest

900m

Maximum Elevation

500m

Total Climb

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Getting there

Most people do this walk in a clockwise direction starting from the lower carpark at Binna Burra and finishing at the main entrance.

Maps

Binna Burra Section (QLD Nat Parks) PDF

QTopo Beechmont Section (1:25,000) PDF

QTopo online

Route/Trail notes

This is not a difficult walk but is quite long. The walk starts with a descent through rainforest into the valley before climbing up through open forest to the viewpoint at Ships Stern. The rest of the track is fairly level with only slight gradients. After the Kooloonbano Lookout the track splits with the left hand fork taking the cliff edge and the right hand fork has views looking back towards Binna Burra. The forks are about equal in length.

Other References

http://www.binnaburralodge.com.au/activities/bushwalking-hiking

https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/lamington/about.html#ships_stern_circuit

Take a Walk in South-East Queensland, p195, ISBN 9780957793170

GPS Tracks

Comments

Great walk. Long but easy with great lookouts.
Kay on 21 May, 2016

The views are fantastic. The walking trail is in great condition. I would recommend good hiking shoes not runners etc. I also recommend doing the circuit anticlockwise it is a much nicer way to go. Take advantage of the great lookouts. Bring lots of water and some food, hat and sunscreen for the top of ships stern as can get very hot on a sunny day. I am a slow/average pace walker with short legs and I stopped lots to take photos and admire the views and it took me 5hrs.
Zowie on 27 Mar, 2016

We camped at Binna Burra and treated ourselves to the 3 course meal at the end of a full day hiking. Was a bit pricey but worth it for the atmosphere and nice to relax with a glass of red wine. It was 20 degrees at midday and cold over night - in summer! Make sure to take extra layers.
Megs on 5 Feb, 2016

I have hiked this track at least twice. It's best not to try on a real hot day as a lot of the hike is exposed.
davidGriffo on 2016

Great walk with many incredible lookouts. Highly recommend :)
Alice on 3 Oct, 2015

Fantastic walk with such a diverse type of forests. Great views and well maintained track
Bushy Bloke on 26 Sep, 2015

My absolute favourite walk in Binna Burra! So much diversity in the landscape, plenty of incredible views at multiple points on the walk, and great side tracks to explore. The detour to Lower Ballanjui is especially great. If you have two cars it's a good idea to park one near the entrance to Lower Bellbird (the Information Centre is close enough) and one right at the top next to the lodge to save taking a fairly long road walk. Did the track clockwise and took the Eastern Lookouts when the track split a bit after halfway along - they join up again much sooner than expected. Creek crossing is no trouble, but bring Bushmans for the leeches! We saw some feral cats, lots of blue crays, some pademelons, bush turkeys and a red belly black. Will have to do this one again soon.
Anonymous on 7 Apr, 2015

Awsome walk. Great views. Great waterfalls. Great rainforest. We did it anticlockwise. The hill isnt that hard and you leave the big waterfall till the end
Pardo on 6 Apr, 2015

did lower ballanjui and got to the rock, had lunch and turned back
Allan Allport on 13 Aug, 2014

A great walk. A must for any bush walker.
Callaghan Clan on 24 Mar, 2013

the best walk in the lamington NP in my opinion, a wow around every corner.
Anthony & Stephanie on 22 Sep, 2012

FANTASTIC.. one of the best day walks I have done - stunning scenery (that just keeps on changing!) wildlife (we saw a snake, goanna, 3 x Blue Crayfish things, various birds, bush wallabies, leeches, ticks, spiders and various other bugs and fauna) easy if you're fit and have good shoes, but can start to get a bit exhausting towards the end if you're not terribly fit!
Alun on 7 Jan, 2012

EKKA Day, great day for a walk....

Travelled to Binna Burra and started the Ships Stern Circuit at 9:00am.
Track is in great condition ( well done volunteers ) and very easy to follow.
Going is rather easy, scenery and lookouts on the way are awesome.
The 600 mtr (1.2k return) leg to the base of Ballunjui was worth it, good photo op.

We went out to the Charraboomba Rock (608m high) for lunch. It's a rocky pad but
a great view point to look down into the valley and to see "Egg Rock" and to have lunch.

Not long after departing the lunch stop it rained for 20 minutes but the walk was still enjoyable.

Views from the last 4 lookouts were a bit limited due to mist ( after the rain etc) but stil very scenic.

We completed the walk in just under 6 hours including 1/2 HR lunch.

I would recommend stopping at the Lamington National Park visitors information centre for a Binna Burra and Green Mountains sections free map to take with you. HEMA Lamington National Park 1:25000 also has the walk(s) detailed on it.

Happy Walking :-)

Cheers.
Matt on 17 Oct, 2011

Did all of the side walks for the first half, but then the rain kicked in and made us hurry. The track condition is great, I just was confused when the track split in two for the "western lookouts" and "eastern lookouts" part, so we stuck to Eastern. Next time I guess I'll check out Western
Allan Allport on 17 Aug, 2011

On the way back last 1.5km is hard when you know you are so close ! Loved it all the way. There is a little land slide near Lower Ballunjui Falls but enough people have been through it to start wearing the track through again.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheKendo72
Boris Zoubakin on 25 Jul, 2010