Dinosaur Trail - Queensland Australia
October - December 2021
From Gold Coast traveling West in October
Leaving October 2021 we headed west on our way to the dinosaur trail. First on the bucket list was Carnarvon Gorge, we spent a week exploring this amazing area, hiking, swimming and animal watching. We worked our way out west visiting free camps, farms and outback towns. The Dinosaur Trail is 3 main towns in outback Queensland where dinosaur fossils have been found. These towns have embraced all things Dinosaur and are fun to visit! Below are our posts on activities, camps and experiences we had way out west.
And we’re off! We are heading out to do the dinosaur trail
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Bowenville Reserve Free Camp – QLD
Our first stay on the road was a free camp 3 hrs from the Gold Coast called Bowenville Reserve. It’s a huge open area 4
Dalby – Lunch stop – QLD
We found a great little playground in Dalby on the way through. It’s on Jimbour St near the school, there’s room to park your van
Chinchilla – Free Splash Park – QLD
A cool find in Chinchilla is the free splash park in the Chinchilla Botanic Parkland. Runs all day, has shade, toilets, BBQs, playground and picnic
Chinchilla – Rubern Lagoon – QLD
We stayed at a Hipcamp in Chinchilla called Ruberns Lagoon, there’s powered and unpowered sites, good town water, flushing toilets, showers, free firewood, free washing
Chinchilla – Historical Museum – QLD
A must do in Chinchilla is the local museum, they have an impressive collection of historic farm equipment, buildings, working sawmill display and fire fighting
Chinchilla Weir – QLD
We took a drive out to see the Chinchilla Weir, there’s a playground, picnic tables, toilets, and a Free Camp (some with power), there is
Miles – QLD – Lunch Stop
On our way to Roma we stopped at Miles for morning tea, they have van parking, a dump point, playground, toilets and shaded tables. This
Ups & Down Farm Stay – Roma – QLD
We found a great farm stay on wiki camps, just outside Roma. They have powered or unpowered sites with water, amenities block, camp kitchen, fires
Lonesome National Park Lookout – QLD
On our way to Carnarvon Gorge we took a detor to the Lonesome Lookout, 14km off the main hwy on a sealed road, it was
Our timelapse from Roma to Carnarvon Gorge – QLD
Our time lapse from Roma to Carnarvon Gorge – QLD with a detour to Lonesome National Park Lookout with the van. https://youtu.be/f5dRSwG4qPQ
Takarakka – Carnarvon Gorge – QLD
While visiting Carnarvon Gorge we stayed at Takarakka Campground for 7 nights. They have power and water sites, flushing toilets, showers, a little shop and
Carnarvon Rock Pool walk/Swimming Hole – QLD
Not far from Takarakka is a swimming hole called “the Rock Pools”, just 200m from the car park. Cross over 2 creek crossings to get
Mickey Creek Gorge walk – QLD
Our last walk in Carnarvon National Park was the Mickey Creek Gorge, a cool narrow Gorge that’s about 3km return. The kids loved rock hopping
Springsure – QLD – Lunch Stop
A good stop from Carnarvon to Emerald is the Springsure Rest area (Virgin Rock). There’s room to park vans, toilets, cool mountains to look at
The Gem Fields – QLD
We spent a great 3 days in the Gemfields Sapphire & Rubyvale. We joined an underground mine tour with Heritage Mines, learned to sieve for
Miners Heritage Walk In Mine Tour – Gemfields – QLD
On our first day in the Gemfields we joined a tour of a local underground sapphire mine, turned tourist tour. Our tour guide Matt showed
Pat’s Gems – Gemfields – QLD
We had a great morning at Pat’s Gems learning how to sieve sapphire wash, and identify the gems verses rocks. The kids enjoyed the whole
Fossicking – QLD
We head out to a place called Washpool to try our hand at finding sapphires out in the bush. We only found a few tiny
Policemans Knob – QLD
The oldest known volcanic basalt plug in the world, makes a great place to view sunrise or sunset in the area. It’s located 15 minutes
Sapphire Caravan Park – QLD
We had a great stay at the caravan park in Sapphire, they were friendly new owners and the park had everything we needed. The number
Barcaldine – QLD
We stopped in at Barcaldine for lunch and to checkout the town where my mum was born. We saw the Tree of Knowledge where the
Barcaldine Flashback to 2011
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Longreach Apex Park Donation Camp – QLD
In Longreach we stayed at a $5 donation camp full of roosters and brolgas. There were flushing toilets, a river, and fires in above ground
Stockman’s Hall of Fame – Longreach – QLD
In Longreach we visited the Stockman’s Hall of Fame for a history lesson on the cattle and stock trade. The displays and self guided audio
Longreach RSL – QLD
Want to eat out with kids in Longreach? Then the RSL club is the place to go. They have a kids play space with toys,
Qantas – Longreach – QLD
We didn’t make it into the Qantas museum this trip, the kids had reached their daily limit of new information so we’ll catch this place
Flashback to Longreach 2011 – QLD
There was in interesting coincidence at Longreach; David and I stayed here in 2011 on our first trip around Australia in our little Coromal Caravan
Winton – QLD
Winton, the dinosaur capital of Australia. Our first stop in town was the big WINTON sign with the caravan. Next stop catching up on washing
Winton – Storm – QLD
One morning we woke to a storm building so we raced out to the National Park to watch the show, there was lightning and a
Winton – Bladensburg Homestead – QLD
We visited the old Bladensburg Homestead that has been preserved since the early 1900’s. Some great artifacts within the many original buildings, including a fossil
Winton – Age of Dinosaurs – QLD
The main event in Winton was the Age of Dinosaurs museum, a 4 hour tour of fossil preparation, specimens, a movie and a buggy ride
Winton – Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede – QLD
The next big Dinosaur tour was the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede. A 1 1/2 hour drive out to the original site of the only known
Winton – Sunset Signs – QLD
As the sun set we raced around the various Winton signs for our family sunset photos, getting the kids on board was a challenge; but
Winton – Tattersalls Caravan Park – QLD
We stayed at the Tattersalls Caravan park opposite the pub in the main street, there was no yahooing or loud behaviour through the town like
Winton – Pool – QLD
The winton town pool is open all day and has new management that has got the pool back to pristine condition and the splash park
Julia Creek – QLD
Julia creek was a few ‘firsts’ for us, our first outdoor bath experience; including wine & cheese platter. (Note: the baths do not face sunset,
Richmond – QLD
In Richmond we started off at the free splash park, doing our school work in the park then cooling off, there’s room to park your
Julia Creek Sun Halo
We witnessed a sun halo (rainbow) today at Julia Creek in outback QLD, one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen! #sunhalo #sunhalorainbow #juliacreekcaravanpark
Hughenden – QLD
Hughenden was a great little town, we visited the last stop on the dinosaur trail here. It was great to check off that last ticket!
Charters Towers – QLD
Onto charters towers it was great to get to a Big4 resort caravan park with pool, playground, and jumping pillow; it was heaven after a
Townsville – QLD
While in Townsville we stayed at the Rowes Bay caravan park, opposite the beach & playgrounds. Once checked in we were straight in the pool,
Rolling Stone – QLD (just north of Townsville)
We spent 8 nights in Rolling Stone, one of our favourite parks in Australia. We took advantage of the ‘stay 4 nights get one free’
Crystal Creek Rockslides – Paluma – QLD
We headed out to the rockslides and had a great morning swimming with the fish and tadpoles. After the initial freakout over the tiny frogs
Goodbye Droney!
Dave did some of the bigger hikes on his own out through Paluma National Park where our drone suddenly malfunctioned and fliped mid-air. It crashed
Bowen – Wangaratta Caravan Park- QLD
Beautiful Bowen, you never disappoint. We stayed in the Queens Beach area at Wangaratta at the Beach Caravan Park, a great place to base yourself
Bowen – Horseshoe Bay/ Greys Bay
We had one of the most amazing sunsets we’ve ever seen here in Bowen, the colour just kept changing by the minute. We had snacks
Things to do in Bowen QLD
-Have a splash at the free waterpark -Playground hop through the many awesome playgrounds -Get amazing fish & chips from Fellows Fish Bar -Take a
Yeppoon – QLD
Oh Yeppoon, such an easy town to visit, we love cruising the playgrounds and town. This visit we stayed at the Yeppoon Coolwaters Discovery Park,
Great Keppel Island – QLD
Great Keppel is located just off the coast of Yeppoon and is only a 40 minute ferry away, we chose the ferry versus a tour
Rossendale Free RV Camp – QLD
This free camp is located south of Hervey Bay, just a few kms from the A1. It was a great quiet overnight stop on our
