Glass House Mountains Tourist Drive

The Glass House Mountains are one of the most popular destinations for weekend trips around Brisbane. The tourist drives are often filled with locals during the weekend, visiting the forests, mountains or out of the way villages. We'll show you how to get to the best spots via the most scenic roads.

BEERBURRUM TO LANDSBOROUGH VIA GLASS HOUSE MOUNTAINS LOOKOUT

After following the M1 Bruce Highway up north and turning off towards the Glass House Mountains Tourist Drive (#23), the fun starts at Beerburrum. There you turn off Steve Irwin Way and take Beerburrum Road, which turns into Beerburrum Woodford Road, just outside Beerburrum.

If you’re feeling energetic, stop here and climb Mount Beerburrum. It’s about a 1.4 km return uphill hike, and you're rewarded with great views from the fire tower up top.

From there, turn right onto Old Gympie Road, and then left onto Glass House Woodford Road, to reach the Glass House Mountains Lookout.

The road is sealed to the lookout but not beyond. There isn’t much to discover past the lookout, but if you're in a 4x4, you can always go on an adventure.

The lookout is a top spot to have a picnic lunch or to cook up some sausages on the public BBQs.

HIKING THE GLASS HOUSE MOUNTAINS

Once you've taken in the 360' views at the lookout, make your way back to Old Gympie Road and turn left to head north. From here, you’ve got a few options.

Either take Marshs Road for some lovely views of Mount Tibrogargan, and/or to do the Mount Tibrogargan Circuit walk (3.3km) or the longer Trachyte Circuit (5.6km)

You can also follow Coonowrin Road for views of Mount Tibrogargan from further away, and to stop back at the village of Glass House Mountain.

Alternatively, take Fullertons Road to climb up the popular Mount Ngungun; one of the easiest walk in the Glass House Mountains. The bonus is that this is achievable for kids as well.

Once you’ve taken the detour you want, turn back onto Old Gympie Road. Either take it all the way back up to Landsborough, or stop at Lindeman Road to walk up Mount Coochin.

MARY CAIRNCROSS RESERVE

If you’ve got time, from Landsborough, you can take the Maleny Landsborough Road up the Sunshine Coast Hinterland hills to admire the views from Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve. It's the long - scenic - way around, for the fastest way there, you've got to take Steve Irwin Way.

On a clear day, the views of Mount Beerwah and the rest of the Glass House Mountains are really quite impressive from the Maleny Landborough road - and definitely worth taking the time.

Sometimes you can even make out Brisbane’s skyline in the far distance. It’s best seen in the early morning or late afternoon.

To get to Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve, turn left at Mountain View Road once you’ve climbed up the hills or simply follow the signs for Tourist Drive #23. There’s also a really nice sub-tropical rainforest walk (1.75km loop) at the reserve you could do also.

Finish your scenic tourist drive off with a visit to the charming villages of the hinterland - like Maleny or Montville. There are some local art galleries & a number of cute cafe's & restaurants boasting jaw dropping food & views. To head back to Brisbane, go via the Maleny-Montville and Landborough-Maleny Road, connecting to the Steve Irwin Way, and then the M1. Be aware though, especially on Sunday afternoon, it can get really busy there.