Goon Goon Dina Walk, Blackdown Tableland National Park - December 2016

The normal start to this little stroll is from the Munall Camp Ground on the Blackdown Tablelands, but being the hardcore dedicated Feral walker that I am I decided to start it from the small car park on the access road near where the road crosses Mimosa Creek, figuring that the extra few hundred metres would make the stats a bit more respectable. As it turned out the walk up to the camp from the access road was quite interesting, the link track followed Mimosa Creek and the creek seemed to have quite a few potential swimming holes in it's rocky bed. After filing away the potential swimming holes in the deep dark recesses of my mind I confronted the hardest navigation of the walk, passing through Munall Camp. Qld Parks really should be congratulated on the way they maintain Blackdown Tableland National Park, the park is in great nick and the camp was no exception, my route was well signposted and the camp was immaculately clean.

The tracks are very well maintained up at Blackdown Tableland.

There are some nice swimming holes on Mimosa Creek near the camp.

So after easily finding my way through the large camp I set off on the interestingly named Goon Goon Dina Walk. As I crapped on about in the last paragraph this place is amazingly well maintained, I'd swear that someone had taken a leaf blower or a broom around this track as the ground was almost free of leaf and forest litter. My route climbed very gently, again fairly closely to Mimosa Creek although for the most part it wasn't obvious. This walk starts off by passing a couple of points of historical European history, the first notable feature was some old stock yards that had been built at the beginning of the last century, with a lack of wire and nails the old settlers had to be a little inventive, the slip rails are butted into some holes drilled into an old gum tree of which the tree is now making it's own. A short time later I got to the remains of an old cattlemans hut which dates back to the 1950's, apparently the soil on Blackdown Tableland is low in Phosphorous which gave the cattle chalky bones so after a few months the cattle had to be moved to Planet Downs, three days ride away.

There is a bit of European history on offer on this walk.

This is the remains of an old hut that the cattleman used to use back in the 1950's.

There was plenty of natural attractions as well.

Blackdown Tableland features a lot of this dry, open forest.

Continuing onwards the gently climbing track passes a few more information signs before coming to a large sandstone overhang, this is the home to a extensive indigenous art site. It's thought that the art was created by the Ghungalu People who have lived in this area for thousands of years, most of the art consisted of Ochre hand stencils. After enjoying the peaceful ambiance of this magic spot for a little while I once again continued on my little expedition. Almost immediately after leaving the overhang the track passes through a short section of forest littered with huge rocky out crops, their weathered shapes testing out my skills as a lens man again.

Halfway through the walk I arrived at this large sandstone overhang which featured a lot of indigenous art.

There are some spectacular rocky outcrops near the art site.

The indigenous art site is more or less the highest spot on the stroll, I was now gently descending back towards Munall Camp. After crossing the headwaters of Mimosa Creek on some well places stepping stones, the route passed through a couple of open grassy clearings before meeting up with my outward route a few minutes before arriving back at the camp. With the route now familiar I easily retraced my way back through the camp ground and headed back down the short link track to the small car park beside the access road.

Crossing the headwaters of Mimosa Creek.

The Dirt.
This isn't a hard walk, I walked 3.8 kilometres on this stroll and climbed 38 metres.....no I didn't miss a number there! This easy walk would suit families and people that aren't usually walkers, the track is very well marked and maintained. While the walk isn't hardcore that doesn't mean it's not interesting, there is a lot packed into this short walk, from European history and Indigenous history as well as having a lot of interesting natural features, with a lot of the points of interest featuring little information signs.
Relevant Posts.
Gudda Gumoo Walk, Blackdown Tableland National Park, 2016.
Goodela Walk, Blackdown Tableland National Park, 2016.
Carnarvon Great Walk, 2014.

The walk back to the camp ground passed through a nice open grassy area.