Tibrogargan Circuit Bushwalk

I’ve been consciously trying to make an effort to encourage my family to spend more time outdoors together, whether it’s bike riding, bushwalking, or…. anything outside. We didn’t have much planned for Sunday, so I suggested we spend the morning out for a hike, enjoying the crisp winter weather. The boys were keen, so the planning got underway.

After asking my husband where we should go, ultimately it was left in my hands.

Researching where to go

I knew I had a list of requirements for our walk:

• Somewhere local – I knew the boys wouldn’t want to drive for longer than 30-40mins tops. It had to be close to home. At some point, I’m sure they’ll be keen to get further away, and we can combine it with some camping trips too.
• A decent-sized walk. Over the school holidays, I’d taken my 7-year-old son and his friend for a 1k bushwalk, and it was fun, but I wanted more. I started looking at walks that were 2-4 kilometres long, something that would push my son a little bit, while not being too crazy.
• Not too hilly. I’m still building up my fitness and strength again, and I didn’t want to aggravate my knees (I have severe osteoarthritis in my right knee, and have been told I need a knee replacement).

I found the Adventure Sunshine Coast site, and after searching a few of the trails, ultimately decided that the Tibrogargan Circuit ticked all the boxes.

About the Tibrogargan Circuit walk

For those not local to the area, Mt Tibrogargan is one of the Glasshouse Mountains, a collection of 11 mountains in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. By far, the most famous thing nearby would be Australia Zoo, home of the Irwins, but the Glasshouse Mountains are gorgeous. They’re a must-see for anyone visiting the Sunshine Coast.

The Tibrogargan Circuit walk is a 4.6km walk around the base of Mt Tibrogargan. There’s a summit walk, but I knew that I’d be pushing it if I’d suggested that. My son would likely complain, my husband has had a sore back recently, and with my knees? Yeah…no summit this weekend.

I knew we wouldn’t be disappointed with the circuit, given the description from Adventure Sunshine Coast:

All in all probably the Number 1 non-summit walk of the famous Glasshouse Mountains.
– Adventure Sunshine Coast

The description mentioned it was suitable for walkers and with not too much elevation, so it definitely sounded like it was worth a visit.

Hiking Pole convert

The night before our walk, I’d gone to Kmart and invested in $10 hiking poles, one for each of us. My sister-in-law had mentioned how great they were, and on a previous trip overseas, my friend had encouraged me to use one (at the time, I had been too stubborn to accept my knee was as bad as it was, and didn’t end up using it). Knowing that if I’m ever going to be able to run again, I would have to protect my knee, and that meant using hiking poles. I knew if I got one for myself, my son would steal it, and if I bought one for each of us, I needed to get one for my husband. I knew he’d claim he doesn’t need it, but better to have it than not.

Walking the circuit, I found it much more enjoyable to use a hiking pole than I expected. On the flats, or where there was a slight incline, it didn’t do much. But on the downhills, especially when stepping down a decent drop, it took a lot of pressure off my knees.

So, I’m officially a convert.

I thought my son would get sick of it. In fact, I was sure he was going to be done within about 5 minutes. Wrong! He ended up using it the whole way, and at one point it meant he was flying on it, Harry Potter style. He loves how adjustable they are, and that it could be customised just for him.

As for my husband? Well, he didn’t complain about it, which is basically a 5-star glowing recommendation.

Circuit Summary

All up, it took us just over an hour and a half to complete the walk. That included the time that we stopped for Luca to strip off his jumper and his trackies, a pee break, and a snack break that wasn’t a snack break (he claimed he was “tired” so he could eat the emergency lollies that we had packed, but he was denied). I’m also trying to capture a video or photo a day, which meant the boys got roped into a family photo.

Apparently, that also means you have to follow it up with a silly one.

My husband and son had an amazing time looking at the trees and discussing whether damage to the trunk was from lightning, bush fire, animal, or human hands (shout out to the annoying people who carve their names into trees). They also started looking out for flattened grass to indicate animal tracks. The Glasshouse Mountains is home to some iconic Australian animals, like kangaroos, koalas, emus, and echidnas. Apparently the Peregrine Falcon too, which thanks to the roadside trivia games designed to keep drivers awake, is the fastest animal on earth. When it dives it can reach speeds of up to 300 km (186 miles) per hour.

Alas, all we saw were some bush turkeys and black cockatoos. For the foreigners, that meant no snakes, and nothing that wanted to kill us. So, hurray!

My son did great with the distance as well. He only started to really show signs of being tired and over it at the 3k mark. He’d had a soccer carnival the day before, but I think his fatigue was mainly because he’d walked most of it in his trackies (his choice). Once he was in shorts he perked back up again. At the end of the walk he mentioned how proud he was of himself. So definitely mum’s orders for more walks to build more pride.

The highlight of the walk for me was when he asked how I was, and then said “family look after each other”. They sure do! Good work little man.

Facilities-wise wise there are seats along the track, the path is well marked, and there’s a picnic area complete with flushing toilets at the start/end of the trail. There are also some shoe cleaners, where you can clean the underside of your shoes to make sure you’re not accidentally tracking some unwanted seeds into the area. There’s phone reception available as well, although in some spots it dropped to a single bar.

Time to plan the next one

I think I’ll start to look for some walks that are a little bit more difficult, and see how my knee holds up. Ultimately, I want to climb Mt Coolum again. It’s my favourite climb because of the views, but I just want to make sure I’m not so slow I’m holding everyone up, or that I’m aching for days afterwards. On that note, it might be worth some anti-inflammatories that day, just in case.

For families or visitors to the Sunshine Coast, I highly recommend the Tibrogargan Circuit. There are views of the mountains along the walk, and with some gorgeous little hinterland towns nearby, you can make a day of it. You won’t regret it.