4 family-friendly 2WD coastal and island day trip adventures in South East Queensland
Issued: 18 Jun

If you’re looking for nature therapy the whole family can enjoy without requiring a 4WD, there’s no better place than South East Queensland’s coastal national parks. A family trip in the great outdoors is a special way to connect with nature, explore new environments, teach the kids about parks and wildlife, and create lifelong memories, together.

So, gather up the family, pack a picnic, jump in the car and go!

Forest birds, shorebirds and seabirds—a delight for family twitchers

If you’ve got little (or big) twitchers in the family, then the Birdwatchers track at Inskip Peninsula Recreation Area is for you. This easy 900m coastal track winds through colourful bushland forest and is home to a surprising assortment of birds. Lively honeyeaters, elegant fairy-wrens and bold friarbirds flit through the forest of prickly broom heath, cypress pine, wattles, cotton bush and banksias. You may even spot a vulnerable black-breasted button-quail on the forest floor—they’re well-camouflaged and very elusive so you’ll have to be extra quiet.

At the end of the track, bring out those snacks you packed earlier and sit back in the shaded picnic area to take in the stunning views over Pelican Bay towards K'gari. From here you’ll see migratory shorebirds and seabirds, and large flocks of pelicans after which the bay was named.

Sit at the end of the Birdwatchers track and look out over the calm waters of Pelican Bay. Photo credit: © Queensland Government You might be lucky enough to spot a vulnerable black-breasted button-quail of the forest floor next to the Birdwatchers track.

Splash, soak and swim at Searys Creek—great for cooling off!

In the Cooloola section of Great Sandy National Park is a picnic spot every family should visit—Searys Creek day-use area. Lounge over lunch at the picnic tables in the shade of cypress pines and she-oaks, then grab the towels and wander along the paperbark-lined Searys Creek boardwalk to discover nature’s perfect swimming pool.

The tea-coloured waters of Searys Creek have been filtered through Cooloola’s sand mass and the shallow sandy bottom makes this a great spot for kids to cool off and splash about. Can they spot red and blue flashes of ornate rainbowfish in the creek or hear the unmistakable laughter of kookaburras in the surrounding forest?

Take a refreshing dip at Searys Creek at the end of the boardwalk. Photo credit: © Queensland Government Wander through a woodland of paperbarks along the Searys Creek boardwalk. Photo credit: © Queensland Government

Delight curious minds with Cooloola’s rainforest magic

Take your two-wheel drive from Rainbow Beach and recharge over a picnic in the cool shade of Cooloola’s magical subtropical rainforest at Bymien day-use area. While enjoying your lunch, spot noisy pittas feasting on snails on the forest floor and look for colourful wompoo pigeons and the rose-crowned fruit-doves feeding on the red fruits of piccabeen palms—watch out for falling fruit!

Once you’re fed and refreshed, enjoy a stroll along the Dundathu circuit and discover the difference between an elkhorn and a staghorn as you wander among towering kauri pines and blue quandongs. Don’t forget to look around your feet also—fallen trees are covered in lush carpets of moss and fungi, and during the summer you’ll find the stunning white flowers of ground Christmas orchids. Listen to the many bird calls from the canopy above and keep your eyes open for the frequent flashes of coloured feathers in the sea of green vegetation.

Enjoy a cool, shady picnic among the rainforest at Bymien day-use area. Photo credit: © Queensland Government See colourful rose-crowned fruit doves in the rainforest canopy surrounding Bymien day-use area. At Bymien day-use area, picnic under towering piccabeen palms. Photo credit: © Queensland Government Look for the splash of red of the King parrots’ feathers amongst the green vegetation on the Dundathu circuit. Fallen trees are covered in lush carpets of moss and fungi on the Dundathu circuit. Photo credit: © Chris Whitelaw

Bribie Island’s Bicentennial bushwalks—little legs will like them

If you’re after family friendly nature walks not far from Brisbane, then put the bicentennial bushwalks in Bribie Island National Park on your must-do list.

Explore remnant wallum heathlands and spot colourful birds and other wildlife on the delightful Banksia Bicentennial bushwalk.

Walk among foxtail ferns and native palms and watch native birds feasting on the fruits and flowers of blueberry ash on the Palm Grove Bicentennial bushwalk.

Discover a vibrant landscape of native plants and animals as you wander through a paperbark wetland and bloodwood forest on the Melaleuca Bicentennial bushwalk.

Wander through a wallum heathland dotted with grasstrees and banksias on the Banksia Bicentennial bushwalk. Photo credit: © Charlotte Reynolds On the Banksia Bicentennial bushwalk you’re likely to spot scarlet honeyeaters feasting on the nectar of the banksias. Look for wallum flowers along the track edges of the Melaleuca Bicentennial bushwalk. Photo credit: Leanne Siebuhr © Queensland Government Walk quietly along the Melaleuca Bicentennial bushwalk for a chance to spot scaly-breasted lorikeets in the trees. Take a stroll through native palms along the Palm Grove Bicentennial bushwalk. Photo credit: Leanne Siebuhr © Queensland Government Tread quietly on the Palm Grove Bicentennial bushwalk and you might be lucky to spot a lace monitor basking in a sunny spot. Photo credit: Adam Creed © Queensland Government

Ready for your family 2WD day trip adventure?

The best way to make sure the whole family has a good time is to be prepared, so make sure to always check park alerts for your chosen park before you set out in case there are any closures for management or maintenance purposes.