Excursion Report – Mount Barney Wilderness Camping (Bartopia), held 15-18 November 2024

Report by Ron Carr (excursion leader)

This excursion was to a private property owned by Ben Barton which is devoted to the pursuit of conservation interests and activities. It is covenanted to form part of the Land for Wildlife assets. The property is at an elevation of 700 m and at the extreme end of Waterfall Creek Road, a distance of 40 km from Boonah by road. The road itself represents quite a challenge, so it was suggested that people with good paintwork and a low clearance vehicle should arrange to travel with others. Everyone else, from Andrew’s rough 2 wheel drive ute to Terry’s big 4WD plus campervan, made it up (on dry roads) and back (on wet roads) without a problem. We had 14 members and one guest, and parents brought along 3 well behaved and enthusiastic children. The property is not large (at around 140 hectares) but contains a good variety of species, and at its south-west extremity one can easily wander onto the northern discrete section of Mount Barney National Park.

It was, for us, one of the easiest and most comfortable excursions that could be undertaken. Two flush toilets, a hot shower, and plenty of bunks in the men’s and in the women’s cabins, and plenty of space for tents and vans were available, and it was essentially free of the holy trinity of pests: mosquitoes, ticks and leeches. Good potable tank water was available and there was also the ability to recharge small electronic devices, and we even had localised Wi-Fi at the main building. As if that wasn’t enough, there was a fully equipped kitchen with gas supplied and a large indoor dining area and outdoor campfire.

We did bring our own firewood which made sitting around in the outdoor covered area very pleasant whilst the smoke rose upwards through the open peak of the roof. A late afternoon storm dumped 65 mm of rain on the camp while the lightning lit the sky. The storm disappeared rapidly and soon afterwards we left camp and spent some time spotting swarms of frogs celebrating the conditions on and around the dam, and there was also a large carpet snake doing likewise. Moving away from the dam toward the lookout we spotted very little until at the end of the track where we found a very nice little squirrel glider.

Unfortunately, I was not well enough to go on any of the walks. The main walk on Saturday followed a gully to the south which, although a bit weedy, still offered plenty of interest. Greg Tasney visited the property a year beforehand and had recorded many observations, and our group contributed a further 150 observations, 112 of which were of plants, 18 of insects and 11 of amphibians. These can all be viewed on the iNaturalist project for the excursion. Many of the birds seen at the camp are fed regularly and are habituated to the site, mostly king parrots and crimson rosellas.

I did see at least 3 species of stringybarks or mahoganies, and a couple of smooth barked Eucalypts part way up on Benny Hill (857 m) do not appear to have been previously identified on the property. Sadly, I wasn’t up to the walk at the time of the excursion but will be taking Ben up on his generous offer to all of us to revisit the property at any time.

We thank Ben most sincerely for his generosity in allowing us to use the property, its services and facilities including gas, free of charge. In the past Ben made the property available to four-wheel-drivers and campers out for a wilderness experience; this is being discontinued and the singular focus of Ben’s management is now the conservation of the property’s natural assets and making these open and available to all those sharing that interest. 

Photos RHS by Terry and Sally Johnsen (top to bottom)

1. Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)
2. Peron’s Tree Frog (Litoria peronii)
3. Carpet Python  (Morelia spilota)
4. Australian King Parrot ( Alisterus scapularis)