Tim Nodens

Nothing in life is free. Nothing! And you might disagree and say something like “what about walking along a beach? That’s free!” And you’d be right, but Brisbane doesn’t have beaches, so you’d be wrong.  So if you’re in Brisbane, and you’re broke and looking to have some fun, what do you do? Well, after living here a long time with varying amounts of disposable income we feel we’re in a position to offer some suggestions. Here’s what we’d do, in no particular order. Hungry? Eat your fill at Brisbane's best restaurants for cheap eats. Cashed up? You may like to go eat at one of Brisbane's best restaurants. Walk it off on one of the best easy day hikes near Brisbane.

There are amazing walking options within a two-hour drive of Brisvegas. Check out this selection of hikes, varying from pleasant family-friendly strolls to fair dinkum bushwalks. You’ll need sun protection, water, food, weather appropriate clothes, a map and phone (signal reception may vary). Take a friend and tell someone else your plans. Bushwalking etiquette is to be respectful of others, don’t litter and don't remove anything from the location. You're not summiting Everest or exploring the Congo, but you’ll still be gobsmacked at what is within cooee of Brisvegas. So get your walking boots on, have an adventure, and be back in time for tea. Wanna go further? Discover the best day trips to take from Brisbane. Rather stay in town? Check out the best bushwalks within Brisbane. Feeling the heat after your walk? Find the best secret swimming spots near Brisbane.

Need to reconnect with nature but don’t want to drive for hours? Discover these great easy bushwalks all within Brisbane. You’ll still need passable walking shoes, a hat and a water bottle, but you’ll be on the trail within minutes of stepping out your front door. As with any hike, check the weather conditions, glance at a map, walk with a friend and avoid the hotter part of the day. Don’t forget to stop, look around and listen. Soak up that bushy ambience! These local walks will rejuvenate your soul without losing your mobile signal, because that Map app will be useful when the trail gets confusing. Here are some easy day hikes near Brisbane. Find a secret swimming hole, an exciting day trip or something fantastic to do in Brisbane. 

King Island is a tiny mangrove-ringed islet in Moreton Bay and just a sandy stroll off the coast of Wellington Point. At low tide, it’s linked to the mainland by sand flats. Two hours either side of high tide and the link is a stunning meandering causeway. Choose your walk time carefully as the sand bridge to the mainland is submerged at high tide. (Check the tide times here.) Ideally, start two or three hours before high tide to see the narrow sandbar and give your walk a sense of impending doom! You start and finish at Wellington Point Recreation Reserve where there is a kick-ass playground under huge fig trees and calm water swimming. This 30-60 minute walk is a good family outing.There’s even a handy coffee shop and a fish and chipper, plus toilets, a shower and great views of Moreton Bay. This is as easy as walks get, but timing is everything here – it’s busy on weekends and crazy on school hols, but if you can avoid these and get the tides and sunset just right, Wellington Point is amazeballs.

Cunninghams Gap passes between Mount Mitchell and Mount Cordeaux and both offer awesome walks to scale them. The tracks leave from the carpark on the Cunningham Highway right at the top of the gap. Either mountain can be ascended by following a graded trail for an hour or three depending on your fitness. You won't be scrambling, let alone needing ropes, but you will be going uphill, there will be steps and you are in a wilderness area so don’t fall off a cliff! The view from both mountains is spectacular, both eastward where the highway winds down the range towards the coast, and west where the range extends into the farmlands of the interior. The trails have numerous vantage points and pass through forests varying from eucalypt and rainforest to semi alpine at the peaks. The Mount Cordeaux trail can be easily extended for an hour by walking out to Bare Rock for great views along the escarpment. Allow three-four hours to walk up and return to the carpark for either mountain.

Lamington National Park is a world heritage area famed for its amazing rainforest. The Binna Burra Section of Lamington has many fantastic walks, but a great starter with lots of variety is the Daves Creek Circuit. Beginning and ending along the Border Track, this loop takes three to four hours to do the 12km. You’ll walk through subtropical and temperate rainforests, windswept montane heath and patches of wet eucalypt forest. There's views over to the Springbrook plateau and down into the Numinbah Valley. A little waterfall near Molongolee Cave is often blown back up the cliff by the winds that come up the mountain valley. There’s a couple of cute streams that the path hops over, some great lookouts and a rocky outcrop you can scramble up for views over the mountain heath in the middle of the rainforest range. The Daves Creek Circuit is an excellent intro to Lamington and a readily repeatable wilderness sojourn. If this has whet your appetite and you want an all-day challenge, try the Ships Stern Circuit or the Coomera Circuit, or go the extra distance to the Green Mountains section of the park.

Mount Greville is just off the Cunningham Highway past Aratula. This little gem of a volcanic plug is awesome, but the walk is more advanced than the others here. It is a very different sort of mountain hike compared to the Gap or the Glasshouses. There's three basic ways up the mountain: the Ridge Track, Waterfall Gorge and Palm Gorge. We've been lost on the Ridge Track as it crosses several stretches of bare rock, so stick to the more obvious gorge trails. Besides, the narrow, palm tree-filled gorges are just wicked. Go up either Palm or Waterfall Gorge and down the other. There’s a great view of Lake Moogerah just beyond the top of Waterfall Gorge from Slab Rock, and the summit has views of the range to the northwest. The main attractions are the fabulous shady gorges with their unique cool climate and vegetation. The trails in the gorges are strewn with boulders and palm fronds, so watch your step. Take extra water, and definitely bring some kind of map and navigational skills as this hike can be a smidge trickier. Allow five to six hours as you will be ascending 600 metres, and as it’s a mountain with sheer cliffs ‘n stuff, please apply lashings of caution.

The popular Kondalilla National Park is near Montville in the scenic Blackall Range, 91km north of Brisbane. The Kondalilla Falls circuit is 4.7km return along a mix of boardwalks, concrete and mostly dirt tracks. Walk past rock pools and little waterfalls to the top of the Kondalilla Falls with its chilly swimming hole, epic view and cheeky lace monitors (tree goannas) looking for food. Then follow the signposted track as it winds down the escarpment through lush rainforest to the spectacular base of the falls. The track passes huge eucalypts, palms, ferns, strangler figs, bunya pines and several great lookouts. Follow the loop track back uphill through more wondrous rainforest and over little feeder streams. There's more than 300 stairs on this circuit so you’ll still want a degree of fitness, but if you go the signposted way the grade is tolerable. Allow about two hours. Get there early or pick a quiet day as many people frequent the top of the falls for a gander and a swim. You can go nuts and extend your walk by doing the 10.7 klicks (one way) walk to Baroon Pocket, or easier still, just drive via Narrows Road to the southern end of the park and do the 4.4km Narrows and Baroon Lookouts Walk.  

The Greenes Falls Circuit is an easy 4.3 km walk through verdant rainforest and a palm valley. Start from Maiala Picnic Ground on Mount Glorious Road and head down a mix of boardwalk, steps and dirt track, past huge strangler figs towards a cascade waterfall. Keep your eyes peeled for weird and wonderful fungi. The path is not wheelchair or pram friendly but the walk is pretty easy for small kids who can enjoy exploring the rainforest trail. It’s a mix of natural bush track, boardwalk and stone/timber steps with some short steep hill sections. The walk is well signposted and will take the average person two hours return. To extend your walk, branch off along the 350m Cypress Grove Circuit that weaves through a stand of native cypress trees. While you are up in the mountains there are also more easy walks along the road to Mount Nebo like the Boombana, Thylogale and Morelia tracks.

A 90-minute drive from the CBD, hard-to-miss Mount Coolum is 208m above sea level. The summit of this volcanic dome has stunning 360 degree vistas up and down the Sunshine Coast, over to the Glasshouse Mountains and west out to the Blackall Range. The walk is only 1.6km but half of that is uphill, so allow one to two hours depending on your fitness. The track is well maintained with some natural and person-made steps. Start your hike from Mount Coolum Car Park, on Tanah Street West, via David Low Way. Take water and sun protection, stay on designated tracks and don’t try this mountain in wet weather. Keep your eyes peeled for peregrine falcons too. The hike is a good workout, and in a great spot where you can easily pop over to the magnificent beaches to wash off the sweat.

These picturesque Sunshine Coast volcanic plugs are must-dos for bushwalkers, but the choice of which mountain to hike up is important. First timers or those a little unfit would be advised to try Mount Ngungun – it's a moderately easy hour or so walk to the top. Nothing too dangerous, just be careful near cliff edges and on the uneven terrain. Supervised kids can do this one. You get fabulous views of the other mountains, especially Mounts Coonowrin and Beerwah, which are lined up from here. It's popular, so choose your time of year wisely. By the time you get back to your car you may still feel like another easy walk. Luckily there's lots nearby, so try Wild Horse Mountain (700m up a fully concreted path for more great views) or do the circuit walk around the base of Mount Tibrogargan (3km through forests with mountain views) to fill your day. Those who are more capable could set their sights higher and go up Mount Tibrogargan or Mount Beerwah. The main routes up are steep trails with 300m altitude gains so you’ll need a head for heights. Whilst not technically climbing, you’ll definitely be scrambling up dangerous slopes. These challenging mountain hikes are awesome sauce, but are best researched beforehand and done with someone who has been before. Stick to the brilliant Mount Ngungun in the meantime!

Whites Hill Reserve offers easy scrubby bush walks with city glimpses and a good chance of seeing a koala. There's a variety of interlinking signposted trails through this eucalypt forest so, as with many of these walks, you can mix and match your walk according to your whims and fitness. The Whites Hill Circuit starts on the Tallowwood track, beginning amidst the Boundary Road playing fields, then onto the Whites Hill Circuit. This pram and wheelchair-friendly track leads up to the historically interesting summit (in the Edwardian era there used to be a party house with telescopes and entertainment up here). Sankey’s Mountain Summit track is a 2km/ 50min jaunt from the playing fields up along the Tallowwood and Acacia tracks. You can walk east and south around the playing fields on the Bloodwood Track to make a nice loop. This is a popular on-leash dog walking reserve and there’s a fenced dog park near the reservoir too. There's also a great exploration playground for kids at the sportsground if you need another incentive to get the rugrats out of the house. The Holland Park Hawks Football Club have their home ground here; there’s also a soccer field and touch football field. Go wild at more of the best playgrounds in Brisbane.

Bellbird Grove is part of the D'Aguilar National Park, 16 klicks west of the CBD. The Turrbal Circuit meanders 1.7km through a pretty eucalypt forest and along a quiet rocky creek. The circuit is named after the Turrbal tribe, the original custodians of this land, and this leisurely walk passes through dense vegetation and crosses Cedar Creek several times via little bridges and spillways. The track is mostly dirt and gravel but it’s shady and family friendly – we chuckled at several little kids getting wet exploring the rocky creek. You can easily extend your walk as the Golden Boulder trail connects with the Turrbal Circuit along the creek. History buffs will dig the 1.8km Golden Boulder track which passes the signposted remains of goldmines dating back to 1860 and a reconstructed miners' shanty hut. Bellbird Grove has good birdwatching opportunities as honeyeaters, whipbirds, cockatoos and even wedge-tailed eagles frequent the valley. We were astounded by the deafening cicadas along the Turrbal circuit – 85 decibels according to smart watch! There are great picnic grounds next to the carpark, with toilets, barbecues and plenty of space to run around.

Hidden in suburban Chermside, this charming forest has a mixture of bitumen and dirt tracks with some wooden boardwalks. Stroll along interlinking paths through groves of banksias, grass trees and acacias. There are several signposted trails up to 1.5km long taking you over hills, through forest or down to the creek. Wallabies and their little cousins, pademelons, live on the reserve along with more than 100 bird species. Apart from the ubiquitous cheeky scrub turkeys and kookaburras, we spotted a delicate-looking wallaby (woohoo!), and walked beneath the chittering flying fox colony on the creek. The main entrance has full amenities, a playground for kids and a 400m wheelchair accessible Senses Trail circuit with signs in Braille. The Downfall Creek Bushland Centre is here too (open Mon-Thu 9am-4pm). This is a great place to walk for kids of all ages, and if you stretch your legs you can easily link up with other parts of the Chermside Hills Reserves for more challenging walks up to 8km+. At the northern end of the reserve the wildlife corridor bridge over Hamilton Road is a novelty and an easy way to enter the adjacent Milne Hill Reserve and its scenic views over Brisbane.

This open eucalypt forest is a remnant of what Brisbane used to look like. There are sandstone boulders, grass trees, forested ridges, scrubby gullies and several views across Brisbane contrasting the prehistoric and modern worlds. Kookaburras are easy to spot, the keen-eyed may see koalas and echidnas, and it’s only 10km from the CBD. A variety of trails from 250m to 3.5km weave through this huge forest, smack bang in the middle of the southside. Many of the tracks are sealed and make for decent wheelchair/pram/bike routes. Other unsealed trails explore the rougher sections of this beautiful forest in Nathan and Mount Gravatt. Try the Sandstone Circuit for an easy 30 min walk with views to the west, or go for a 5km trip on the paved Toohey Ridge/Nathan Ridge track from Toohey Road to Nathan Campus and back.