Cooloola Great Walk Day 3 Litoria to Dutgee Walkers Camps

The Cooloola Great Walk links Rainbow Beach to Noosa North Shore via the eastern high dunes known as the Cooloola sandmass. This one of the largest accumulations of wind-blown sand found along the Queensland coast that has been built up during the last 500,000 years. It conserves unique dune, lake and vegetation systems. This 61,750 hectare section of the Great Sandy National Park is one of the best conserved landscapes of its kind in eastern Australia.This version describes the hike going from North to South. North to south is a better route because the sun tends to fall on your back during the course of the walk.

This is the easiest day of the 5 days of the Cooloola great walk but has the steeper climb if you are doing it the other way. At the start of the day there is a commercial flight climb up before you reach a Ridgeline with dense wattle and blackbutt on both sides of the track which most of time block the view.

From time to time you will cone across sections where you were great great views across to the coastal wetlands of the Noosa River and the mountains behind. After the initial ascent the track will then descend into a valley and then on the other side climb back up again to another ridge with similar vegetation.

Towards the end of this ridge you will see after coming around a corner Ramsay’s Hut, an old timber cutter’s hut and a relic of Cooloola’s past timber industry. The hut was abandoned before the area was declared a national park in 1975.

After the Hut the track descends steeply towards the Noosa River and the heath plains. As you approach the marshy area that leads to the river the track can become very muddy and slippery. During rainy periods this area can be difficult to cross. As you pass you should see the giant sand patch over to the left which is the feature of a future or previous day's walk.

Eventually you will come to a track junction which will lead to the campsite. A little further on on the left you will come to the toilets and a good walk on to the Noosa River itself where is the communal area of the campsite. Dutgee is the local Aboriginal name for the Boronia flower. These flowers are commonly found in swampy areas like the area around Noosa River. The campsites here are very private and a unique experience in itself. The campsites are set amongst the open woodland of brush box, pink bloodwoods and coastal banksia.

You can swim on the river although sometimes it's a bit challenging to get out of the river as the bank can be steep at times. The tannin-stained waters of the river provide an interesting backdrop at dawn or dusk.