Mount Beerburrum Bat Caves

Mount Beerburrum is part of the Glass House Mountains National Park, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia, an hour north of Brisbane. These striking formations are old volcanic plugs that are left standing higher when other rock material around them has eroded over millions of years. But I'm here because Google Maps tells me that there's a "Bat Cave" on the side of the mountain.

Sadly, I did not find it. Or put more accurately, I chickened out to explore it. There's a trail that leads to the top of the mountain, which I took. Roughly half-way up the trail crosses maybe 50-100 meters from the presumed Bat Cave. However, the forest, the bushes, the undergrowth, and the leaves cover were all extremely thick. I was scared of Australia's wonderful but dangerous snakes and other biting things. I would have had to clear my way through the bushes, knee deep in what I wouldn't have been able to see.

What a wimp :-( In retrospect, I should have gone for it, maybe tramping my feet to scare off any animals. But it was also hard going terrain, not just thick but also steep. Oh well. 

There was very little information in the Internet about the caves by the way, just one Google Maps entry. Nothing else. Also, none of the locals I met on the way knew anything about a cave. I would have been happier if I saw even the smallest resemblance of a path to the cave, but it was like no one had ventured from the official path in that direction.

Back to the Glass House Mountains. They are so named because they looked like glass houses to James Cook on his expedition :-) The mountains are also significant for the First Nation Peoples, who gathered in the area for ceremonies and trade.  

The mountain top and the observation tower is in coordinates S 26.955749 E 152.949054. A parking lot for the tour is not where Google will tell you (because the old, upper parking lot has been closed off) but instead you can find it from here. There are many hikes in the around, of varying length. The hike to the top is strenuous, steep but only lasts 1.5 hours return included, and runs for a large part on good quality concrete pavement. But it is indeed steep.

For more information, see here, here, and here.

Views from the top, including some of the nearby other Glass House Mountains:

A plant in front of the mountain:

Observation tower at the top:

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2024 by Jari Arkko, map picture is a snapshot from Google Maps. All rights reserved.