Motorcycle Rides from Brisbane

The climbs on the doorstep

Few cities have good mountain roads this close. D'Aguilar National Park begins 12 to 35 kilometres north-west of the Brisbane city centre, depending on which entrance you use, and the park's own description calls it a breathtaking escape from the city.

The two classic climbs are Mount Glorious and Mount Nebo, running west from the Samford and Ferny Grove side into rainforest and up onto the ridge. They are short, tight and shaded, and they are the reason Brisbane riders do not need a full day to get a good ride.

The park is large and walkable as well as rideable. Walkabout Creek Discovery Centre is its own gateway, and the park holds a series of known camping areas including Neurum Creek, Archer and a set of remote bush camps reached on foot or by 4WD.

If you would rather carry a family and a tent than a pannier, a campervan hired in Brisbane covers the same ranges at a slower pace, and the hinterland roads suit it.

• Mount Glorious: the steeper, tighter climb, heavily wooded and slick in summer storms.
• Mount Nebo: the longer version, with the ridge road continuing on towards the dam country.
• Walkabout Creek Discovery Centre: the park gateway on the city side.
• Clear Mountain and the Samford Valley: the link roads that make a loop of the two climbs.

The Scenic Rim

South-west of the city, the Scenic Rim is the other half of Brisbane riding: a ring of ranges and valleys running down towards the New South Wales border, with Tamborine Mountain, the Kerry Valley and the Boonah country inside it.

This is where the day rides become proper day rides. The roads are rural rather than mountainous for much of the distance, with ridges to climb and valleys to cross, and the towns are spaced for lunch rather than for fuel.

It also rains here in a way that matters. Subtropical summer storms arrive in the afternoon and turn a dry road into a greasy one in ten minutes, which changes how you plan the return leg through the ranges.

The Queensland coast north of here is described in planning a long motorcycle trip in Australia, which also covers the paperwork and range planning for the run to Cairns.

• Tamborine Mountain: the closest part of the rim to the city, and the busiest.
• The Kerry Valley and the Lost World country: quieter roads south of Beaudesert.
• Boonah and the Fassifern: the western edge, with the Main Range behind it.
• The Border Ranges road towards Kyogle: the long option, for a weekend rather than a day.

North and west

Not all of Brisbane's riding is south. The Sunshine Coast hinterland to the north, with the Blackall Range and the Glass House Mountains, is a different landscape again: green hills, dairy country and the volcanic plugs of the Glass House standing out of the plain.

West is the Brisbane Valley and the Wivenhoe country, where the roads are fast and open and the riding is about flow rather than corners. It is the useful option when the ranges are wet.

The two combine reasonably into a long day, though the distances add up faster than the map suggests once you are off the highway.

The Sunshine Coast hinterland is a separate climate band from the Scenic Rim: wetter, greener and cooler on the range tops, which is worth knowing when you are choosing between them on a given week.

• Glass House Mountains: volcanic plugs rising from the coastal plain north of the city.
• The Blackall Range: the Sunshine Coast hinterland, with the range road running along the top.
• Brisbane Valley and Wivenhoe: fast open roads west of the city, useful when the ranges are wet.
• The D'Aguilar Highway north: the link road that turns the northern loops into a full day.

Heat, storms and the riding year

Brisbane's riding year inverts the southern pattern. Winter is the good season: warm days, low humidity, dry roads and long light. Summer is the difficult one, with heat, humidity and afternoon storms that build over the ranges almost daily.

The storms are the practical issue rather than the heat. They arrive fast, drop a lot of water, and leave the shaded range roads slick for the rest of the afternoon. Planning the climbs for the morning and being off the ridge by early afternoon is the standard approach.

The other constraint is the wet season itself. Prolonged rain closes tracks in the parks and turns unsealed roads into something you would rather not ride, which is when the western valley roads come into their own.

The practical rule for a Brisbane summer is that the morning is the riding day and the afternoon is the storm season. Riders who plan around that get a good summer; riders who do not spend a lot of time sheltering under servo awnings.

• Winter: the best riding of the year, dry and mild.
• Spring: warm and dry, with the wildflower country starting.
• Summer: hot and humid, with afternoon storms over the ranges.
• Autumn: good, but the tail end of the wet can leave the range roads damp.

Before you leave

Brisbane's roads are close, which makes them easy to treat casually, and that is where riders get caught. The climbs are narrow, shaded and shared with cyclists, and the storms arrive without much warning.

The state guide covers the wider Queensland picture, and if you are riding north towards Cairns or the Tablelands it is worth reading before you commit to a route.

• Start early: the climbs are busiest from mid-morning and the storms build after lunch.
• Expect damp corners under rainforest canopy even on a dry day.
• Watch for cyclists on Mount Glorious and Mount Nebo; they are a constant presence.
• Check park alerts before planning a camping stop inside D'Aguilar National Park.

What is worth riding to