The Brisbane Valley rail trail extends 160km from Wulkuraka in Ipswich to Yarraman. A disused rail corridor repurposed thanks to the commitment and vision of a small group of people who managed to convince the state and local governments it was a worthy investment. They were right and the trail which was pretty rough has been subsequently gentrified in places to make it more accessible to a wider range of people. The towns along the way have prospered from the horde that come here to ride, eat and stay. The trail is still pretty wild in places, spectacularly magnificent, always an adventure. Its been a big win all round.
I’ve managed to travel its length over a number of rides and thought it worthwhile to collect them here. In November of 2022, I bought Harry the gravel bike experiment. In December I felt it a good idea to join the BVRT sunset ride down the range from Yarraman to Linville, about half that distance in the dark. I’d not been on the BVRT before at all so headed out to Moore for lunch ahead of the main event later that day to see what the fuss was all about.
Initially I found a smooth gravel trail. Subsequently the trail dived down deep gullies, and I wondered what I might have got myself into. Turns out I spent the evening journey utterly focused on staying upright in the dark which I managed successfully. I was hooked.
December 27, 2022, I rode with Tim to Toogoolawah from Moore and return. Only 60km, but insanely hot and led to an extended outage under the only tree for miles around. In March 2023 I returned to ride a brevet from Lowood to Esk and return, about 70km. I was unable to finish owing to the heat only 2km from Lowood and you can read about that here. I returned in 2024 and kicked its butt. In April 2024, Lowood to Toogoolawah completed the missing piece. In April 2023 I did ride from Wulkuraka to Lowood out and back from Fernvale as well. Below a gallery of images taken along the way.
42km, mostly downhill with the last 20 in the dark. Speeds approaching 30km/h in places which is way too fast for a novice like me on loose and uneven surfaces. Luckily the bike knew what to do and kept me upright. I will do this again but in daylight and with plenty of time to take a lot more shots on the trail where there is interesting stuff everywhere you look.
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
BVRT Esk to Lowood
The Linville Hotel opposite the former Linville railway station and where the BVRT passes through town. It is from here I later travel down the trail to Moore for a test drive of the new machine and later join a cast of many for the journey from the trailhead at Yarraman up on the range back town to Linville.
On the trail at Linville. The machine is a Cannondale Topstone 4, aluminium framed, Pirelli shod GRX powered beast of a thing. It is at this point way more capable than its pilot and a fun thing to propel.
The upper trailhead at Yarraman. It sits a little outside town for what may have seemed like a good reason when they first built it. I suspect they ran out of money to run it right into town.
Blackbutt is an old timber cutting town and the trail runs right through the middle of town. It would have been a really busy place back in the day.
Moore is to the south of Linville and was my first destination on the morning of the ride. It was on this section of track I discovered the deep dives down into the gullies where once there were bridges.
The trail heading east from Linville to Moore.
The Brisbane River through the trees.
This will be one of those descents I mentioned. I was told that some have been helicoptered out after getting them wrong.
The top where the bridge would have once been. Its a long way down.
Looking down into the abyss from the other side.
From the bottom, very pleasant.
Another view of the serenity at the bottom of the abyss.
A random bicycle up a tree for no particular reason.
The trail from Linville heading to Moore is very unassuming, pleasant even. But it becomes a lot more challenging a bit further down the road..
Relics at Linville.
Relics at Linville.
Relics at Linville.
Relics at Linville.
Post ride carnage following a collision with a steaming pile of cow manure which was efficiently distributed in every direction by the front wheel of the bike. Everything got a decent coating and it sticks very well indeed.