Mount Superbus lies south-west of the centre of
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and is
South East Queensland
South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...
's highest peak at .
At this elevation, it is the fifth-highest peak in
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, after
Mount Bartle Frere
Mount Bartle Frere (pronunciation 坢忙蓴nt胎 藞b蓯藧删蓹色 藞f晒瑟蓹 Ngajanji: Choorechillum) is the highest mountain in Queensland at an elevation of . The mountain was named after Sir Henry Bartle Frere, 1st Baronet, Sir Henry Bartle Frere ...
at ,
Mount Bellenden Ker at , Mount Fisher at and
Mount Carbine Tableland at , all in
Far North Queensland
Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...
.
It has an extensive logging history dating back to the mid-19th century. Mount Superbus was originally covered in dense
hoop pine forests.
Red cedar and other valuable timbers were also heavily logged in the area. It is now part of the
Main Range National Park
The Main Range is a mountain range and national park in Queensland, Australia, located predominantly in Tregony, Queensland, Tregony, Southern Downs Region, southwest of Brisbane. It is part of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Au ...
.
The peak is a remnant of the Main Range
shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...
which erupted between 25 and 22 million years ago.
On the southernmost peak just below the summit lies the wreck of a RAAF Lincoln bomber.
It crashed into the mountain in the early hours of
Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: 驻址旨住职讞指讗 , ''paskha''; Greek: 蟺维蟽蠂伪, ''p谩skha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
Saturday morning on 9 April 1955, during a medical evacuation of a sick baby from
Townsville
The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
to Eagle Farm airfield in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
.
The crew of four
RAAF
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...
personnel and the two passengers were all killed in this accident.
Most of the wreckage still lies near the summit and is a popular day walk for
bushwalkers.
The
Condamine River
The Condamine River, part of the Balonne catchment that is part of the Murray-Darling Basin, drains the northern portion of the Darling Downs, an area of sub-coastal southern Queensland, Australia. The river is approximately 500 kilometres (3 ...
rises from a spring located on the western slopes of Mount Superbus. Teviot Brook, a major tributary of the
Logan River, has its headwaters on the eastern facing slopes of the mountain.
See also
*
Wilsons Peak
References
External links
AllTrails: Mount Superbus Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Superbus
Mountains of South East Queensland