After morning tea at the pleasant park beside the Visitor Information Centre we had a chat to the people in the centre. We were advised not to hike the rail trail as they said it was overgrown and not well maintained. Luckily we decided to climb the hill behind the park to check out the beginning of the trail. It looked fine to us, so we decided to tackle it as far as was possible. It turned out to be a fabulous track, well maintained, easy to follow and providing some gorgeous views along the way.
The Fassifern Rail Trail follows the disused railway line on the outskirts of Boonah. The former rail line was known as the Dugandan railway line and linked Boonah to Ipswich about 50km to the north. This railway was reported to be the first branch line in Queensland and the first section (to Harrisville opened in 1882 and reached Dugandan in 1887. The line was closed in 1964. Evidence of the railway between Boonah and Ipswich can be seen in various locations along the former route especially in the villages such as Harrisville and Peak Crossing.
On completing the rail trail loop, we drove a short distance to the Dugandan Pub on the outskirts of the town and enjoyed a cold beer with our picnic lunch in the beer garden. After lunch we followed a path around Dugandan Park and the nearby dams to add to our kilometre count for the day. A very pleasant 10 kilometres in all. We will definitely be back to do some more walks in this area. |