Famed for its annual folk festival, Woodford is a picturesque town in the Moreton Bay Region, north-west of Brisbane. Its wide streets are lined with charming old hotels and colonial-style buildings while it also boasts one of the largest collections of narrow gauge steam locomotives in Australia.

Things to do

Admire the outstanding collection of the Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society, which includes a Grovers Bogie Wagon and a tiny diesel locomotive known as Stan’s Steamer. On select Sundays, you can ride the Woodford Railway to Storey Brook and back, hauled by one of the society’s restored diesel or steam locomotives.

For outstanding views across the Moreton Bay Region, follow the well-signposted trail that leads past scribbly gums and through subtropical rainforest to the summit of Mount Mee. In addition to its walking trails and picnic areas, the Mount Mee Forest Reserve also encompasses the remains of a historic sawmill dating from the area’s logging years. The surrounding region is renowned for its rich, volcanic soil, which supports several coffee plantations and cheese-making dairies.

If you’re visiting Woodford during the hot, summer months, you can cool off with a dip in the natural swimming hole at Stony Creek, which lies on the border of Bellthorpe National Park. Kids will love splashing around beneath the small waterfalls while spotting fish and turtles and bushwalkers can hit one of the trails that wind through the surrounding bushland.

Getting around

Woodford is around an hour’s drive from Brisbane and Brisbane Airport or 25 minutes from the Caboolture railway station, which connects along the Caboolture and Sunshine Coast lines. The town centre is compact enough to explore on foot, although having your own car is best for accessing the surrounding attractions.