Things to Do in the South Burnett
Wine, mountains, lakes, country towns and living history — the experiences that make Queensland’s quiet high country worth the drive.
The Best Things to Do in the South Burnett
The South Burnett is one of Queensland’s best-kept secrets — a wine region, an ancient mountain range, two big fishing lakes and a string of red-soil country towns, all within an easy drive of each other. Here are the experiences that define a visit, each with a guide that goes deeper.
Things to Do in the South Burnett
Nature, water, wine, country flavour and living history.
The Bunya Mountains
Ancient bunya pines, rainforest tracks from the door, grazing wallabies at dusk and the coolest air in the region at 1,100 m.
Explore the Bunyas → 🎣 WaterLakes & Dams
Boondooma and Bjelke-Petersen Dam are bass and yellowbelly water of statewide repute, with ramps, cabins and camps at the shore.
Explore the lakes → 🥜 Country townKingaroy
The peanut capital’s landmark silos, heritage cafes, the flavoured-batch Peanut Van and the town’s dark-sky observatory.
Explore Kingaroy → 🍷 WineCellar Doors
Moffatdale and Murgon pour verdelho, shiraz and more to visitors who still get the winemaker’s time — wine country without the crowds.
The cellar doors → 🔭 Dark skiesKingaroy Observatory
Some of the darkest accessible skies in the state’s south — Saturn’s rings, properly, through serious glass.
Stargazing → 🛖 HistoryCherbourg Ration Shed
A community-run museum that tells the Wakka Wakka story in its own voice — allow a full morning and arrive ready to listen.
Living history → 🚴 TrailSouth Burnett Rail Trail
Gentle rail-trail grades link Murgon, Wondai and Kingaroy through gallery main streets and past country bakeries.
The rail trail → 🥧 Food & farmFood & Farm
The Peanut Van, farm gates, bakeries and the produce of Queensland’s high-country pantry.
Food & farm → 🏛 HeritageBoondooma Homestead
An 1850s pastoral precinct in stone and slab beside Lake Boondooma — the Burnett’s frontier history preserved.
The homestead →A Classic South Burnett Day Out
- Morning drive from Brisbane via Blackbutt (bakery stop compulsory)
- Late morning: two or three Moffatdale / Murgon cellar doors
- Vineyard or country-pub lunch
- Afternoon: Kingaroy silos, Peanut Van and a heritage cafe
- Optional detour: a short Bunya Mountains walk, or the lakes
- Golden-hour drive home — or better, stay the night
Want more than a day? Our itineraries guide builds the weekend and slow-loop versions, and our guided tours handle the driving and the tastings for you.
Things to Do — Quick Answers
What are the top things to do in the South Burnett?
Taste your way around the Moffatdale and Murgon cellar doors, walk the ancient Bunya Mountains, fish the Boondooma and Bjelke-Petersen lakes, tour Kingaroy (peanut silos, observatory and the Peanut Van), and make time for Cherbourg’s Ration Shed Museum.
Is the South Burnett good for a day trip?
It can be — the classic day out pairs a couple of cellar doors with a Bunya Mountains walk or the Kingaroy sights. But at 2.5 hours from Brisbane, a weekend makes far more of it. See our day trips from Brisbane guide.
What is there to do with kids?
Plenty — the Bunya Mountains’ wallabies and walks, kayaking and fishing at the lakes, farm stays and animal feeding, and the Kingaroy Observatory’s night sky. See our South Burnett with kids guide.
Can you do wine tasting without driving?
Yes — a guided wine tour lets everyone taste freely while a local handles the wheel and the cellar-door bookings. See our wine tours.
How many days do you need to see the South Burnett?
A weekend covers the headline experiences; three to four days lets you add the lakes, the heritage towns and Cherbourg at a country pace. See our itineraries.
Queensland’s Quiet Wine Country, Sorted in One Call
Vineyard cottages, mountain chalets, the towns between and the tastings threaded through — planned from Brisbane by the family that’s toured Queensland since 1974.
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