A working village on the Blackall Range, four hundred and thirty metres above the Sunshine Coast — dairy farming heritage from the 1880s, a cheese factory selling direct from the production floor, ten hectares of private botanic gardens with free-flight exotic birds next door, and the kind of co-op community feel that gave us the conservation campaign that saved Mary Cairncross Reserve from a dam in the 1980s. Cooee runs three packages: half-day Maple Street and cheese factory from the Sunshine Coast ($79pp), full-day Maleny plus Botanic Gardens, Bird World, and Mary Cairncross ($129pp), or full-day from Brisbane CBD with a complete hinterland circuit ($169pp). Operated under our Cooee Shopping thread in partnership with Sunshine Coast Bus Lines (SCBL).
Maleny was a dairy town before it was anything else. Selectors arrived on the Blackall Range from the late 1880s, cleared the rainforest for pasture, and built a co-operative economy around dairy that lasted a century. The cheese factory still operates today, selling direct from the production floor on Maple Street. The cattle still graze the hills around the village. And the village itself — population around fourteen hundred — retains a working community feel that Montville, ten minutes north, has shed.
Maleny is also where Queensland's environmental movement found its feet. In the 1980s, when the state government proposed flooding the valley west of Maleny to create the Baroon Pocket Dam, the local community organised a successful campaign to protect what is now the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve — 55 hectares of subtropical rainforest just south of the village. The reserve survives today as one of the most accessible pieces of cool-climate rainforest in south-east Queensland, with a 240-metre wheelchair-accessible boardwalk and a visitor centre that frames the Glass House Mountains panorama.
Cooee Tours' Maleny Day Tour comes in three flavours. The half-day from a Sunshine Coast pickup is built around Maple Street browsing (independent cafes, a bookshop, organic grocer, the cheese factory direct sales), with a stop at the Maleny Bowling Club Lookout for the Glass House Mountains panorama. The full-day from Sunshine Coast adds Maleny Botanic Gardens & Bird World (ten hectares of private gardens with a free-flight aviary) and Mary Cairncross Reserve. The full-day from Brisbane CBD extends to a complete hinterland day: Glass House Mountains lookout en route, Maleny as the focal village, Mary Cairncross, and a Montville coffee stop on the way back.
An honest framing. Maleny sits 50 minutes west of Mooloolaba and 90 minutes north of Brisbane via the Bruce Highway and the Landsborough-Maleny Road. Cooee Tours is Brisbane-based since 1974; our partner brand Sunshine Coast Bus Lines (SCBL) is based at Kunda Park — a 40-minute drive from Maleny. For this tour SCBL provides the coaches and drivers; Cooee designs the tour content, the guide commentary, and is your single point of contact for booking and customer service. Both brands operate to professional safety standards under Waggie Group governance. Family-owned. Maleny sits on Jinibara Country, with views from the village lookouts extending to Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) coastal country and the Glass House Mountains.
A working dairy factory on Maple Street selling cheese direct from the production floor. Famous for persian feta (small-batch, hand-crafted), triple cream brie, halloumi, ricotta, and yoghurt. Factory tour and tasting flights available (~$10-15pp).
Privately owned 10-hectare landscaped botanic gardens with sweeping Glass House Mountains views from the lookout. Paved paths suitable for most mobility levels. Entry ~$24-30 adult / $18 child.
Adjacent to the Botanic Gardens — free-flight tropical bird aviary featuring macaws, parrots, lorikeets, finches, and cockatoos. You can walk among the birds inside the netted enclosure. A favourite with children. Bundled with Botanic Gardens entry.
55-hectare subtropical rainforest reserve, 5 minutes south of Maleny. Wheelchair-accessible 240-metre boardwalk through old-growth canopy, with a visitor centre lookout to the Glass House Mountains. Saved from dam flooding by the Maleny community in the 1980s.
Independent cafes, a co-op organic grocer, second-hand bookshop, the Maleny Wholefoods grocer, dairy products, hinterland honey, fresh produce direct from local farms. The whole street still feels owned by the people who live there.
An alternative panoramic Glass House Mountains lookout point at the Maleny Bowling Club, free to visit. Less crowded than Mary Cairncross. Good light for photographs late afternoon. Mt Beerwah, Mt Tibrogargan, and Mt Coonowrin all visible.
Three packages, three timelines. Pick the one that suits your base and your pace — focused village half-day from the Sunshine Coast, Botanic-Gardens-and-rainforest-extended full day from the Sunshine Coast, or complete hinterland circuit from Brisbane CBD.
All packages available daily (subject to coach availability). Max 12 guests per coach. Child pricing applies for ages 3-15; under 3 free on a parent's lap. Family discounts available — email for a quote.
Private group tours and corporate bookings available — email for tailored quote. 13-49 seater coach options. Custom hinterland itineraries combining Maleny with Eumundi Markets (Wed/Sat), winery visits, or special-occasion dining available on request.
A few of the businesses our guides quietly recommend on Maleny's Maple Street — fresh as of 2026, subject to changes. Bring cash AND card; most take both but a few smaller stalls are cash-only.
The working factory sells direct from the production floor. Try the persian feta (small-batch, hand-crafted in 200g pots), triple cream brie, halloumi (grills beautifully), ricotta, and the yoghurt. The tasting flight (~$10-15pp) walks you through five-to-seven varieties with the factory production view.
Co-operative organic grocer running since the 1980s — local hinterland honey, sourdough, vegetables direct from local farms, bulk wholefoods, native ingredients. Possibly the best place in south-east Queensland to source small-producer pantry items.
A genuine independent bookstore on Maple Street with strong Australian and environmental sections, hand-curated by the owner-operators. Plus a second-hand bookshop two doors up — both worth twenty minutes of browsing. A rarity in the age of Big Online.
Several independently-owned cafes on Maple Street and the side streets. Up Front Club is a Maleny institution (local musos, decent coffee). The Maleny Hotel pub does honest counter meals. Most cafes use Maleny Cheese in their menus — local-loop dining.
"Half-day Maleny was exactly the right pace for a Sunday morning — coffee at Up Front Club, Maleny Cheese tasting flight (the persian feta is exceptional), browse of Maleny Wholefoods, lookout for photos. Came home with cheese, honey, sourdough, and a feeling we'd actually visited somewhere."
"Took the kids on the full-day Botanic Gardens combo — Bird World was a hit (you can stand inside the aviary with cockatoos landing on your shoulder), the gardens were stunning, and Mary Cairncross rainforest in the afternoon was magical. Eight hours, four genuine highlights, all bundled into one day. Worth every cent."
"Brisbane-based and did the full-day Maleny package as a wedding anniversary day-trip. Pickup at 7, Glass House Mountains at 8:45, Maleny by 10. The cheese factory was the surprise highlight — proper working dairy, not a tourist gimmick. Mary Cairncross was the second highlight. Montville on the way back was the bonus."
Our fortnightly Cooee Local column publishes insider tips on Maleny — new cheese batches, what's flowering at the Botanic Gardens, hidden hinterland walking trails, seasonal events, Maple Street openings, and the smaller stories worth catching. Written by our Sunshine Coast guides, for travellers who want the inside line.
Read Cooee Local →The 1980s community campaign that turned a dam proposal into a 55-hectare protected rainforest reserve — and how the activist spirit still shapes Maleny today.
Read article →Maleny (population ~1,400) sits at the southern end of the Blackall Range — a 50-kilometre subtropical rainforest ridge running parallel to the Sunshine Coast. The village was settled from the 1880s onwards, primarily as a dairy farming community, and the dairy heritage remains visible today in the cheese factory, the surrounding pasture, and the seasonal rhythm of the place. Population growth has been gradual: enough for a working economy, not enough to lose the village's character.
Maleny anchors the southern hinterland circuit: Maleny itself (working village + cheese + Botanic Gardens), Mary Cairncross Reserve (5 min south, 55ha rainforest), Montville (10 min north, heritage village), and Kondalilla Falls (15 min north, 90m waterfall). The Glass House Mountains rise on the horizon to the south, with Mt Beerwah and Mt Tibrogargan dominant. The whole range falls within Jinibara Country, with views extending to Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) coastal country.
Acknowledgement of Country. Cooee Tours acknowledges the Jinibara people as the traditional custodians of the Blackall Range hinterland and the Glass House Mountains region, and the Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) people of the neighbouring coastal country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and acknowledge their continuing connection to country, waters, and culture. We acknowledge the Tibrogargan Dreaming as a living cultural narrative held by the Jinibara and reference it with respect.
