Located in the south-west corner of Queensland along the border of Queensland and New South Wales, you’ll find the Granite Belt, and the picturesque rural town of Stanthorpe.
To find a town that’s ripe for a weekend’s worth of discovery, point your bonnet three hours south west of Brisbane or two hours from Toowoomba to discover a town
You’ll need to plan your apple adventure to make sure you have time to experience all the fun things in and around Stanthorpe.
Enjoy the Balancing Rock at Girraween National Park
If you didn’t visit Girraween National Park, it is definitely worth a trip out to the picturesque town of Stanthorpe.
If you’re in the area, visit Balancing Rock and you may just believe Newton’s law of gravity is being tested by Mother Nature.
There’s more than 30km of tracks to explore within Girraween National Park, but if you want a photo with the main attraction, take The Pyramid walk up to the top.
Spring is a great time to visit Australia’s Granite Belt. You’ll see why ‘Girraween’ means ‘a place of flowers’.
Take a ride through the vineyards
You don’t have to save cycling tours for your next adventure—join Granite Belt Bicycle Tours for the only bicycle tour through Queensland’s premier wine region.
This ride will give you the opportunity to pedal the bicycle between Stanthorpe’s wineries using only peddle power.
You’ll discover the beauty of Stanthorpe on two wheels. You’ll get to see the wineries, gourmet produce and fruit orchards up close, so you won’t miss out on a thing.
Experience the culture and the landscape as they change slowly throughout the three different tours available, including a 2-day, 5-night, and 6-night adventure, which gives you the time to truly appreciate the region’s unique culture and landscape.
Enjoy some wine time
If you love wine and are looking for something fun to do this summer, the Strange Bird Wine Trail is a great option. This self-guided tour will take you through the Granite Belt’s more unusual varieties of wine.
Don’t expect to find a bottle of Shiraz, Chardonnay or Merlot here – instead you’ll find grape varietals like tannat, petit verdot, gewurztraminer and durifs.
To get on the Strange Birds Wine Trail isn’t as easy as planting a bunch of grapes and bottling it.
Alternative is a term that is often used for wine, especially red wine, that is grown using different farming techniques and with less conventional grapes than normal wine grapes.
Mountain Bike up Mt Marlay
Mt Marlay is a mountain that stands 910m above sea level,, offering some amazing views from the top, and offers the perfect trails for mountaion bike fans.
With four graded trails winding their way up the mountain, there are trails for beginners, intermediate, and advanced riders.
Unlike other trails in the south-east corner, these trails are made of granite instead of sand or grass, so they’re suitable for after heavy rain.
When you’ve finished these rides, don’t forget to visit Passchendaele State Forest and Broadwater State Forest too. Both offer a variety of riding trails to try out.
Take the kids to the Christmas Farm all year round
There are plenty of ways to keep the Christmas spirit all year round
Stanthorpe is known for its Christmas tree farm, where visitors can experience the magic of 25 December.
The beauty of the tree farm brings out your five senses: the smell of pine, the crunch of pine needles underfoot, and the feeling of being in a beautiful forest.
The team prunes the trees all year long, so they’re ready for Christmas.
Make sure you time your visit for the right time of year – the kids will be out gathering the seeds for their Christmas trees.
Whether you come during the Christmas or holiday season, or you come any other time of the year, you’ll have the opportunity to feed Santa’s reindeer!
Find your way through the Granite Belt Maze
It doesn’t matter how busy your day gets, whether you have kids, or a kid in school, there will always be time for outdoor family fun. Kids need to grow up playing outside and developing important skills such as problem solving, teamwork, and decision making.
Enter the Granite Belt Maze, one of Australia’s highest mazes, at over 900m above sea level.
What sets this maze apart from other kinds is that it’s made entirely of timber, so you can watch the little ones all the time, without the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped inside a giant hedge.
This is a challenge, so we want your brain to be challenged. In addition, you’ll get a series of puzzles and riddles to put your brain to the test.
After the maze, your afternoon is sorted with a game of giant chess or putt-putt mini golf onsite. You may wish to return to your nearby accommodation for the night.
Say cheese
In terms of cheese quality, flavor, and aroma, there’s no cheese that can compete with the Stanthorpe Cheese.
They’ve been perfecting their cheeses for over a decade from their lofty Stanthorpe heights.
If you’re ever in the area, you absolutely must pay a visit, and with 12 varieties of local cheese to choose from, it’s sure to satisfy every cheese-lover!
The tasting room is open daily, but if you visit at lunchtime, head for the Jersey Girls Café, where you can tuck into a ploughman’s lunch with cheese, crackers, relishes, eggs and cured meat, all washed down with a local wine.
For mopre things to discover when you visit Stanthorpe, just ask your host at Dimaondvale Cottages and they will be happy to point you in the right direction!