Day 2
Leaving Inglewood, we went to the east end of town and turned left (north) onto Millmerran-Inglewood Road. The first part of the day is a little mundane for 35 to 40 minutes as you ride north in what is essentially a main road through the dry Bringalily State Forest and the odd open plain. Eventually you will reach Kooroongarra Road where you turn right.
Kooroongarra Road is generally hard packed dirt with a pothole here and there. The countryside starts to get a little more interesting here as the area is quite undulating.
The tiny village of Kooroongarra has a couple of historic old buildings but nothing else to speak of – worth stopping for a photo though. Turn right out of town onto Stonehenge Road - a great road but again, keep an eye out for roos.
Stonehenge is disappointingly just a locality with no attractions except for a great road running through it for adventure tourers. There is an old gold mine on the left that may interest some, but put simply … there is nothing to see in the locality of Stonehenge so keep enjoying your ride. Stonehenge Road becomes bitumen a few kilometres short of Leyburn.
Leyburn is a neat little town with a pub, a motel and a general store. It also boasts a really nice free camp area at the northern end of town near the general store. Continuing north out of town past Liberator Park, take a right onto Leyburn-Cunningham Road. At Old Talgai, this road becomes Ryeford-Pratten Road.
Eventually you will meet up with Clifton-Leyburn Road and turn right. Continue all the way past the small airfield on your right and into Clifton where you can top up with fuel. Gatton-Clifton Road will take you out to the New England Hwy where you turn left and ride north for about 1 km then turn right to continue, following Gatton Clifton Road.
Continue past Darling Downs Zoo and Pilton until West Haldon where you turn right onto Lagoon Creek Road. Lagoon Creek Road winds through a very nice, relatively narrow valley, before it eventually becomes West Haldon Road and gets very scenic. The views on the eastern side of the range are of Black Duck Valley and down almost to Gatton in the north.
Winding down to the floor of the valley, you head north on Mount Sylvia Road through farmland that never changes from a deep emerald green. Turning right at Ropeley Rockside Road you are pretty much on the home stretch. As you begin to climb yet again, the road becomes Mantueffel Road and after a couple of twists and turns, you will find yourself at the top of a hill well worth stopping on. The views back to the northwest across the Lockyer Valley are fantastic. Continue on Mantueffel Road until Woodlands Road and turn right.
Woodlands Road will eventually meet Martin Road. Turn right and then left into Sippel Road. Nearing the end of Sippel Road, you will have views over Laidley before descending down to Blenheim Road and turning left. Blenheim Road will meet Mulgowie Road that takes you past the southern end of Laidley. Continue on Laidley-Rosewood Road to Rosewood where you can choose which way you wish to approach Brisbane. I’ve ended the ride in Yamanto, but I’m sure you can take it from here.
Click here for Route Map.