Whites Hill Reserve

Whites Hill Reserve covers 170 hectares of eucalypt bushland at Carina Heights, roughly seven kilometres south-east of the Brisbane CBD. It is one of the few places in the city where you can walk a leashed dog through real koala habitat and then let them run in a fenced dog park without moving the car. Brisbane City Council maps ten named tracks across the reserve, so you build the day you want rather than following one set route.

At the easy end sit the Whites Hill Circuit at 1.3km, the Brushbox Track at 1km, the Sheoak Track at 1.4km and the Tallowwood Track at 1.5km, the last of which is built for wheelchair access. Step up to moderate and you get the Moore Hill Track at 2.1km, the Acacia Track at 1.6km, the Shirleyana Track at 1.2km, the Bloodwood Track at 2km and Sankeys Track at 2.5km. Sankey's Mountain Summit Track climbs 1.3km to the city view. Most walkers stitch several together, and the popular Bloodwood, Sheoak, Shirleyana and Brushbox circuit logs about 3.2km in under an hour. Surfaces are dirt and gravel with real gradient on the summit climbs.

Leash status

The wording from Brisbane City Council is plain: leashed dogs are allowed at Whites Hill Reserve, and if you want your dog off the leash you visit the dog park on the south-west corner of the reserve, off Boundary Road. That is the whole distinction. Every bush track across the 170 hectares is lead-only, and the fenced dog park is the single place the lead comes off. The rule is not box-ticking here. Koalas live in this bushland, along with powerful owls, short-beaked echidnas and sacred kingfishers, and a loose dog in koala country is the reason the rule exists.

Water and hazards

There is no creek or dam to swim in, so carry water for both of you: the eucalypt canopy gives filtered shade rather than proper cover and the ridge tracks sit in the sun. Council has flagged that tracks were hit by rainfall and overland flow during ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, and large washouts, ruts and uneven surfaces may still be present, so check the track map before committing to a long loop and pick the easy grades after heavy rain. Bikes are restricted to the 1.3km Boundary Road Bikeway, so the bush tracks should be quiet, but walk the blind corners on the summit climbs assuming someone is coming the other way.

Getting there and parking

The main entry is 258 Boundary Road, Camp Hill, with parking along the ring road around the playing fields and more near the playground. Those car parks fill on weekend mornings when junior sport is running. Buses serve Boundary Road and Cavendish Road, but you walk in from the suburban stops.

When to go

Early morning before 8am, or late afternoon after 4:30pm, and treat that as firm from November to March when the ridge tracks hold heat. Weekend mornings bring junior sport, so the car parks go first and the trails second. Winter is the season to walk the full network in one hit. Good for big runners who need distance and a fenced run at the end.

Close by with the dogs

Sankeys Lookout sits at the top end of the same bushland. For coffee afterwards, Cafe & Bar on Whites Hill is inside the reserve near the sporting grounds, and Camp Hill Dog Park and Joe Bradfield Centre Park are close by if the main dog park is packed.

Max: The summit in the first hour, the dog park as the dessert. Koala country earns its leash rules, and the payoff is wildlife you actually see.

More routes are on the Queensland trails guide, and everything dog-friendly around the suburb sits on the Carina Heights destination page.