Ewen Maddock Dam Main Track (Gympie Street North Entrance)

The Ewen Maddock Dam Main Track is a shared bush trail running along the dam's western edge through eucalypt forest and paperbark wetland. The Gympie Street North entrance gives Landsborough walkers a quiet southern access point, and the full run north to Maddock Park is around nine kilometres one way, though you can pick any distance out and back.

Leash status

This is a Seqwater recreation area with strict on-lead rules: dogs stay on a physical leash the entire time, with a maximum of two dogs per handler. Because the dam is a drinking-water catchment, dogs are strictly prohibited from entering the lake or the foreshore, so this is a walk, not a swim. Bring your own waste bags and use the bins provided, and stay on the designated track, which protects the local platypus and birdlife.

The walk

The surface is dirt with gentle undulations and occasional tree-root trip hazards, shared with mountain bikes and horses, so keep your dog close and give way to riders. Low sections turn muddy after rain. It suits a fit dog that is steady on lead around other trail users rather than a first-time lead walker.

Water and hazards

There are no taps or toilets at the Gympie Street North end, just a small gravel car park, so carry water for both of you and treat this end as a trailhead rather than a picnic stop. Toilets and picnic facilities sit at Maddock Park on the northern side. This is genuine bush country: snakes move through in the warmer months and the area carries paralysis ticks, so give your dog a thorough check afterwards, including ears, armpits and between the toes. Dam water can carry blue-green algae, which is one more reason to keep the dog out of it.

Max: do the tick check the moment you are back at the car, not at home. This stretch is known for paralysis ticks and they do not wait.

Getting there and when to go

Exit the Bruce Highway at Steve Irwin Way towards Landsborough and follow Gympie Street North to its end; Landsborough train station is a short drive away if you are coming up by rail. Early mornings in the cooler months are the best window, before heat and humidity build, and the trail is quietest on weekdays.

More walks nearby

If your dog needs an off-lead session after the on-lead walk, Pioneer Park Fenced Dog Park sits right in Landsborough and Mill Park covers Beerwah. Didi's Coffee Haus makes the post-walk stop in town, and Landsborough Holiday Park is the handy overnight base.

More routes are on the Queensland dog trails guide and the Landsborough destination page.