Mount Archer National Park

Introduction

Charles and William Archer were the first European explorers to the Rockhampton area. Although of Scottish descent, the Archer brothers moved to Norway in 1825, and it was in honour of their adopted country that in 1853 they named the mountain range just north of Rockhampton after a Norse hero, Berserker. The highest peak in the Berserker Range is the 604-metre Mount Archer. Only gazetted in 1994, this national park protects open eucalypt forest and a remnant of dry rainforest in the Moores Creek valley. It is home to the unadorned rock-wallaby, northern brown bandicoot, the small grassland melomys, and reptiles such as skinks, common bluetongue lizards and yellow-faced whip snakes. The park’s nocturnal residents include brushtail possums and flying-foxes. Birdlife is abundant: glossy black-cockatoos, whiteheaded sittellas, lorikeets, honeyeaters and powerful owls are found in the eucalypt forest, while the little shrike-thrush, white-browed scrubwren, brown cuckoodove, wompoo fruit-dove, topknot pigeon and Australian brush-turkey favour the rainforest vegetation. Fraser Park is a day-use area at the summit of Mount Archer, and there are superb views from here, particularly at sunset. There are a number of bushwalks, many leading to lookouts; Fraser Park has a 500-metre wheelchair track to two lookouts. Zamia Walk (14 km one way, 4–5 hours) leads from the summit of Mount Archer to the park’s lower entrance, passing through many different types of vegetation. It is a good idea to arrange a pick-up at the lower exit at German Street, as retracing your steps involves a strenuous uphill climb.

Fact file

Camping

No camping

Location and access

9 km north-east of Rockhampton via Dean St, Frenchville Rd and Pilbeam Dr

Park Information

NQIS (07) 3227 8185 QPWS Parkhurst (07) 4936 0511

Size

4250 ha

Where to Stay

Rockhampton (07) 4922 5339

This content is from the publication:

Explore Australia’s National Parks

RRP $49.95

Buy now