Paddling in Mooloolah River National Park

Mooloolah River National Park sits on the Sunshine Coast of southeast Queensland, about an hour and fifteen minutes north of Brisbane, behind Kawana Waters.

The park protects coastal lowland habitat — mangrove edges, heath plains, sedgelands, and patches of rainforest — and the water that runs through it is flatwater, tidal, and slow. This is canoe and kayak country, not whitewater.

The Mooloolah River is the paddling anchor here. A 6 km section of the river adjoins the national park, and the character of the water shifts as you move upstream.

From the boat ramp at Outrigger Park, off Brisbane Road (accessed southbound from Mooloolaba), paddlers head west under the Brisbane Road and Sunshine Motorway bridges before reaching the park boundary.

The banks are muddy mangrove, the water is tidal and calm, and the river opens into heath plains and sedgelands as the park takes over.

The upper reaches, in the Jowarra section of the park, narrow into rainforest — piccabeen palm groves, melaleuca swamp, fig trees — where the river is home to platypus, most reliably spotted at dawn or dusk by quiet paddlers.

The launch at Outrigger Park is suitable for canoes, kayaks, and small boats.

Sunshine Coast Council has also been developing an all-abilities pontoon at Charles Clarke Park to improve non-motorised craft access to the river trail, so it's worth checking current access points before you go.

Mosquitoes are a genuine consideration along this stretch, particularly in the rainforest sections — bring repellent. The park holds no whitewater, no significant gradient, and no technical features.

What it holds is a working tidal estuary transitioning into sheltered coastal rainforest, and the kind of quiet that rewards paddlers who move slowly and pay attention.