Minerva Hills National Park

Protected area in Queensland, Australia

24°04′50″S 148°03′51″E / 24.08056°S 148.06417°E / -24.08056; 148.06417Established1994Area27.90 km² (10.77 sq mi)Managing authoritiesQueensland Parks and Wildlife ServiceWebsiteMinerva Hills National ParkSee alsoProtected areas of Queensland

Minerva Hills is a national park in Central Queensland, Australia, 626 km northwest of Brisbane. Lookouts within the national park overlook the town of Springsure. The park features a rugged landscape with volcanic peaks, sheltered gorges, sheer cliffs, open woodlands and dry rainforest.^[1]

The park lies within the water catchment areas of the Comet and Nogoa rivers and within the Brigalow Belt bioregion.^[2]

There are four lookouts and a picnic area for visitors. Camping is not allowed in the park.^[1]

Geology

The Minerva Hills National Park sits on the Oligocene Minerva Hills Volcanics. These volcanics have been broadly divided into a basal series of mafic lavas (some 70 m thick) overlain by a series of intercalated mafic volcanics, felsic volcanics ranging from trachyte to rhyolite and trachytic pyroclastics. The pyroclastics are related to plugs and domes. The lower sequence has been dated at approximately 33 -34 Ma (million years) and the upper sequence 28.5–27.5 Ma.^[3]^[4]

The Minerva Hills Volcanics is a remnant of Oligocene hot spot volcanism known as the Cosgrove Hot Spot. This hot spot forms the longest continental hot spot track on earth.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "About Minerva Hills". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
^ "Minerva Hills National Park". WetlandInfo. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
^ Ewart, A. (10 November 1981). "The mineralogy and chemistry of the anorogenic tertiary silicic volcanics of S.E. Queensland and N.E. New South Wales, Australia". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 86 (B11): 10242–10256. doi:10.1029/JB086iB11p10242. ISSN 2156-2202.
^ "Macrostrat". macrostrat.org. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
^ Hansma, Jeroen; Tohver, Eric (13 June 2019). "Paleomagnetism of Oligocene Hot Spot Volcanics in Central Queensland, Australia". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 124 (7): 6280–6296. doi:10.1029/2019JB017639. S2CID 197566315.

Central Queensland, Queensland

Cities:

Emerald
Gladstone
Rockhampton

Townships:

Local Government Areas:

National Parks:

Places of Interest:

v t e National parks of Queensland
Central	Baga Blackdown Tableland Bulburin Byfield Capricorn Coast Capricornia Cays Carnarvon Castle Tower Curtis Island Deepwater Epping Forest Eurimbula Expedition Goodedulla Humboldt Isla Gorge Junee Keppel Bay Islands Kroombit Tops Littabella Mazeppa Minerva Hills Mount Archer Mount Colosseum Mount Etna Caves Mount O'Connell Mount Walsh Nuga Nuga Palmgrove Peak Range Precipice Rundle Range Snake Range Taunton Warro West Hill Wild Cattle Island
Darling Downs	Bendidee Bunya Mountains Crows Nest Erringibba Girraween Main Range Mount Binga Pidna Southwood Sundown The Palms Wondul Range
Far North	Alwal Annan River Apudthama Barnard Island Group Barron Gorge Basilisk Range Blackbraes Bulleringa Cape Melville Chillagoe-Mungana Claremont Isles Clump Mountain Crater Lakes Daintree Danbulla Davies Creek Dinden Djiru Ella Bay Endeavour River Eubenangee Swamp Family Islands Fitzroy Island Flinders Group Frankland Group Forty Mile Scrub Great Basalt Wall Green Island Grey Peaks Girramay Girringun Goold Island Hann Tableland Hasties Swamp Herberton Range Hinchinbrook Island Hope Islands Howick Group Hull River Japoon Kalkajaka Kirrama Kuranda Kurrimine Beach Kutini-Payamu Lama Lama Little Mulgrave Lizard Island Ma’alpiku Island Macalister Range Malaan Maria Creek Marpa Michaelmas and Upolu Cays Millstream Falls Mitchell-Alice Rivers Mitirinchi Island Moresby Range Mount Cook Mount Hypipamee Mount Lewis Mount Spurgeon Mount Webb Mount Windsor Mowbray Ngalba Bulal Nymph Island Oyala Thumotang Palmerston Rocks Piper Islands Possession Island Raine Island Rinyirru Rocky Islets Russell River Sandbanks Saunders Islands Sir Charles Hardy Group Staaten River Starcke Three Islands Topaz Road Tully Gorge Turtle Group Two Islands Undara Volcanic Wooroonooran Wuthara Island Yamarrinh Wachangan Islands Yungaburra
North	Blackwood Brook Islands Bowling Green Bay Brampton Islands Broad Sound Islands Cape Hillsborough Cape Palmerston Cape Upstart Conway Dipperu Dryander Eungella Gloucester Island Halifax Bay Wetlands Holbourne Island Homevale Lindeman Islands Magnetic Island Molle Islands Moorrinya Mount Aberdeen Mount Martin Mount Ossa Newry Islands Northumberland Islands Orpheus Island Paluma Range Pioneer Peaks Reliance Creek Repulse Island Round Top Island Smith Islands South Cumberland Islands South Island Swain Reefs Whitsunday Islands
South West	Alton Chesterton Range Culgoa Floodplain Currawinya Diamantina Hell Hole Gorge Idalia Lake Bindegolly Mariala Narkoola Thrushton Tregole
North West	Boodjamulla Camooweal Caves Porcupine Gorge White Mountains
Central West	Astrebla Downs Bladensburg Cudmore Diamantina Forest Den Goneaway Lochern Munga-Thirri Narrien Range Welford
Wide Bay-Burnett	Auburn River Beeron Beninbi Burrum Coast Cania Gorge Coalstoun Lakes Fairlies Knob Goodnight Scrub Goomboorian Great Sandy Grongah Mount Bauple Pipeclay Poona Tarong Woocoo Woondum Woowoonga
Brisbane and Surrounds	Bellthorpe Bribie Island Burleigh Head Conondale D'Aguilar Deer Reserve Dularcha Esk Eudlo Creek Ferntree Creek Fort Lytton Freshwater Gatton Glass House Mountains Kondalilla Lamington Lockyer Mapleton Falls Mooloolah River Moogerah Peaks Gheebulum Kunungai Mount Barney Mount Chinghee Mount Coolum Mount Pinbarren Naree Budjong Djara Nicoll Scrub Noosa Nerang Ravensbourne Sarabah Southern Moreton Bay Islands St Helena Island Springbrook Tamborine Teerk Roo Ra Tewantin Triunia Tuchekoi Venman Bushland West Cooroy Wickham
Former national parks	Blue Lake
Protected areas of Queensland