Hiking in the Whitsunday region through Conway circuit offers more dense green rainforest than white sand beaches. Previously called the Whitsundays Great Walk, Conway circuit is a green tunnel through one of Australia’s most well-known regions.
Hidden behind Airlie Beach, Conway circuit is located in Conway National Park. The 27.1 km trail is meant to be a three day hiking journey through the park, but can be done in less time.
Although the term ‘circuit’ should be used loosely as this is a one-way hike. Plan to be picked up at one end or arrange a ride back to your vehicle.
After doing the hike in two days I’m sharing everything to know about Conway circuit. This includes getting there, about Conway circuit, what to expect and more.
Attempting an overnight hike? Check out my overnight hike packing list to stock up on everything you may need.
Table of Contents
Getting There
Conway circuit is a one-way trail accessed by two different points. One is in Airlie Beach, just a few kilometres from the town center and the second is in Conway National Park.
Focusing first on the Airlie Beach end of the trail, the address to reach this point of the trail is 15 Kara Cres, Airlie Beach, Queensland, 4802. The entrance to the track isn’t the easiest to find, and parking is a pain.
For those doing the overnight hike, park somewhere else, as close the trail head, parking is permit-only for residents. If you head down the road a bit there is free parking around, such as on Lamond Street. Just remember to park legally so your car doesn’t have tickets waiting for you upon finishing the hike.
It’s unclear where the trailhead is, aside from a sign stating ‘Private Property – hikers access only’ which looks like a driveway. Fear not, the trail begins just a few metres after this, up a set of stairs. Another popular day hike is the Honeyeater Lookout Trail, which starts from the same trail head. This lookout can be part of Conway Circuit, but the track diverges off to it.
The other end of Conway circuit is on Foresty Road, in Brandy Creek, click this link for the Google Maps point. This point of the trail head is in Conway National Park and not close to a main road at all. There’s plenty of parking at this site and it has Telstra mobile reception.
If you don’t have a pick-up from this trail, it’s best to end up in Airlie Beach where there’s taxis and other means of transportation. It may be more difficult to get a ride from the national park, especially if your cellphone dies or you’re without reception. The next section of this article contains more important information about hiking Conway circuit.
About Conway Circuit
There’s a lot more to Conway circuit than the few lookouts along the trail. No, really, there’s only two lookouts along the main circuit trail, and only one is fully unobstructed. The rest of the trail is a bit of a green tunnel through the dense rainforest.
What I mean by this, is don’t do this trail just for the lookouts. If that’s what you want, then skip the multi-day hike and just do Honeyeater Lookout. Look at Conway circuit as more of a relaxing walk, or escape from the busy Airlie Beach.
Below I’m sharing some of the main helpful hints about Conway circuit. This includes everything from wildlife, to how many days are best for the hike.
For a map of Conway Circuit including track profile, campsites, and water tank locations click here.
Wildlife
There are heaps of wildlife on this trail, including snakes, spiders and pigs. Reptiles of all sorts hang out close to, or on the track because it’s usually an area where the sun shines onto. They can stay warm there, opposed to the dense, shaded rainforest. For snakes, I mainly saw red-bellied blacks, and trees snakes. There’s also wild pigs, if you don’t see them, you’ll see the holes they dig along the trail.
There’s also plenty of spiders, but the largest I found were golden orbs, often with their webs in the middle of the track. There’s also plenty of goannas. Most wildlife will retreat as hikers approach, but it’s still important to be careful and watch for them. Some can be more aggressive than others.
If the snakes are being stubborn and not moving, try stomping from a distance, as they can feel the vibration on the ground. Running the trail isn’t so easy as the reptiles have less time to respond and move.
Days to enjoy
The Queensland National Parks journey guide recommends doing the hike in three days, so two nights sleeping along the trail and three days hiking. The best amount of time to do the trail completely depends on your schedule. I did it in two days and one night camping, which had its ups and downs—both literally and not.
The trail being 27.1 km, both campsites are eight kilometres into either end of the trail. This means if you are planning to do the three-day version of this hike, there should be plenty of extra time from only doing eight kilometres on both the first and last day of the journey.
Doing it in two days, isn’t bad, but it can be repetitive with the green tunnel feeling on the longer day. If the plan is to do in in two days, I recommended starting from Forestry Road and finishing in Airlie Beach. The Repulse Creek Campground is much better than Bloodwood, but I’ll explain more of that in the campgrounds section below.
Another downside of doing the trail in two days is that one day will be easy peasy and the next will be long. But, after that it’s done, hurray! And the feeling of arriving to Airlie Beach after this hike is extra rewarding.
This trail can also be done in one day though. Trail runners and cyclists start early and get through that entire three-days worth of hiking in one. If you are attempting this, just be focused on your physical ability to do it, time and drinking water.
Water on the trail
Considering this is a three-day hike, there’s plenty of tanks for water along the track. Four to be exact. Two are close to or with the campsites along the track, but the others are on the northern end of the track, which is also the steepest section.
The catch about the water is it all must be treated before consuming. That means either boiling the water or using some type of water filtration or purification. Just remember that no matter which method, most require some time to work. I did boiled water the night of camping, and let it cool overnight, I hadn’t used much water the day before, so it was just a refill for my pack.
Pack it in and out
The most important thing about doing any hike, but especially one that is remote, is to pack out what you pack in. Don’t leave rubbish along the trail. There’s no bins anywhere along the trail or at either end, so come prepared with a bag and keep things with you. Avoid stuffing rubbish on the outside of your bag as it may accidentally slip out.
Also essential to pack are snake bandages, these can be picked up at your local chemist. Otherwise pack the regular gear for a remote overnight hike.
Best time of year
As with many hikes or bushwalks in the northern Australia regions, the best time to visit is definitely the cooler and drier months. So greatly avoid this hike during October to February, but assess your local weather for more up-to-date information on this.
Another factor to consider, regardless of weather is that this trail is in a rainforest. Even if rain isn’t forecasted, it may make a surprise visit as the humidity in the area can react this way. So to reiterate that, try to go in the dry season, but expect rain regardless. Also important for this is to bring a tent or some type of cover to sleep under.
Attempting an overnight hike? Check out my overnight hike packing list to stock up on everything you may need.
What to Expect on the Hike
Once the planning and preparations are in place, it’s time to think about what to expect on Conway circuit. Aside from walking through a green tunnel with wildlife, there’s more important points to know about this hike. This explanation will greatly refer to the hike beginning at Forestry Road and heading north to Airlie Beach. This is the direction recommended by Parks Queensland.
First off, this hike is labelled as a grade four, meaning bushwalking experience is recommended and trail signage may be limited. It also means there’s long, rough and steep sections on the track. All of these are accurate for Conway circuit, aside from the trail signage. There’s markers every kilometre—until close to Airlie Beach.
For those with an average fitness level, try to do this hike in at least two days—instead of one. I did the hike over two days and only camped at Repulse Creek campsite on the first night.
Beginning at the Forestry Road entry point, Conway Circuit starts off with its dated sign stating the “Whitsunday Great Walk.” The trail begins along a wide track, the size of a dirt road. Reptiles and wild pigs may be along the track at any point. This area is frequented by day users as well.
The entire track is a shared path with cyclists, so look out for some along the way. However a few kilometres after Repulse Creek the grade for cyclists changes so there may be less there.
Up until Repulse Creek, the path stays relatively flat with some slight descents, it’s also well-maintained.
After Repulse Creek campground this all changes though. The trail is weathered and over-grown, making it harder to spot wildlife, until you’re quite close. A few kilometres after Repulse Creek is when the trail gets more challenging with steep areas, which are rocky and muddy.
Hayward lookout is when the trail begins to shift again. From this point on the trail’s elevation goes up and down, until the Airlie water tank. After this water tank it’s as if the ascent is never ending. Truly, every turn you’ll be expecting the trail to even out or slightly flatten for a few steps. But no, it keeps going up, until the highest ascent of the trail.
At which point, it finally goes down again! This is why it’s understandable that the section of Conway circuit between Airlie Beach and Repulse Creek is the most physically demanding. It’s also why camping at some point on the trail makes the later half of the track more enjoyable.
The best lookout on the track is actually next to Bloodwood camp, it doesn’t have a name. The trail to this lookout is just off the main walking track. If you do the three-day version of this hike, then you’ll definitely have time for Honeyeater Lookout, another great view over the Whitsunday Islands.
Campgrounds
Conway circuit’s campgrounds have limited facilities, there’s no camp kitchen or shower. But considering what could be up to offer, it’s pretty great. All campgrounds use hybrid toilet facilities, which make the entire toilet experience almost, luxurious.
Outlined in this section are what there is to know about both campgrounds on Conway circuit. Keep in mind, both campgrounds are about eight kilometres from the beginning or ending of the trail. Both campgrounds are equipped with food boxes. Sadly that doesn’t mean they’re loaded with free food, but they are a safe place to store food away from wildlife at night.
Remember to book camping permits online before arriving, fees are A$6.75 per person, per night.
Repulse Creek camp
Repulse Creek campground is by far the better camp on Conway circuit. There’s many reasons for this. To start, the water tanks are right there, so washing dishes and cooking is chill.
There’s also platform/picnic tables, which if dry, makes for a great place to eat, cook and lay your things down. Repulse is also well-maintained (especially in comparison to Bloodwood) with a large grassy area to erect tents. Before arriving to Repulse, there’s other camping areas in the woods. These sites are pretty tiny though, making the grassy area much more approachable.
Bloodwood camp
At about eight kilometres in the trail from the Airlie Beach trailhead is Bloodwood camp. After crawling through dense bush to reach and see what Bloodwood camp was about, that term ‘camp’ isn’t that accurate. Bloodwood looks like a sad forgotten land of where people in the very distant past once came to camp. But now, it’s an overgrown dense rainforest with hardly any space to camp at all.
However, if you are planning to camp at Bloodwood, my best suggestion is taking the single spot available next to the trail. That way you won’t get lost in the dense bush. This spot is also easier to access the single toilet. Which may I add, does not clearly state or advise patrons it is a toilet. The door even opens the wrong way. You’re not wrong to mistaken this toilet for a storage shed, that’s exactly what it looks like. And finally, water tanks are 200 metres north of the camp.
Interested in a tour of the Whitsunday Islands? Check out my guide for booking the best tour. Or, for more national parks, check out these guides to Carnarvon National Park and Cape Hillsborough National Park.
