Cooloola Great Walk ecotourism development, Queensland

Historical project record

Originally reported: 2022
Last reviewed: 21 July 2026
Status at last review: Commercial accommodation proposal discontinued

This page records the former proposal for privately operated accommodation along the Cooloola Great Walk and its status when last reviewed. It is not maintained in real time. Significant later developments may be covered through Keep It Wild Australia’s Protected Areas Tourism Watch reports.

The original proposal

The Queensland Government proposed a commercial ecotourism development along the Cooloola Great Walk within the Cooloola Recreation Area of Great Sandy National Park, between Noosa North Shore and Rainbow Beach.

The existing Cooloola Great Walk extends for up to 102 kilometres through rainforest, coastal woodland, heath plains, sandblows and the upper Noosa River landscape. Independent walkers currently use four small public walkers’ camps at Brahminy, Dutgee, Litoria and Kauri. (Parks and Forests)

The proposed development would have added five private eco-accommodation camps along or near the walking route. Each lease area was expected to occupy up to approximately 5,000 square metres and include cabin-style accommodation, communal dining and cooking areas, bathrooms, energy systems and service infrastructure.

The facilities were intended to support a commercially guided multi-day walking experience while remaining physically separate from the existing public walkers’ camps. The proposal also contemplated vehicle access for construction, servicing, food delivery, waste removal and staff operations.

The government promoted the project as a partnership involving the Kabi Kabi people and a private accommodation provider. CABN was selected as the preferred commercial proponent after an expression-of-interest process. (Sandy Bolton)

The proposed commercial model

The development was more substantial than an ordinary guided walking permit.

It proposed five accommodation sites inside the protected area, with private infrastructure built and operated for commercially packaged walks. Publicly available descriptions indicated that the camps would contain semi-permanent or permanent cabin-style accommodation and communal facilities rather than ordinary tent camping.

The lease footprints were described as being less than half a hectare at each site. Even where individual buildings were promoted as low-impact or self-contained, the wider development would have required access, servicing, waste management, water, energy and ongoing operational arrangements across several locations in the national park. (National Parks Association of Queensland)

The commercial walk was expected to be priced as a premium experience. Earlier public discussion referred to indicative costs ranging from several hundred dollars to around $1,000 a night, although no final published tariff or operating agreement was identified.

Opposition and unresolved assessment issues

The proposal attracted sustained opposition from environmental organisations, bushwalkers and some local residents.

Concerns included vegetation clearing, disturbance to sensitive ecosystems, vehicle access, fire and wastewater risks, the creation of long-term private leases inside a national park and the possibility that commercial camps would receive preferential access to high-value locations.

There was also concern about the precedent that would be established if five privately operated accommodation sites were approved along an existing public walk.

The project was discussed over several years, but detailed final plans, lease documents, environmental conditions and an approved construction timetable were not publicly released. As late as the 2023–24 Queensland budget process, the government continued to describe the Cooloola project as one of four ecotourism trail developments then in progress. (Queensland Parliament Documents)

The proposal was discontinued

In May 2024, the Queensland Government confirmed that it would not proceed with the original Cooloola Great Walk ecotourism accommodation proposal.

A departmental spokesperson said the government had worked with the preferred proponent and the Kabi Kabi people over several years but would not realise the original vision. The detailed reasons and commercial negotiations were not disclosed publicly because they were said to be commercial-in-confidence. (Courier Mail)

The decision ended the proposal for five privately operated eco-accommodation camps within Great Sandy National Park.

No equivalent replacement project involving private cabins, lodges or glamping sites along the Cooloola Great Walk had been announced by the time of this review.

What remains in place

The Cooloola Great Walk continues as a public long-distance walking route within the Cooloola Recreation Area.

The full route can extend for approximately 102 kilometres, with an inland itinerary of about 88 kilometres generally completed over five days. It remains a Grade 4 walk requiring previous hiking experience, navigation ability and a degree of self-reliance. (Parks and Forests Department)

The four established walkers’ camps remain available to independent walkers:

  • Brahminy walkers’ camp
  • Dutgee walkers’ camp
  • Litoria walkers’ camp
  • Kauri walkers’ camp

These are public Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service facilities rather than private lodge accommodation. Facilities vary but generally include tent camping, toilets, untreated water and basic camp infrastructure. Kauri walkers’ camp, for example, has seven small sites with a total capacity of 14 people. (Parks and Forests Department)

Camping permits and ordinary park fees apply, and the camps remain accessible through the public booking system. (Parks and Forests)

What changed

The most significant change is that the private accommodation component was abandoned before construction began.

The Cooloola Great Walk itself was not cancelled. The walking track and public camps continue to operate in their established form, but the proposed network of five commercial eco-camps did not proceed.

No evidence was identified that leases were ultimately granted, that the cabin sites were constructed or that CABN began operating commercial accommodation within the national park.

The government has continued to promote the existing Cooloola Great Walk as a public walking experience, but current official park information makes no reference to the discontinued commercial cabin project. (Parks and Forests Department)

Commercial tourism implications

Commercial guides may still operate on the Cooloola Great Walk under ordinary park permissions, and transport or tourism businesses can support walkers at the route’s access points.

That is different from the discontinued project. The former proposal would have created dedicated private accommodation infrastructure at five sites inside the protected area and supported a packaged premium walking product.

The project remains an important historical case because it demonstrates that a government-backed tourism proposal can progress through several years of planning and proponent selection without ultimately reaching construction.

It also illustrates the distinction between commercial operators using shared public tracks and camps, and long-term private occupation of national park land for exclusive accommodation.

Why this project matters

The Cooloola proposal became one of the most prominent debates about private tourism accommodation in Queensland national parks.

Its significance lay not only in the five proposed camps but in the wider policy precedent. Approval could have strengthened a model under which private operators receive leased national park sites and service access to provide high-priced, accommodation-based walking products.

The proposal also involved the aspirations and potential economic participation of the Kabi Kabi people. The government’s decision not to proceed with the original accommodation model did not remove the importance of identifying other ways to support Traditional Owner-led tourism and economic opportunities.

The eventual withdrawal shows that projects promoted as environmentally sensitive or nature-based can still face legitimate questions about location, tenure, scale and public access.

Confirmed

The Queensland Government pursued an ecotourism accommodation project along the Cooloola Great Walk.

The proposal involved five commercial eco-accommodation sites inside the Cooloola Recreation Area of Great Sandy National Park.

CABN was selected as the preferred private proponent.

The project was developed in conjunction with the Kabi Kabi people.

The Queensland Government confirmed in May 2024 that it would not proceed with the original proposal.

No commercial cabins or lodge camps were constructed under the project.

The existing public Cooloola Great Walk and its four public walkers’ camps continue to operate. (Courier Mail)

Not yet confirmed

The complete reasons the commercial negotiations ended.

Whether the government incurred termination, planning or contractual costs that were not publicly disclosed.

Whether any draft lease or authority was prepared but never executed.

Whether a different form of Kabi Kabi-led tourism development may later be proposed within the Cooloola Recreation Area.

Whether any future Queensland ecotourism policy will revive a similar private accommodation model under another project.

Sources and documents

  • Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service: Cooloola Great Walk
  • Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service: Cooloola Great Walk camping
  • Queensland Parliament: 2023–24 Budget Estimates
  • Queensland Government and departmental statements reported in May 2024 concerning the discontinuation of the project
  • National Parks Association of Queensland: Cooloola Great Walk Ecotourism Proposal
  • Public information concerning the CABN proposal and Kabi Kabi participation