Glass House Mountains National Park

The Glass House Mountains are located near Beerburrum State Forest and Steve Irwin Way. From Brisbane, the mountains can be reached by following the Bruce Highway north and taking the Glass House Mountains tourist drive turn-off onto Steve Irwin Way. The trip is about one hour from Brisbane. The Volcanic peaks of the Glass House Mountains rise dramatically from the surrounding Sunshine Coast landscape. They were formed by intrusive plugs, remnants of volcanic activity that occurred 26-27 million years ago. Molten rock filled small vents or intruded as bodies beneath the surface and solidified into land rocks. Millions of years of erosion have removed the surrounding exteriors of volcanic cores and softer sandstone rock.

Geology

The range was formed as molten lava cooled to form hard rock in the cores of volcanoes 26-27 million years ago. The source of the lava was from the East Australia hotspot. The cores of the hills contain columns of comendite from lava which cools quickly into a hard rock. The surrounding softer rocks have been eroded in the subsequent time, forming the spectacular volcanic plugs that remain today. The peaks' location relative to each other exhibits an alignment that is believed to have occurred due to fracturing. Mt Ngungun consists of sub-volcanic rock, also known as a hypabyssal rock, an intrusive rock emplaced at medium-to-shallow depths within the crust and has intermediate grain size, and often porphyritic texture between that of volcanic and plutonic rocks.

Address: Glass House Mountains QLD 4518, Australia
Hours: Open 24 hours
Management: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
Phone: +61 137468
Established: 1994
Nearest town or city: Brisbane
Managing authority: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service