Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve

Council's Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve covers approximately 91 hectares and is located 9.5 kilometres south of the Brisbane CBD. The reserve connects to the 260-hectare Toohey Forest Park which adjoins bushland owned and managed by Griffith University.

Mt Gravatt includes several bush walking tracks and includes Gertrude Petty Place at the base of the hill, which contains a car park and picnic area. From the summit, visitors can enjoy picnic areas and spectacular views.

Planning for the Future project

Council is creating more to see and do in a city that is clean and green by undertaking the Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve - Planning for the Future project. Community consultation took place in November 2022 to understand what you love and value about the reserve, how you use it now and how you'd like to use it in the future, and how we can improve the reserve. Find out about the Planning for the Future project. 

Walking track information and track map

Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve offers a variety of walking tracks.

For track locations, length and grading, download the:

• Toohey Forest Park track map (PDF - 3.8Mb)
• Toohey Forest Park track map (Word - 724kb).  

Special features

Picnic areas

1. Gertrude Petty Place - Mt Gravatt Outlook Drive off Shire Road, Mt Gravatt. Gates open from 6am-7pm Monday to Thursday, and 6am-8.30pm Friday to Sunday.
2. Mt Gravatt Outlook picnic area - top of Mt Gravatt Outlook Drive off Shire Road, Mt Gravatt. Gates open from 6am-7pm Monday to Thursday, and 6am-8.30pm Friday to Sunday.

Mt Gravatt Outlook (summit)

Mt Gravatt Outlook provides spectacular views of Brisbane and surrounding suburbs. On a clear day, you can see the Moreton Bay islands, D’Aguilar Ranges and Glasshouse Mountains. 

The summit includes a restaurant, playground and toilet block.

Flora and fauna

Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve contains open eucalypt forest and is home to a diversity of native wildlife and plant species, including threatened species.

The forest features quartzite outcrops and scree slopes and is made up of various eucalypt species (including koala food trees), as well as wattles, she-oaks, wildflowers, creepers and grasses. The reserve is home to:

• koalas, including mothers and joeys
• possums, gliders and echidnas
• bats and flying foxes
• birds of prey including square-tailed kites, hawks and Pacific baza
• tawny frogmouths and owls
• small forest birds such as fairy wrens, fantails, silver eyes and thornbills
• honey eaters, parrots and cockatoos
• lizards, skinks and frogs
• butterflies and other insects.

History

Since the late nineteenth century, Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve has been a popular destination for outdoor activities including bushwalking, picnicking, and enjoying the spectacular views from the summit.

In 1893, the New South Wales Colonial Government created a recreational reserve of 132 acres on Mount Gravatt, which had been previously used as a timber reserve. A further 160 acres were added in 1915. Local residents constructed three roads up to the reserve, using only voluntary labour, by clearing bushland and levelling the road by hand.

William Jolly, the first Lord Mayor of Brisbane, identified Mount Gravatt as one of several sites situated on the ranges and hills around Brisbane that would provide the community with 'breathing spaces' and 'vantage points'. The reserve was transferred to Council in 1927. Construction of the present road up the mountain was an intermittent relief work project undertaken during the 1930s Depression.