The Ford Road Conservation Area is a 134ha reserve located in Sheldon that borders Buhot Creek.
Visit the reserve to enjoy:
- bushwalking, mountain bike and horse riding trails
- bird and butterfly watching
- wildlife and endangered tree species
- natural conservation bushland.
Getting there
The conservation area lies north of Avalon Road and Ford Road. Enter from the Avalon Road horse trail or the main entrance on Avalon Road.
Please note that sections of the main powerline track passes through private property. These sections may be fenced or unfenced at the discretion of the owner. Make sure you don't trespass on private land.
Parking is available in the nearby Don and Christine Burnett reserve.
The park reserve is open 4am-10pm daily.
Facilities and amenities
There is no toilet at this reserve. There is a trailhead shelter near the reserve entrance. It has a seat,maps, tank water, horse/dog trough and a bike rack/horse hitching rail.
Find your way
- See the network of trails in the reserve on the Koala Bushland Coordinated Conservation Area map (Queensland Government).
- See all Council trails and reserves on Red-e-map.
Trails in the park connect with surrounding bushland areas that include:
- Don and Christine Burnett Conservation Area
- Venman Bushland National Park
- Daisy Hill Regional Park
- Kimberley Forest Park
- Brisbane’s Koala Bushland.
Some of these areas form the Koala Bushland Coordinated Conservation Area (KBCCA). The KBCCA is cooperatively managed by Redland City Council, Logan City Council and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
Tracks and features
- Pina Colada
- Pina Colada is a gravel vehicle trail that follows the powerline easement. It is steep in sections and exits the Ford Road property where it joins the Brisbane Koala Bushland managed by Brisbane City Council. Some sections of this trail cross onto private property. Please respect the owners' privacy by not entering these sections.
- Fire roads
- A number of other fire roads have steep gradients. They lead to an access point in the reserve's north-west (across Buhot Creek) that leads to the western section of the Brisbane Koala Bushland.
- Avalon Rd horse trail
- The Avalon Road horse trail forms part of a major trail network known as the Koala Coast Trails. This network includes a series of bridges and pathways that lead to the Ford Road conservation area.
Wildlife and plants
In the reserve you'll find significant animal and plant species, including:
- Notophyll vine forest - an endangered Regional Ecosystem
- Acacia perangusta (Eprapah wattle) - a rare and threatened plant species
- Callistemon viminalis (Weeping Bottlebrush) - a highly endangered plant species
- Leptospermum brachyandrum (Silver Weeping Tea Tree) - a highly endangered plant species
- several ferns that are highly endangered in the local area.
The vegetation of the area is dominated by moist riparian closed forest among open regrowth Eucalyptus forest.
The ecosystem is important for its biodiversity, and contains a large number of 'old growth' koala food trees and hollow bearing habitat trees. The large Lophostemon confertus trees found in the reserve also support epiphytic plants, Eucalyptus major and Eucalyptus microcorys. A high density of scratchings also indicates the value of these trees for supporting wildlife.
Other species that are endangered on a local scale (being represented by less than 10 specimens, or in only one or two reserves in Redland City) include:
- Elaeocarpos eumundi
- Elaeocarpus obovatus
- Capparis arborea
- Alyxia ruscifolia
- Carissa ovata
- Archontophoenix cunninghamiana
- Leucopogon juniperinus
- Abrophyllum ornans
- Clayoxylon australe
- Croton acronychioides
- Cryptocarya glaucescens
- Endiandra discolour
- Acmena hemilampra
- Callistemon viminalis
- Leptospermum brachyandrum
- Todea barbara
- Platycerium bifuricatum
- Platycerium superbum
- Flindersia bennetiana
- Ripogonum album
- Ripogonum brevifolium
- Dockrilla linguiforme
- unidentified orchid.
This reserve was purchased from Redland City Council's environment charge acquisitions scheme and forms an important buffer of vegetation along Tingalpa and Buhot creeks.