Discover Redland City: History, Nature and Island Trails

Redland City combines discoveries along historic trails with nature walks, island experiences and insights into local culture. When planning your trip, it makes a difference whether you’d like to explore on foot, prefer to travel by car, or want to focus on nature and cultural themes. The range of activities offers practical starting points for shaping your days around the interests of your travel group.

Discover historic places and culture

The Cleveland and Ormiston heritage trail includes more than 35 historic sites and can be explored on foot or by car. This lets you decide as you plan your day which way of exploring suits your preferences. If you enjoy getting to know a place on foot, you can use the trail as an opportunity to combine history and exercise; if you prefer to travel by car, that option is available too. The number of sites gives you a sense of the range of historic offerings, without requiring you to infer a specific route length.

On North Stradbroke Island, the North Stradbroke Island heritage trail includes 30 historic sites in the island suburbs of Dunwich, Amity Point and Point Lookout. The suburbs named give the trail a clear island focus. If you’re interested in history, you can make this trail a distinct theme of your trip. Comparing it with the Cleveland and Ormiston heritage trail shows two different offerings: more than 35 historic sites in the former, and 30 sites on North Stradbroke Island in the latter.

The Redland Museum in Cleveland (Nandeebie) shows how the city of villages and islands has changed and developed over time. The museum is also home to the Australian Toy Hall of Fame, the only one of its kind in the country. A visit therefore combines a look at the region’s transformation with a special collection devoted to toys. It’s a specific cultural stop for travellers who want to learn about the area’s history as well as explore its trails and landscapes.

The Redland Art Gallery occasionally offers free drop-in activities themed around current exhibitions. Since these activities take place from time to time, they can provide an additional cultural idea if the theme suits your interests. Looking at the current exhibitions can help you decide whether to include the gallery in your trip.

Nature experiences and active days

The Naree Budjong Djara planning area offers island visitors nature walks and opportunities for cultural learning. This brings together two different interests in one visit: you can focus on nature or put cultural themes first. If you’re travelling with several generations or people with different interests, you can start by considering which focus would appeal most to your group.

The Redlands IndigiScapes Centre is set within 14.5 hectares of peaceful bushland and offers scenic trails. For anyone looking for a contrast to historic sites and exhibitions, the landscape takes centre stage here. You can consider the trails as a nature experience in their own right. The Centre’s IndigiCafe serves bush tucker-inspired food, adding a culinary connection to the region to your visit.

Mountain biking is another possible activity: Mount Cotton in the Redlands Coast area offers mountain biking opportunities. The top-quality trails are also accessible to adaptive cyclists. This provides a distinct option for a more active stay, different from the nature walks and scenic trails at the IndigiScapes Centre. If cycling is important to your travel group, you can take this offering into account when choosing your destinations.

The wider region

For context on the wider region: Redlands Coast is in South East Queensland, east of Brisbane. It includes mainland communities, island destinations and coastal villages on the southern shore of Moreton Bay. This description gives an idea of the different landscapes and types of places found in the wider area. Redlands Coast also has a calendar of events held throughout the year. If events are to be part of your trip, you can use this calendar as an additional planning guide.

When choosing a holiday rental, the experiences you have planned can be a deciding factor: consider whether you’d like to include historic sites, nature walks, cultural activities or mountain biking in your trip. One practical point of reference for getting to the Redlands IndigiScapes Centre is the bus stop on Redland Bay Road in Capalaba: the Centre is a short walk from there. If you plan to visit, you can factor this information into your travel arrangements.

Discover more destinations

If you’d like to explore more destinations, you can also find information here about Toowoomba Regional, Isaac Regional, Lockyer Valley Regional, Western Downs Regional, Scenic Rim Regional, Moreton Bay Regional, Gladstone Regional and Cook Shire.

For the overarching travel overview: Queensland.