Holiday houses in Gatton

The largest settlement in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, Gatton is located roughly halfway between the regional cities of Toowoomba and Ipswich. This laid-back, low-rise country town has been a hub for the farmers of the surrounding valley since the mid-19th century. It’s just off the region’s main highway, making it a great base for exploring the area’s many little towns and national parks.

In the centre of town, a pair of classic two-storey country pubs with deep timber verandahs face off at the train station end of Railway Street, Gatton’s compact shopping strip. Railway Street eventually merges with Eastern Drive, the main road cutting through town, which leads to Lake Apex Park. Centred on a lake that shelters more than 150 species of birds, this park is also home to the small but interesting Queensland Transport Museum and the Lockyer Valley Art Gallery; the Lights on the Hill Trucking Memorial, which celebrates Australia’s long-distance truck and coach drivers; and a historical village.

Gatton heats up from the middle of spring, around October, and stays hot and humid right through to May, the last month of autumn. The warmer months are also the wettest, before a stretch of mild, mostly dry winter days and chilly nights that are ideal for hiking in the nearby national parks. If motorsports are your thing, time your visit to arrive in late March for the Gatton Motorfest, a weekend of officially sanctioned drifting and burnout driving competitions on the streets of the town. Or visit in September for the more pleasant scents of blossoming flowers in Gatton and at the month-long Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers and the Laidley Spring Festival, held in the neighbouring town of Laidley.

Gatton street art

Nearby Toowoomba has some striking street art, much of it painted as part of a large-scale outdoor art project. Three large murals were also painted on buildings in Gatton for the project — one site was demolished in 2020, but the other two, a call for land conservation at 54 Railway Street and a depiction of endangered parrots on North Street, still make a bold statement.

Glen Rock State Forest

The gorges, rainforest, and high country of this extensive nature reserve are a 50-minute drive south of Gatton. Glen Rock is essentially an extension of the Main Range National Park, which runs the length of the Scenic Rim region to the south. Look out for rock wallabies, powerful owls, and black cockatoos as you hike, mountain-bike, or ride a horse along creek trails and through the forest.

Lockyer National Park

If you’re an experienced bushwalker, you’ll enjoy tackling the deep sandstone gorges and eucalyptus forests of Lockyer National Park. You’ll find trailheads into the park 20 minutes from Gatton, or you can tour this remote area of bushland by four-wheel drive or motorbike.