Mount Maroon

Information

Elevation

966 m

Country

Australia (AU)

Location / Range

Pegunungan McPherson (Scenic Rim), sekitar 12 km barat Rathdowney, Queensland Tenggara — bersebelahan dengan Taman Nasional Mount Barney

Mountain type

Puncak riolit (rhyolite) yang terbentuk dari magma yang membeku di bawah permukaan lalu tersingkap oleh erosi — bagian dari Pegunungan McPherson di tepi kaldera gunung api purba Tweed

Volcanic?

No (non-volcanic)

Coordinates

-28.2164, 152.7330

Difficulty

Berat — pendakian sehari yang curam dan menuntut scrambling di atas batu riolit, dengan bagian gully berbatu dan sedikit eksposur; tidak ada jalur berpenanda formal, kemampuan membaca medan diperlukan

Best Season

Musim gugur hingga musim semi austral (April–September) saat lebih sejuk dan kering; hindari puncak musim panas yang panas dan lembap serta ancaman badai petir sore hari

Permits & Rules

Tidak ada izin khusus untuk pendakian sehari, namun gunung berada dalam kawasan lindung (bagian Taman Nasional Mount Barney, dikelola QPWS). Tidak diperbolehkan berkemah di puncak tanpa izin; hormati aturan taman dan bawa pulang seluruh sampah

Hazards

Bagian scrambling curam dengan risiko jatuh (pernah terjadi beberapa penyelamatan), batu lepas di gully, jalur yang samar dan mudah membuat salah arah, panas dan minim air, serta badai petir mendadak di musim panas

Description

Mount Maroon (966 m), called Wahlmoorum ("sand goanna") by the Yuggera people, is a prominent rhyolite peak in the McPherson Range, part of South East Queensland's Scenic Rim, about 12 km west of Rathdowney. The mountain formed from magma that cooled below the surface and was later exposed by millions of years of erosion, leaving walls and rock towers that make it a favourite of both hikers and rock climbers. Though lower than its neighbour Mount Barney, Maroon is renowned as one of the area's most enjoyable yet demanding scrambles: the ascent up the south-west ridge (often called the Cotswold Track) climbs through sclerophyll forest before turning into a rocky gully and open rhyolite slabs to the summit. Up top, hikers earn a 360-degree panorama across the whole Scenic Rim — Mount Barney, Mount May, Mount Lindesay and out to the Queensland–New South Wales border ranges. The summit even holds two small but deep lagoons that Aboriginal legend links to a water-dwelling "bunyip". The reserve protects montane heath, exposed rock pavement and mallee-ash shrubland. Because the terrain is steep with no formal marked trail, Maroon demands fitness, good footwear and extra care — several rescues have occurred on its slopes.