The Ride Mount Glorious Queensland

Mount Glorious is listed in almost every motorcycling almanac around the World as a must see, must do motorcycle trip.

Indeed the fact that this ride is such a short hop from Brisbane, the state's capital city, is almost hard to comprehend. When you finally arrive up "on top" of the mountain you could be mistaken for thinking that you have taken a wrong turn and ended up somewhere more like the The Daintree or Kuranda in Far North Queensland!

Nothing quite prepares you for the change of scenery. Sure mountain roads generally lift you into a different environment, more treed, more wildlife, birds and vegetation. But you don't usually expect to go from farming valley through Samford, up into open eucalyptus forest at the top of the range; to suddenly be surrounded by true rainforest teaming with birdlife, palms and dense undergrowth.

These roads are definitely NOT high speed; they are poorly maintained (at best) – have at times huge amounts of wet leaves and compost on the shoulders and verges, rocks and dead limbs can be hiding around most corners.

But for all of the negative, this is a magnificent ride. There is a fantastic array of bends and winding bits, plenty of changes in typography, forest types and road surfaces. There are many great places to pull over and take in the scenery; fabulous views, beautiful country.

Mt Glorious Roads and Conditions

Be very aware that temperatures are at least 6 degrees below the city average. When you experience rainforest it becomes pretty obvious that the rainfall is far higher in order to grow mature wet forests. Expect early morning fog, quite cool temperatures and showers just when you aren't expecting them!

The speed limit across the top of the mountain and down to the Western side has been reduced to 60kph; basically trying to curb the high incidents of nasty accidents. The Boys in Blue do frequent the place; especially on nice sunny days (funny that!)

On the Western side the speed limit creeps up to 80kph - nice twisties, bridges and flood way culverts. Back in 2010 some bright spark contractor turned up with a bob-cat attachment for ripping up half of the lane. This was used extensively (read this as stupidly as well) instead of repairing with patches the council organised this crew to replace long strips - exactly half a lane wide.

So now you have these strips with decayed edges that provide wonderful surprises for you as you change your line through the corner. Totally stupid, completely unbelievable - alas but true. The upkeep of the road, once you hit the Somerset Council area is dismal at best - with the uneven half lane bump and jump road seal making life tricky.

I am not suggesting you avoid the ride - to the contrary it is a fantastic journey. Just be aware that there is little to no quality roads and you never know what you will strike.

Whatever you do be careful – the cause of nearly every fatality on this mountain range is speed; the vast majority of incidents are single vehicle. The local ambulance and police really get tired of hauling bodies off the range; so please take it easy, be responsible and enjoy the ride.