Which part of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail is easiest?

How the council grades the trail

Somerset Regional Council gives every section a grade in its own words, and the wording covers four levels. Fernvale to Lowood is "Low to moderate, easy grade and easy surface". Four sections read "Moderate grade, surface may be rough" (Wulkuraka to Fernvale, Lowood to Coominya, Moore to Linville and Blackbutt to Yarraman), and a fifth, Benarkin to Blackbutt, reads "Moderate grade, rough surface". Coominya to Esk and Esk to Toogoolawah ask for "Moderate to high fitness level required". And the hardest, Linville to Benarkin, is "Advanced grade, rough surface, uphill gradient".

Transport and Main Roads uses a different set of words for the same stretches, and the two do not line up one to one. Where the council calls Wulkuraka to Fernvale a moderate grade, the department's trail map calls it an easy to moderate section; Coominya to Esk is a moderate to advanced section there, and Linville to Benarkin is an advance section as you head up the range. The legend below keys the grades in the council's words.

The easy stretches

Fernvale to Lowood, 8 km. The council grades it "Low to moderate, easy grade and easy surface", and the department's trail map agrees, calling it "An easy section of the trail that is very flat. The trail surface is relatively smooth."

Toogoolawah to Harlin, 14 km, is "Easy grade, easy surface" to the council. The trail map adds one caution in the same breath: the section "is relatively flat although there is one major steep gradient approaching Harlin", and its surface is relatively smooth.

Harlin to Moore, 13 km, is "Easy grade, easy surface" too. The trail map calls this one an easy to moderate section with some steep gradients and a relatively smooth surface, and asks riders to be prepared for major highway crossings along it, take care and give way to traffic.

The two middle sections meet at Harlin, so together they make 27 km of easy-grade trail through the middle of the valley, counted here from the trail map's two lengths. On the way, Toogoolawah and Moore are the sections' water points; food and toilets are listed at Toogoolawah, Harlin and Moore, with nothing in between.

The harder stretches

Coominya to Esk, 24 km, is the longest section on the trail and asks for "Moderate to high fitness level required". The trail map describes the same stretch as a moderate to advanced section with one of the trail's first major uphill gradients, needing a medium to high level of fitness for the distance.

Esk to Toogoolawah, 19 km, also asks for "Moderate to high fitness level required". The map reads it as a moderate to advanced section with a minor uphill gradient, needing a medium level of fitness.

Linville to Benarkin, 17 km, is the hardest on the council's list: "Advanced grade, rough surface, uphill gradient". The map calls it an advance section as you head up the range, with rough areas. The trail's own brochure for that part says walkers and cyclists need to be reasonably fit to enjoy it: the trail gradually rises up the range to Blackbutt, and some gully crossings are steep.

The rise continues in the department's description: from Linville to Blackbutt the trail gradually climbs through the Blackbutt Range, with a number of creek crossings that are moderately steep.

Every section compared

Set the eleven sections side by side, as the table below does, and the trail sorts into the council’s four bands. Counted from the trail map’s list, the easy band holds three sections and makes 35 km: Fernvale to Lowood, which the council grades in full "Low to moderate, easy grade and easy surface", and the back-to-back pair, Toogoolawah to Harlin and Harlin to Moore. Five moderate sections make 66 km, two ask for moderate to high fitness and make 43 km, and the one advanced section, Linville to Benarkin, makes 17 km. The four figures add back to the trail’s 161 km. The section lengths are the department’s; the tally is this guide’s own adding.

Two of the three easy stretches sit next to each other, so the easiest long run on the trail is the 27 km from Toogoolawah to Moore, taken town by town. The third, Fernvale to Lowood, is the shortest of the three and the one the trail map calls very flat; its grade reads in full "Low to moderate, easy grade and easy surface".

One more comparison from the same list: Coominya to Esk, the single longest section at 24 km, is also one of the two that ask for moderate to high fitness.