Guide 6 of 6
Where can you swim, boat and camp on Lake Wivenhoe and Lake Somerset?
Fernvale, the trail town this guide’s lakes sit near: Seqwater’s Wivenhoe page puts the dam upstream of Fernvale, and Lake Somerset lies south of Kilcoy, away from the trail’s line.
General information only. The lake rules on this guide follow Seqwater’s Lake Somerset recreation map, updated January 2026; Seqwater’s dam pages carry the current position.
The two lakes between the trail’s towns: Wivenhoe, on the Brisbane River upstream of Fernvale, is South East Queensland’s largest water storage, and Somerset, on the Stanley River near Kilcoy, was finished in 1959 and feeds it. The lake rules printed here are the water authority’s own, from its dated map of Lake Somerset.
The two lakes
Lake Wivenhoe is the reservoir of Wivenhoe Dam, on the Brisbane River about 80 km from Brisbane and upstream of Fernvale. Seqwater calls it South East Queensland’s largest water storage and the main supply for Brisbane and the greater Ipswich area. Its dam wall is 2,300 m long and carries five radial gates; its catchment covers 7,020 square km; and it holds 1,165,240 ML at full supply level, with a total storage capacity of 3.132 million ML.
The dam’s completion year shifts with the record. Seqwater’s Wivenhoe page gives 1984; the Queensland Reconstruction Authority’s historical factsheet counts the dam complete in 1985. Both dates stay with their pages here.
Seqwater records that Lake Somerset is the reservoir of Somerset Dam, on the Stanley River near Kilcoy, and among the region’s oldest and largest water storages. Construction began in 1935, stopped during the Second World War, started again in 1948 and finished in 1959. Its wall is 305 m long, its catchment covers 1,340 square km, and its full supply volume is 379,849 ML. Water from Somerset is released into Wivenhoe, and the two are run as one system that also keeps the Brisbane River flowing to the Mt Crosby pumping station downstream.
Both dams hold less water than their walls could. On 6 November 2020 the Queensland Government department responsible for water approved a Seqwater application to amend the operating licences, setting the dams to roughly 80% at Somerset and 90% at Wivenhoe while Somerset’s improvement works finish; if rainfall lifts storage above those levels, flood releases commence.
Swimming
Seqwater’s Lake Somerset recreation map, updated January 2026, is the record this guide takes the lake rules from, and it is the only lake page with a date. It names the designated swimming areas at Lake Somerset: The Spit and Kirkleagh. Swimmers are asked to stay inside the designated area, with no lifeguards on duty.
No swimming spot on Lake Wivenhoe is named here, and the reason is the date: Seqwater publishes its Wivenhoe recreation rules on pages that carry none, and where a rule is undated this guide leaves it out rather than reprint something that may have changed. Seqwater’s Wivenhoe page, linked at the foot of this guide, is the one to read. The dated map does add one line about Wivenhoe: while Lake Somerset has no designated multi-use trails, those activities are found at nearby Lake Wivenhoe.
Boating
At Lake Somerset the dated map allows motorised and non-motorised watercraft, and permits water skiing, jet skiing, wakeboarding and tubing. Two rules come with it: when towing, there must be a competent observer on board aged 13 or over, and directional signage is followed anticlockwise.
Craft may only launch from designated launch points, and must not be brought ashore outside signed recreation areas. Staying overnight on the water is not allowed. The map gives the reason for the first rule: much of the land around the lake is private property. All boating on Seqwater lakes sits under the regulations set by Maritime Safety Queensland, and the map asks boaters to stay a safe distance from swimmers and paddlers. North of The Spit there is also a stopping point for boats and paddlecraft, reachable only from the water.
Lake Wivenhoe’s boating rules sit on Seqwater’s undated pages, so none is reprinted here; the Wivenhoe page linked at the foot of this guide is the one to read.
Camping
Around Lake Somerset the dated map lists multiple campgrounds, all run by private operators, and it is firm on the rule: camping is allowed only in designated camping areas. The picnic grounds have tables, shelters and free barbecues, with drinking water at Kirkleagh and Somerset Park, but not at The Spit, where visitors should bring their own. The dam and its recreation facilities are open seven days a week: 5:30am to 6:30pm from September to April, and 6:00am to 5:30pm from May to August.
Fishing here is stocked and needs a permit. The map states plainly that a fishing permit is required at Lake Somerset, purchased before fishing, from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, which runs the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme. Under the scheme, everyone 18 and over who line fishes must hold a permit, and under-18s do not. The shore is for public areas only: much of the land around the lake is private property, and the map asks anglers not to cross it.
Wivenhoe’s campgrounds are not listed here for the same reason as its swimming and boating: their pages carry no date.
The lakes side by side
Set side by side, the two lakes divide by purpose. Wivenhoe keeps the region’s drinking water, and in a flood it is designed to hold back another two million megalitres or so on top of it; Somerset is the older dam, feeding Wivenhoe through the water grid. Somerset Regional Council’s own logo draws the same idea: water flowing from Somerset to Wivenhoe, shaped into an S.
| The two lakes | Lake Wivenhoe | Lake Somerset |
|---|---|---|
| River | the Brisbane River | the Stanley River |
| Completed | 1984 at Seqwater; 1985 at the Queensland Reconstruction Authority | 1959 |
| Dam wall | 2,300 m | 305 m |
| Catchment | 7,020 square km | 1,340 square km |
| Full supply volume | 1,165,240 ML | 379,849 ML |
| What it supplies | drinking water for Brisbane and the greater Ipswich area | water released into Wivenhoe, keeping the river flowing to the Mt Crosby pumping station |
| Swimming | No dated rule | designated areas at The Spit and Kirkleagh, no lifeguards |
| Boating | No dated rule | motorised and non-motorised craft, towing sports with an observer aged 13 or over |
| Camping | No dated rule | multiple campgrounds run by private operators, designated areas only |
| Fishing | No dated rule | a permit is required |
Where the Wivenhoe side of the table says no dated rule: Seqwater publishes those rules on pages without a date, and this guide prints lake rules only from its dated map of Lake Somerset.
Before you go in the water
Two things move with the weather. Algal blooms can arrive on either lake, and Seqwater warns that algae are usually present in low numbers before growing quickly into a bloom, and that blooms sometimes produce toxins that make the water a health risk. The dams also release water after heavy rain: Seqwater runs a free dam release notification service, which tells subscribers when its gated dams release water or its un-gated dams spill, and advises care downstream.
Check the water authority’s pages before you go: its dam pages for each lake are linked at the foot of this guide, and they carry the current position on openings, releases and closures.