Kumbartcho Sanctuary at Eatons Hill

Kumbartcho Sanctuary at Eatons Hill is a beautiful community-managed forest reserve rich in native flora and fauna. Enjoy a day out with the family exploring the reserve, stopping for lunch and and a play in the playground, a visit to the fairy garden and a walk to the river. 

Kumbartcho Sanctuary 

Saved from developers nearly 20 years ago, Kumbartcho is a community forest reserve on four hectares of protected land adjacent to the South Pine River. Deriving its name from the local Aboriginal word for Hoop Pine, Kumbartcho has much to offer families with young children.

One thing is for certain; from the moment you step out of your car, the sound of cicadas, the fluttering of butterflies and the bird song that will surround you will surely ensure a peaceful and soul-lifting experience. 

The playground and the picnics

The playground at Kumbartcho is well equipped with a climbing frame, swings, bouncy rockers and two platforms linked by a rope bridge with slide and climbing wall. There’s also a lovely colonial-style playhouse where older Brisbane kids can set up shop.

This area has picnic tables and barbecues where you can stop for lunch. This isn’t a huge space, but we love that it is fenced and shady and forms a part of the child-friendly features at the sanctuary. You can also have a picnic further into the sanctuary, close to frog hollow, although this picnic area doesn’t have BBQs. 

The wildlife at Kumbartcho Sanctuary

With freshwater lagoons, streams, rainforest and open forest, there are plenty of opportunities for wildlife sightings. Keep a lookout as you wander through the sanctuary, as Kumbartcho is home to freshwater turtles, frogs, lizards, snakes and many species of birds. You will also notice that several scrub turkeys enjoy the sanctuary and depending on what time of year you visit, you might be lucky enough to see a scrub turkey building its nest or even some baby scrub turkeys wandering around. 

Platypus have been sighted down in the South Pine River but only in the very early hours of the morning when the sun has just risen. If your Brisbane Kid has a particular fascination for platypus you might want to consider heading down to the river at this time either accessing via Bunya Riverside or through Sargents Reserve. 

The Sanctuary is an important wildlife highway providing a safe place for wildlife to move from the state forest to the river. This rare pocket of untouched riparian rainforest has 6km of walking paths throughout the forest and the river. Take your little adventurer on a walk through the sanctuary’s paths, searching for wildlife. Make a game of it by creating a nature scavenger hunt and see who can find all the animals first. 

Interactive wildlife trail

When you arrive at Kumbartcho Sanctuary head to the nursery and pick your kids up a booklet. This will facilitate a journey through the sanctuary and provide the opportunity for the kids to identify flora and fauna and even create pencil rubbings of them in their booklets. 

The Fairy Garden

An unexpected feature of the Kumbartcho sanctuary is a delightful little fairy garden which sits at the end of one of its smaller walking trails. A delight, especially to younger children, it also offers a post box to send mail to the fairies. Additions are constantly made to this little curiosity.

Recent additions include a car track and a range of hollowed logs featuring doors that hide various book characters and animal figurines. What we like about this space is how child friendly it is with child-sized paths winding through the setup and also a pram-friendly walk to parents can join their kids in the fun. 

Local insights: If you have a fairy-loving Brisbane kid, ask them to prepare a letter in advance for the fairies so they can post it when they arrive. 

The Kumbartcho walking trails

Kumbartcho connects to a river walk that will take you up and down the South Pine River and also connects to the popular Bunya Riverside. This famous swimming hole is on the other side of the river and has its carpark that you can access by driving through Ferny Hills and onto Bunya.

If you dont want to walk that far, the sanctuary itself features several walks within the grounds that are quite sizeable for little feet. The walkways are pram and wheelchair friendly and while there are stairs in some places, there are alternative walkways to reach the same destination. 

The native plant nursery

Run by volunteers, this affordable native plant nursery grows all its plants from local seeds. Each species of plant is labelled and highlighted with its likelihood to be bird or bee-attracting and for its koala-friendly qualities. They also sell possum boxes and even DIY bird boxes, which would make a great gift idea for a child.

Their expertise is also on hand, and Kumbartcho Nursery offers a consulting service where they will come out to your house and advise how to design and plant a native garden on your property. 

The history of Kumbartcho Sanctuary

Locals might remember it as the old Bunya Park Wildlife Centre and reminders of this past are visible throughout the park (walk-through bird aviaries have become frog sanctuaries as example). This entire centre is staffed by local volunteers, supported by Moreton Bay Regional Council.

It genuinely has a feeling of being a special place, where everything created and added is done in a way to ensure the enjoyment of the space without impacting the natural surroundings. 

Accessibility at Kumbartcho Sanctuary

The paths from both carpark areas lead to the flat and accessible walking paths, playground, picnic table and playhouse. Fenced on the external side and on both carpark areas, the playground base is chip bark and is partly shaded with a shade sail, while large trees shade the rest of the park.

There are sheltered picnic tables, barbecues open from dawn until dusk and toilets. The 6km of walking paths throughout the sanctuary are either concrete, paved paths or wooden bridges suitable for wheelchair users.

We highly recommend that if you plan to visit Kumbartcho you pre spray yourselves with insect sprays as this is a sub tropical environment sitting adjacent to a river. 

Kumbartcho Sanctuary at a glance

• Bark-based playground, partly shaded by shade sails, featuring a slide, climbing net, swings and bouncy rocker.
• Large grassy area with a lot of trees providing shade with picnic tables. (More picnic tables are also on offer further within the sanctuary)
• Barbecues
• Walking paths
• Frog sanctuary
• Wildlife abounds
• Fairy Garden and mini car track
• Rivers, streams and lagoons
• Community Hall and Barn
• Toilets
• Carpark

Another great nearby Brisbane Playground is Frank Nichols Reserve at Warner or George Willmore Park at Ferny Hills.

Kumbartcho is located at 15 Bunya Pine Court, Eatons Hill.

15 Bunya Pine Ct, Eatons Hill QLD 4037, Australia

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