Noosa Running

Noosa National Park Loop

This is my favourite Noosa run with spectacular scenery and varied terrain. From where we normally stay on the river it’s 14 km in total but from Noosa Beach it’s 9 km. From Hastings St., the trail runs along the coast with a mixture of asphalt and boardwalk and a couple fo decent hills to the National Park. Once there, I always run the loop anti-clockwise, up the Tanglewood Track and then around the coastal trail. The Tanglewood Track is a steep, fairly rough uphill with rocks and tree roots through the rainforest. Since I have been known to trip over on the Elwood Boardwalk I wouldn’t trust myself to be able to run down this safely so it’s better for me to run/walk up this part.

Once you are up and over the hill the track becomes sandy and flatter with the odd section that needs a bit more careful negotiation. The vegetation changes to coastal woodland with pockets of rainforest in the gullies. There were usually some kookaburras through this section.

The path winds down around towards Alexandria Bay. You can continue down to the beach which is clothes optional. When I’m running I keep going and take the turn towards Hell’s Gate.

When we were in Noosa in 2022 they were doing work on the path out to Hell’s Gate so we had to take the shortcut back to the coastal trail. They’ve finished it now with a beautiful-looking cobbled path which is hell to run on but fine for walking.

From Hell’s Gate the coastal trail runs all the way back to Noosa, past several picturesque bays and with some rolling hills.

While training for the HM this was my Thursday run which was just base miles.

Big Noosa-Tewantin Loop

This is my long-run route of choice while in Noosa. With some decent hills, and pretty riverside and forest running. The basic loop is about 20km and I usually added some extra on to get to 22 or 24km is I needed it. The squiggle tracks near Noosa sound were my add-on when I recorded this run. If I’m doing this run I like to head towards Hasting St and get the biggest hills over at the start of the run. I can’t give you elevation gain because the elevation on my watch has not worked for a couple of years now.

Starting at the Noosa River I run towards Hastings St., up and over Noosa Hill to the Junction, then over the next hill and along Weiba Rd to the Football Oval. There I turn off and run through Weyba Creek Park to the bike trail along Eenie Creek Rd. The bike trail is separated from the main road by a small strip of bush, which makes the run a lot more pleasant than running next to the busy road.

I keep following the bike trail, there are several roundabouts and then I follow Beckman’s Rd for a short distance. I turn off and cut up Swanbourne Way through the estate to the Bushlands Reserve. Running through here and Crank Creek Park to the back of Tewantin. Then it’s up through Tewantin to the river and back home. I enjoy this because it’s a loop, so no running back the way you came and there’s lots of natural beauty with various waterways and bush paths.