Rest areas in Queensland

Reading the numbers

Queensland’s count is two lists side by side. The national dataset holds 1,197 rest areas, and Queensland TMR adds 491 more that sit over 250 m from any national record, so treat those as separate stops rather than repeats. This page has no road ranking in its facts table, which leaves the dot map and the 362 named localities as your main way to find stops along a route.

The facility shares sit unusually close together. Shelter is listed at 563 sites (47 per cent), drinking water at 522 (44 per cent) and toilets at 511 (43 per cent), with picnic tables the most common at 673, or 56 per cent. Here a roof over the table is listed about as often as a toilet, which helps on long days of driving. Phone reception is listed at only 2 sites. That tells you the source rarely records it, not that coverage is missing, so check your provider’s coverage before relying on a signal.

The stops at the top of the list below have the fullest listing, each showing toilets, drinking water, shelter, picnic tables, a heavy vehicle area and an accessible toilet. A few towns appear more than once: Barcaldine has five entries, and Boulia and Ilfracombe two each, so use the map to pick the one on your road. Entries in the same group, from Longreach, Tambo and Kynuna to Bedourie and Goondiwindi, show how widely the well-equipped stops are spread across the state.

A heavy vehicle area is listed at 548 records, or 46 per cent, so at close to half the stops you share the parking with trucks. Accessible toilets are listed at 186. On staying the night, the dataset is silent. Overnight rules vary from place to place, so read the signs on site, look up the rules from Queensland TMR or the local council, and use the camping-rules guide for Queensland linked on this page.