Explore Stanthorpe

Stanthorpe ~ Queensland

Stanthorpe is a vibrant country town in the heart of the Granite Belt, 217 kilometres south-west of Brisbane. It has fresh local produce, breathtaking landscapes, and amazing wineries. 

Whether you’re looking for a relaxing weekend getaway or an adventure-filled escape, Stanthorpe has something for everyone.

When we visited, we wandered around town admiring the street art and heritage buildings and saw the big thermometer and the red bridge. We tasted local produce, including apples, cheese, strawberries, and truffles. Then, we wandered to the Balancing Arch at Giraween National Park and visited Heavenly Chocolate and the Balancing Heart Winery. We checked out the views from Mt Marlay Lookout and explored Donelley’s Castle.

The town centre of Stanthorpe has a great selection of cafes, a bakery, traditional hotels and plenty of shops to browse in.

It also has some lovely, colourful street art, down laneways, and on the sides of buildings, as well as some interesting sculptures.

The Post Office was built in 1901 and is decorated by the British coat of arms. 

The heritage-listed Central Hotel, built in 1908, was one of the largest buildings in Stanthorpe at the time.

Stanthorpe is Queensland’s coldest town and you can check the readings on Stanthorpe’s Big Thermometer. The big Thermometer is next to the Visitor Centre in a lovely park alongside Quart Pot Creek. 

You can also walk along the creek to the historic Red Bridge. The bridge, which is no longer red, was built in the mid-1880s without modern equipment, using manpower, horse-drawn drays and explosives.

Stanthorpe is renowned for its apples, and the region has more than one million apple trees and produces all of Queensland’s apple crops. Thirteen kilometres North of Stanthorpe, we stopped to get a photo of the Big Apple, this quirky tourist attraction was built in 1978.

Our next stop was Sutton’s Juice Factory, Cider and Shed Cafe, which is open every day from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm. There is a great range of apple juice, apple cider, apple brandy,  liqueurs, preserves and vinegars that are handmade by David Sutton on the premises.

And we just had to try their legendary homemade apple pie. Sutton’s famous apple pie is hand-made on their premises with no processed products.  It is served warm with apple cider ice cream and cream, and it is delicious.

Then we headed to Stanthorpe Cheese, Queensland’s highest and coldest dairy farm cheese shop and cafe.

Stanthorpe Cheese is open daily from 9.30 am to 4.00 pm and we were keen to taste their award-winning hand-crafted cheese. Tastings are available every day for $6.00 per person.

In the cafe, we received an assortment of cheese, crackers, condiments, and an information sheet. We also watched a video showing how the cheese is made.

The cafe offers a great selection of drinks, cheese platters, and light lunches. The shop also sells your favourite cheese and other local products.

The Truffle Discovery Centre is open Wednesdays and Weekends from 10.00 am to 3.30 pm. Here, we learnt about truffles and tasted a range of truffle products. 

Ashbern Farm is located just out of Stanthorpe and is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8.00 am to 3.00 pm. From October to May you can pick your own fresh strawberries. We enjoyed wandering down the rows and picking the ripe strawberries.

When you have picked as many strawberries as you like, you take them back to the cafe, where they weigh them and you pay per kilo. The cafe also has a range of strawberry products and we loved the home-made ice cream.

Girraween National Park is 30 kilometres south of Stanthorpe, and we started our walk to the Granite Arch from the Bald Rock Creek day-use area. The Girwaween National Park has 17 kilometres of walking tracks and the walk to the Granite Arch is an easy 1.6 kilometre circuit, which takes about 30 minutes.

From the day-use area wander along the track and over Bald Rock Creek, and through the blackbutt and stringybark forest, past the huge granite rocks.

Then you will reach the Granite Arch, a stunning natural stone archway. After admiring the arch we walked through it and back along the circuit track to the day-use area.

Approximately 4 kilometres from the Girraween National Park on Pyramids Road, we discovered Heavenly Chocolate.  A small chocolate shop and cafe that is open Friday to Monday from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

They make delicious handmade Belgian chocolates and other gourmet goodies, and we enjoyed coffee and chocolate overlooking the garden.

The Granite Belt is Queensland’s premier wine destination and the highest wine region in Australia. There are more than 40 cellar doors in this region that produce an interesting range of cool-climate wines.

We visited the Balancing Heart Vineyard as it is only 10 minutes from the Girraween National Park and is open daily from 10.00 am for wine tastings and light lunches.

The vineyard has been operating for more than 20 years and produces a range of estate-grown wines, including Shiraz, Pinot Gris, Verdelho and a lovely Sparkling. You can also feed the farm animals at the vineyard, including Vinnie a miniature Highland Cow, and a black alpaca.

We enjoyed our Chicken and roasted red pepper pizza on the deck, overlooking the dam and vineyards. Then we wandered through the vineyard to the balancing heart-shaped rock.

A drive from the town centre up a windy steep road will bring you to the Mount Marlay Lookout.

This area has parking, picnic tables and fantastic panoramic views over Stanthorpe. There are also two mounted binoculars to have a look through.

Approximately 20 kilometres from Stanthorpe you can explore Donnelly’s Castle.

Donnelly’s Castle is a granite rock formation that you can walk between, around and over. This granite outcrop was used by the famous bushranger Captain Thunderbolt as one of his hideouts.

Click here for Wine Tours in the Stanthorpe and Granite Belt Wine Region.