Tuan State Forest Guide
Kauri Creek and the Great Sandy Strait, about 20 minutes south-east of Maryborough.
Unofficial operator’s manual
Independent, unofficial, not QPWS · Content reviewed 26 Sep 2026
Book before you drive. Both camps are booked and paid. Dogs stay on a leash. Log Dump has the only toilet. Hedleys does not. Alerts are on the QPWS page. Check the visiting-safely page the morning you go. A booking from last week is not a promise the camp is open today.
- Log Dump · booked
- Hedleys · booked
- Dogs on a leash
- Only toilet is at Log Dump
- Not K’gari
- Not a free beach camp
Plan, camp, maps, town bed
Not the national park
This is the state forest, not the national park
Tuan State Forest sits on the Fraser Coast, about a 20 minute drive south-east of Maryborough and about 45 minutes north-east of Gympie. It is a working forest with extensive exotic pine plantations, plus wallum, melaleuca wetlands, banksia woodland, blue gum and scribbly gum, and mangrove estuaries on the Great Sandy Strait. QPWS looks after the native forest and the estuaries. Log Dump, on Kauri Creek, and Hedleys, on the strait, are both booked and paid. Log Dump has the only toilet and a boat ramp. Hedleys has no toilets. Dogs are allowed on a leash. K’gari and Cooloola are Great Sandy National Park. This site is an unofficial operator’s manual in the State Forest Guide Australia network.
Other guides in this network, not this forest: stateforestguide.com.au, Benarkin (Clancys) and Imbil (Charlie Moreland).
What kind of forest day?
Camp at Log Dump
Kauri Creek · only toilet · boat ramp
Sand and dirt beside Kauri Creek. Hybrid flush toilet. Dogs on a leash. 2WD in the dry only — the booking page recommends a 4WD or a boat. Book before you drive.
Hedleys, on the strait
No toilet · boat or high-clearance 4WD
A separate booking on the Great Sandy Strait. Bring a portable toilet. No showers, no barbecue, no picnic tables. A private access road may charge. QPWS does not say how much. Ask before you use it.
Tinnanbar Road
Corrugations · slow when wet
No all-weather roads. QPWS recommends a 4WD. Logging can close a road. Drive slowly when the surface is wet. Look at visiting safely before you leave town.
I typed Fraser or Cooloola
Not this forest
K’gari and Cooloola are Great Sandy National Park. This guide is Tuan, Log Dump and Hedleys. A beach you saw online is not a free camp here.
Best for
A booked creek camp at Log Dump, with the forest’s only toilet and a boat ramp; Hedleys if you can bring a portable toilet and arrive by boat or high-clearance 4WD; a town bed ready if both camps are full on the booking service.
Skip if
You wanted a free camp you can just turn up to; you wanted K’gari or Cooloola; you need showers, a large caravan, or a toilet at Hedleys; you will push a low car down corrugated Tinnanbar Road after rain; you need a cabin or a powered site inside the forest.
Featured
Log Dump
Log Dump is an open area on sand and dirt beside Kauri Creek. No defined sites. Maximum group 15. Tent beside the car, small high-clearance caravan, camper trailer, campervan or small motorhome. Not a large caravan. The only toilet in the forest. No showers. Dogs on a leash. Not independently walked.
- QPWS permit required · display your booking tag · check-in 2pm · out by 11am · you buy it from QPWS
- Dogs on a leash at this camp, at Hedleys, and on leashes in the forest
- Hybrid flush toilet. Wheelchair access may need assistance. No showers, no barbecue, no picnic tables, no rubbish bins
- From the Cooloola Coast Road and Tinnanbar Road junction: 7 km to the signed turn-off, then 1 km. 2WD in the dry only. Severely corrugated. 4WD or a boat is what the booking page recommends. May be inaccessible in wet weather
How long
How long to allow
Half day
Tinnanbar Road, then turn around. Wildflowers along that road in late winter and spring. There is no walking track to time. A short look and a turn around is our shape, not a QPWS timetable.
Full day
Unsealed roads, with care, if the vehicle suits the corrugations — or a boat from Boonooroo, Tuan, Poona, Tinnanbar or Log Dump. Go-slow on the water: off the plane and under 6 knots.
Overnight
Booked Log Dump, or booked Hedleys. Friday Plan B is a town bed if you did not book.
On foot
On foot
There are no walking tracks. Do not expect a signed loop. Explore unsealed roads with care, and only while the road in front of you looks fit for the vehicle. Horses are permitted on forest roads and trails unless signed otherwise.
Tuan State Forest Guide
Tuan State Forest Guide downloads
Printable planner and itineraries with the site name on them. Packing, booked Log Dump and Hedleys, half day / full day / overnight. Official QPWS / QFES links on every file.
- Planner — packing, Tinnanbar Road, dogs on a leash, fires, Friday Plan B
- Itineraries — half day on the creek, full day by boat or 4WD, overnight at a booked camp
- Forest mark + www.tuanstateforest.com.au on every sheet
Free direct download — no email required. Maps · Itineraries · Privacy.
Part of the State Forest Guide Australia network
This unofficial Tuan State Forest guide is in that network. Not government. Not QPWS. Not a national-park directory.
Browse state forests → stateforestguide.com.au
Sister state forests
FAQ
Is this K’gari or Cooloola?
No. This page is Tuan State Forest, Log Dump and Hedleys. K’gari (Fraser Island) and Cooloola are Great Sandy National Park. A national-park booking does not cover this forest.
Is camping free? Can I turn up?
No. Both camps are booked and paid. Check-in 2pm, out by 11am. Display your booking tag. You buy the permit from QPWS before you drive. An empty bank is not a spare site. Read visiting safely the morning you leave.
Can I bring a dog?
Yes, on a leash, at Log Dump and at Hedleys. Visiting safely also says dogs are allowed on leashes in the forest. Pick up after them. A leash is not a reason to leave food out for a lace monitor.
How long do I need?
QPWS has not published a walk distance. Half a day is Tinnanbar Road — wildflowers in late winter and spring — or a look at the plantation and a turn around. A full day is unsealed roads, with care, if the vehicle suits, or a boat from a ramp. Overnight means you already booked. If you did not, Friday Plan B is a bed in Maryborough, Hervey Bay, Tinnanbar or Poona.
Is this site official?
No. Independent, unofficial, not QPWS. Unofficial operator’s manual in the State Forest Guide Australia network. Phone 13 74 68 is theirs. There is no public email on this site.
Rules and place names come from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Tuan pages — the forest page, camping, Log Dump, things to do, visiting safely and about — plus the Queensland National Parks Booking Service pages for Log Dump and Hedleys, and the Tuan State Forest map (MA775, April 2020). Closures and fire: the visiting-safely page, park alerts and QFES. K’gari and Cooloola are Great Sandy National Park. They are not this forest.
Not independently walked. Tinnanbar Road, the tide and the bookings change. Check parks.qld.gov.au the morning you go.