Tamborine Mountain Road/Geissmann Drive

As you drive from the grazing country in the Albert River Valley to Tamborine Village, and wind your way up through the Tamborine Mountain rainforest, spare a thought for those who built this road in the early 1920s. While the mountain was originally opened up for timber and agriculture in 1875, the natural beauty of the mountain was soon recognised. The first guest house, St Bernard's, opened in 1885, followed in 1898 by the Geissmann family's Capo di Monte guest house. Queensland's first national park was declared at Witches Falls in 1908. Access to the mountain remained difficult until construction of the Logan Village to Canungra railway in 1915. Private cars offered a commercial shuttle service up the mountain. The Tamborine Progress Association lobbied for a better road. The Main Roads Board, established in 1920, commenced construction of Tamborine Mountain Road in 1921 as one of Queensland's first seven main roads. The gravel road was completed in 1924 and in 1925 it became one of the first bitumen roads in Queensland, operating as a toll road until 1945. The upper section of Tamborine Mountain Road was renamed Geissmann Drive in 1982 to honour that family's contribution to the community.