CAN 1 - The Kinaba Information Centre (Elanda to Kinaba canoeing time:1 hr)
The Kinaba (Sir Thomas Hiley) Information Centre is at the northwest corner of the mighty Lake Cootharaba. It is a shallow unprotected lake which can be rough on windy days. Often in summer, afternoon storms brew over the Lake. The Information Centre is staffed by rangers who answer public enquiries and use the Centre as a park management base and for issuing camping permits for Fig Tree Point, Harry's Hut and other campsites further up the Noosa River. The Centre also provides the opportunity to observe waterbirds.

A narrow channel near Kinaba Information Centre provides access to the Upper Noosa River and Kin Kin Creek. A 6 knot speed limit with no wave wash, equivalent to slow jogging, applies to craft on all waterways beyond this point. Canoes should stay clear of power boats and all on-coming boats should pass on the left hand side. Kinaba Island on your right was formed by silt washed down and deposited in the mouth of the Kin Kin Creek. Native cotton trees with large yellow flowers line the bank. Paper bark teatrees are common on the island while giant mangrove ferns are prominent on the water's edge.

CAN 2 - Kin Kin Creek (Kinaba to Kin Kin Creek: Canoeing time 5 mins)
The water near the mouth of the Kin Kin Creek is brackish - a mixture of salt and fresh water. Mangroves mingle with cotton trees along the banks for about 2 kilometers upstream. Power boats must proceed no further up the Kin Kin Creek than this point as there are many submerged logs. Only canoes proceeding past this point can see the remaining rainforest of the Kin Kin scrub. 4.5 kilometers upstream is a walker's footbridge which can only be reached by canoe or by walking.

CAN 3 - Fig Tree Lake (Kin Kin Creek to Fig Tree Lake: Canoeing time: 15 mins)
Fig Tree Lake hides the "secret" entrance to the Upper Noosa River. This Lake is very shallow and has beds of aquatic plants which provide an excellent habitat for waterbirds. The channel into the Upper Noosa River is at the northern end of the lake near the jetty at Fig Tree Point camping and day use area. Fig Tree Point has the Melaleuca circuit boardwalk and track which passes through paperbark and cabbage palm wetland. Fig Tree Point is believed to have been a corroboree site for Aboriginal people, whose food included fish, kangaroos, wild fruits and roots.
The Point also figured prominently in the Eliza Fraser story being the place to where the Aborigines brought Eliza Fraser after a series of misadventures beginning with the sinking of her husband's ship "Stirling Castle" off Fraser Island in 1836. At Fig Tree Point she was rescued from the Aborigines by Lieutenant Otter and taken back to civilisation at the Moreton Bay Settlement.


CAN 4 - Como Reach/ Upper Noosa River Junction (Fig Tree to Como Reach: Canoeing time: 5 mins)
The Water in this section is coloured by tannins washed from decaying vegetation. This dark water makes an excellent mirror and provides magnificent reflections of the surrounding vegetation. Grasslike plants along the bank are called sedges. Their tissue contains spongy, air filled cavities which help them stay upright. The masses of sedges rise and fall protecting the banks from the wash produced by power boats and force of water during floods. Look for a variety of waterbirds including black swans, egrets and darters. A 500 meter long unnamed island in the mouth of the Noosa River can be circumnavigated by canoe. The eastern side of the island is inaccessible to power boats due to overhanging trees and logs in the water.

CAN 5 - Lake Como (Como Reach to Lake Como: Canoeing Time: 10 mins)
Lake Como is a shallow lake surrounded by sedges and paperbark swamp. Reeds extend into the northern end of the lake for about 200 meters. Whistling kites and osprey are sometimes seen circling overhead. Motor boats should not enter this lake as it is very shallow and worse still the wreckage of an old timber barge lies rotting on the eastern side of the lake entrance. Canoes should keep to the western side when entering and leaving the lake.

CAN 6 - The Narrows ( Lake Como to Narrows: Canoeing Time: 15 mins) This narrow, winding section of the river is renowned for its reflections. They are best on calm, slightly overcast days. Submerged logs can be treacherous to powerboats which should stay in the absolute centre of the river. To the east of this part of the river is an inaccessible large freshwater lake called Lake Cooloola. After periods of heavy rain, water from Lake Cooloola overflows into lake Cootharaba. CAN 7 - Harry's Camping and Day Use Area (Narrows to Harry's: Canoeing Time: 30 mins) This area was once the site of a logging camp. Kauri and hoop pine, cypress and beech were cut from the forest to the east of the Upper Noosa River, floated downstream to this site and then taken out by bullock and horse teams. In the fifties after the logging period was over, Harry Spring, a chemist who owned the pharmacy in Cooroy began using and maintaining the old timbergetter's hut there for his bass fishing expeditions up the Noosa River. Harry died a few years ago now but the area still bears his name.

The Upper Noosa River is navigable by canoe for a further 22 kilometers to the junction of Teewah Creek. However, above Harry's, no campfires are allowed and all cooking must be done on fuel stoves. Motor boats are still allowed past Harry's but only as far as campsite 3.
The Harry's Hut Road which comes in from the Cooloola Way is recommended for four-wheel drive vehicles only, especially after rain.