Inglewood

Once a significant tobacco growing area, these days the focus in Inglewood is on sheep and cattle grazing, timber milling and the farming of fodder, grains and horticulture crops.

If you’ve been behind the wheel for some time, make Inglewood’s driver reviver station in Lions Park your first stop. Expect all the usual facilities and play activities for the children.

Break up the journey with a walk on the sealed walkways along the riverbank or wandering the palm-tree lined main street.

While you’re in town, sample local produce including olives, high-quality honey, organic chicken and beef direct from farm or outlets in the main street.

Take in the perfume at Leven K Farm and sample some of their award-winning essential oil, body lotion or handmade heat packs. Make your farm touring progressive and learn about the process from picking to finished product at Coolmunda Organic Olives.

The area is renowned for its natural beauty and one of the best ways to explore is on a local tourist drive. Drop into the Visitor Information Centre in Albert Street for maps of the local attractions. If you are visiting in late winter or early spring, you’ll see (and smell) the wildflowers that dot the countryside.

Lake Coolmunda is just 12 km east of Inglewood on the Cunningham Highway with lakeside camping and caravan accommodation on offer. Enjoy fishing, canoeing, sailing or water-skiing on this 1740 ha lake. This water source is a magnet to a huge variety of wildlife including colourful grass parrots, wrens, raptors, numerous water birds and the rare regent honeyeater. On the flora front, keep an eye out for the distinctive, vibrant yellow Inglewood wattle and native cypress.

Don’t forget to call into the Inglewood Heritage Centre and view the Australian Tobacco Museum display, including a scaled down replica of a Drying Barn. The Museum also houses written and pictorial records (circa early 1900’s) of Inglewood and the surrounding district from settlement.

Spend a few days here and relax, reconnect with nature and enjoy the country lifestyle.

Population: (approximately) 1,100

EVENTS

Inglewood Trail Bike Ride - Inglewood State School host their annual Trail Bike Ride in April with hundreds of participants of all ages and ability testing their skills on the local bush tracks.

Inglewood Show and Shine – Rev your engines at The Inglewood Show and Shine drawing car enthusiasts every September.

Groovin in the Grove - Taste local olives and other produce, relax to the sounds of live music and browse through market stalls at Groovin in the Grove every second September.

Save the date with our events calendar

HISTORY

There’s a sense of intrepid exploration in Inglewood’s history. Allan Cunningham passed through to the east of Inglewood in 1827 on his exploration of inland Queensland, which later led to pastoral holdings being established in the mid 1840’s.

Back then, Cypress pine and hardwood were abundant, which provided material for building the community and later became an important industry for the district.

In the 1890’s tobacco became a huge economic boost to the region, and with a large influx of European migrants (mostly Italian) after WWII, the industry flourished.

The Railway reached Inglewood in 1906 establishing important transport links to Brisbane and the Warwick Co-Op Butter Factory. The factory supplied Inglewood with dairy products and electricity until its closure in 1960.

Coolmunda Dam was completed in 1968, providing water for the town of Inglewood along with irrigation of crops in the surrounding district.

MUST DO:

• Experience lakeside camping at Lake Coolmunda
• Sample local produce
• Enjoy birdwatching
• Visit Leven K Farm

MUST SEE:

• Australian Tobacco Museum
• Olive groves
• Beautiful parks
• Amazing wildflowers