Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

327km via Killarney, Tannymorel, Emu Vale, Freestone, Goomburra, Allora, Leyburn, Leslie Dam, Warwick, Dalveen, Amiens and Stanthorpe

The Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail is a collection of artworks created by local and international artists using locally-sourced sandstone and granite that have been thoughtfully placed throughout our wonderful region. Download the Southern Downs & Granite Belt Visitor App, hop in the car and go on a fascinating journey through the region’s history and culture as you visit some of our smaller settlements and far-flung places. You haven’t really seen the Southern Downs until you #SeeSouthernDowns on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail.

Killonis by Paul Stumkat on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

Killonis

The Miner by Dr. Rhyll Hinwood on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

The Miner

Fleay's Barred Frog by Paul Stumkat on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

Fleay’s Barred Frog

Patrick & Kate Leslie by Vern Foss on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

Patrick & Kate Leslie

Condamine Lisa by Ken Hutchinson on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

Condamine Lisa

Breeding Pair of Murray Cod by Paul Stumkat on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

Murray Cod

Tiddalik by Vern Foss, Suzanne Stratford-Pearn, and Jim Roberts on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

Tiddalik

The Rock by Gabriele Trabucco and Richard Pfeiffer on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail

The Rock

Top Tips

Take your time to explore the trail. There are plenty of great places to stay in the Southern Downs so there is never any need to hurry. The Southern Downs Accommodation pages of our website list heaps of great options.

For help with planning your next Southern Downs adventure, call our Visitor Information Centres in Warwick on (07) 4661 3122 and Stanthorpe on (07) 4681 2057, and download the official Southern Downs & Granite Belt Visitor App. Our app is the ultimate free travel resource to help you explore and #SeeSouthernDowns.

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Route Highlights

  • Killarney | The rolling green hills, glorious mountain views and plummeting waterfalls of Killarney offer one of the region’s most relaxing getaways. You’ll love the village atmosphere and small town charm of the main street, dotted with galleries, cafes, parks and a museum. Killarney has one granite sculpture and three sandstone sculptures to admire. The granite sculpture is A Space for Contemplation by Luke Zwolsman at Browns Falls Park. The sandstone sculptures are Killonis by Paul Stumkat at the Killarney Recreation Club, Colossal Horses by Paul Stumkat at Killarney Polocrosse, and Eternal Flow by Lana Tyacke at Ellen Backhouse Park aka Tierney Park.
  • Tannymorel | Tannymorel township grew around a sawmill which milled cedar, hoop pine, silky oak, and mahogany in the early 1870s. The Tannymorel Coal Mine was established at Mt Colliery in the 1890s and continued until 1967. The Miner by Dr. Rhyl Hinwood is a sandstone sculpture located in Farm Creek Park on Tannymorel Mount Colliery Road just as you leave Tannymorel on your way to Mount Colliery. Other notable artworks in town include the Tannymorel Shed Mural on Kurrajong Street and the steel eagle on Yangan – Killarney Road.
  • Emu Vale | Emu Vale was the site of the ‘Old Sheep Station’, an outstation of Canning Downs. It is also the gateway to Mt Superbus for experienced bushwalkers. In Emu Vale Park on Yangan – Killarney Road, you will find the Lincoln Bomber Wildflowers sandstone sculpture that Antone Bruinsma created at the 2006 Southern Downs Sculpture Symposium.
  • Freestone | You can see the old railway store, now called South Georgia, which was moved to its current location in 1905. A large railway grain shed also stands as a reminder of the once thriving township. Music still rings out in the Freestone Hall for regular old style country dances. A sandstone sculpture called Global Warming that was created by Eduardo Waxemburg from Argentina at the 2008 Southern Downs Bioconcepts Sculpture Symposium can be found in Clyde Simon Park on Freestone Road.
  • Goomburra | Unspoiled natural beauty abounds in the Goomburra Valley with rugged mountain ranges, spectacular views, trickling streams and rare wildlife all calling the World Heritage listed area home. Once a thriving rural community with a school, church, railway station and various small shops, the Goomburra Hall is the only building still in regular use. The Goomburra Section of Main Range National Park is located 26 kilometres from Goomburra Hall along Inverramsay Road. This is where you will also find the Fleay’s Barred Frog sandstone sculpture by Paul Stumkat.
  • Allora | Known by the locals as the ‘Best Little Town on the Downs’, Allora has an old-time streetscape, filled with history. Allora features many timber buildings that showcase late 1800s and early 1900s architecture including the CBC Bank, the Railway Hotel, the old Shire Chambers, the Queensland National Bank and the Commercial Hotel. There are two stone sculptures in Allora. The first is the sandstone Allora Seat in Dalrymple Park that was created by Mark Warne at the 2006 Southern Downs Sculpture Symposium. The second is the granite P.L. Travers sculpture that commemorates Pamela L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, who lived in Allora when she was a child. This is located in PL Travers Park.
  • Leyburn | Known as the town of living history, Leyburn is the site of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix, now commemorated annually in August with the Historic Leyburn Sprints. Leyburn will charm you with its old time feel with many of the buildings dating back to mid to late 1800s. This small village came about as a resting point for bullock teams crossing at what was initially named Leslie Crossing, on Patrick Leslie’s original trail. The name was later changed to Canal Creek and finally to Leyburn. Leyburn has a a sandstone sculpture called Racing Car that was created by Vern Foss by Vern Foss at the 2006 Southern Downs Sculpture Symposium. It represents the 1949 Australian Grand Prix winning Delahaye Type 135 of John Crouch.
  • Leslie Dam | Patrick Leslie was a Scot who, along with his brothers Walter and George, was the first settler to take up land on the Darling Downs. In 1847, the NSW government asked Leslie to select a site for a town on his Canning Downs station. It was to be known as Canningtown, but the name Warwick was eventually chosen. Leslie Dam is named after the pioneering settler. Granite rock sculptures of Patrick Leslie and his wife Kate are located near the dam wall. They were created by Vern Foss. The Patrick Leslie Sculpture was unveiled on 9 June 1996, and the sculpture of Kate Leslie was unveiled on 21 October 2001.
  • Warwick | Famous as the Rose and Rodeo City, Warwick is a thriving regional hub with a relaxed and friendly country town vibe. You’ll find the balance is just right in Warwick – beautifully preserved sandstone buildings, the meandering Condamine River, pretty parks and gardens bursting with blooms in spring and summer, and lashings of country town charm with all the trappings of a thriving creative regional city. Nine of the twenty six sculptures on the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail are in Warwick. Download the Southern Downs & Granite Belt Visitor App to follow the trail and make sure you don’t miss any of them.
  • Dalveen | Dalveen is a small but growing artisan village with a free camping area in Jim Mitchell Park that is a favourite of Grey Nomads and the travelling community in general. You can buy work by local artists and craftspeople including leadlight, handmade porcelain dolls and unique fashions. Dalveen has a number of heritage-listed sites including the Dalveen Tunnel, Braeside Homestead, the former butcher’s shop, St Barnabas’ Anglican Church, Dalveen Uniting Church, and Dalveen State School. A sandstone sculpture called Handshake that was created by Eric Green can be found in Jim Mitchell Park on Pine Crescent.
  • Amiens | Amiens’ contribution to the Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail is the Soldier Settler Family Memorial by Gabriele Trabucco at the Amiens Legacy Centre, where you can also cross the Bailey Bridge that honours all military engineers, see the Remembrance quilt and marvel at Franco’s mural “Forging a Future after the Trenches”. Amiens is also blessed with large apple orchards which are impressive in autumn when they are laden with fruit and beautiful when they are blossoming in spring.
  • Stanthorpe | At the heart of the Granite Belt, Stanthorpe gives easy access to big sky panoramas, spectacular countryside dotted with precariously balancing prehistoric granite boulders and a generally cooler, temperate climate (there’s even an occasional winter snow-fall!). Previously known as Quart Pot Creek, a mining rush in 1872 gave Stanthorpe its name: stannum is Latin for tin and thorp is English for village. The Southern Downs Stone Sculpture Trail features four works of art in Stanthorpe. They are Waiting for Change by Richard Pfeiffer and The Drummer and The Dancer by Gabriele Trabucco in Weeroona Park, Blue the Divine by Chris Humphreys outside the Post Office, and The Rock by Gabriele Trabucco and Richard Pfeiffer at the entrance to the Doug Smith carpark on Rogers Street.

Contact Information

Stanthorpe Information 07 4681 2057
Warwick Information 07 4661 3122
Email us: visitor@sdrc.qld.gov.au