Your guide to navigate the Noosa Ultra-Trail

Event details | Explore Noosa | Where to eat and drink | Where to stay

When: 22 March 2025

Feel the burn in your quads and the fresh hinterland air in your lungs at the Noosa Ultra-Trail—Queensland’s largest trail running festival.

Choose from six courses between 15 and 100 kilometres, each featuring sections of the Noosa Trail Network—a series of trails showcasing the dairy farms, quaint country towns and rolling green hills of the magical Noosa Hinterland.

Ready to lace up your running shoes? Read on for our guide to everything that you need to know, with our Noosa Ultra-Trail guide.

Noosa Ultra Trail – what are the six trails?

The big daddy of the trails is the 100-kilometre Ultra-Trail—a gruelling test of endurance with 2,420 metres of elevation across five national parks, state forests, and reserves. Starting and finishing in Tewantin, this epic loop dives deep into the Hinterland.

Slightly shorter are the 80-kilometre Hinterland Traverse and 50-kilometre Out’N’Back, both offering scenic hinterland vistas and panoramic mountain view (not that you’ll have much time to enjoy them!) and 1,750-metres and 900-metres of vert respectively.

If you’re more used to road running, try the 25-kilometre Cross Country, a fast, point-to-point course perfect for half-marathon road runners, or the 15-kilometre Forest loop–ideal for first timers stepping up from 10-kilometre road races.

Are you the type of person who likes a lie in? Sign up for the Pomona Sundowner. This 30-kilometre ‘beer run’ kicks off mid-arvo and finishes just in time for beer-o’clock.

The 25, 50 and 100-kilometre races are official UTMB® INDEX events, meaning they offer a pathway to UTMB World Series Events—the ultimate trail running achievement.

Oh, and the Noosa Ultra-Trail isn’t just about the trails—wrap up the weekend with the Sunday Sundowner for a jog, swim, or stretch at Noosa’s iconic Main Beach.

Noosa Ultra Trail – info for competitors

Taking place in autumn, the weather is likely to be warm and humid out on the trails, so you’ll want to keep up your water consumption and focus on your electrolytes and nutrition. Make sure you’ve charged up your mobile phone, and of course, don’t forget to slip, slop, slap.

New to trail running? You’re going to want to do some practice with dirt underfoot—why not fire up your favourite running app and check out our guide to Queensland’s best running routes.

For more details including course maps, how to enter, and event info, jog on over to the Noosa Ultra-Trail website.

Explore the best of Noosa

Come to Noosa for the Ultra-Trail, stay for the region’s rich experiences—feel sand underfoot at Main Beach, kayak amongst the lily pads of the Everglades, or explore the serenity of the hinterland.

As a designated UNESCO World Biosphere (alongside the neighbouring Great Sandy and Sunshine Coast biospheres—making the Sunshine Coast the only place in the world where three Biospheres converge), Noosa is jam-packed with rainforests, wetlands and beaches just waiting to be explored.

The Noosa Everglades (one of the two in the world—the other is in Florida) is a network of water ways surrounded by scented tea-trees that is home to 40% of Australia’s bird species. Explore this ‘river of mirrors’ up close with a river cruise or self-guided canoe tour with Everglades Eco Safari.

Explore the region’s national parks, from Noosa National Park where the rainforest kisses the sea, to Tewantin National Park, where you’ll find walking trails through verdant forests and spectacular mountain views.

Meander through the streets of hinterland towns like Cooroy, Eumundi and Pomona, stopping at boutiques, galleries and markets—such as the Eumundi Markets, with over 500 stalls.

Of course, no visit is complete to Noosa without spending time at its famed Main Beach—arguably one of the most stunning beaches in the world. Running parallel you’ll find the ever trendy Hastings Street’s shops, cafes and restaurants.

Where to eat and drink in Noosa

Wander down Noosa’s Main Beach boardwalk and you’ll never be far away from gastronomic delights like a locally caught seafood platter for two at the Boardwalk Bistro or kingfish sashimi at Season Restaurant and Bar—all served with a side of beachfront views.

For something more laid back, you can’t beat Noosa Surf Lifesaving Club. Grab a classic like a chicken parmy with a schooner of beer and watch the living postcard in front of you. Our tip? Get there at opening time for an early lunch and the best view in the house—looking straight out over the flags.

Early riser? Head to Sunshine Beach Road in Noosa Heads for an abundance of breakfast options. Our picks? Flo’s Creperie for a sweet or savoury crepe or The Coffee Noosa for its tasty toastie menu and 10/10 coffee brew.

Other must-eats include chilled Mooloolaba King Prawns and slow-braised beef short rib on the waterfront at Noosa Boathouse, or the zucchini gnudi at River Bar and Restaurant, sourced from their own Maravista farm in the Noosa Hinterland.

Looking for casual drinks? Try Theo's Social Club for local and seasonal produce-infused cocktails alongside tasty morsels like stuffed zucchini flowers, or Land and Sea Brewery and Noosa Heads Distillery—with a wide selection of craft beers, whiskeys and gins available.

Where to stay in Noosa

If you’re tackling the Ultra-Trail, you’re going to need a good night sleep to maximise your performance. With the start-finish line for most events located at Tewantin, the best place to stay is in nearby Noosa Heads or Noosaville.

Wish you could stay in a rainforest, right near the beach and Hastings Street? You can, at Pepper’s Noosa Resort and Villas, located on the edge of Noosa National Park.

For other options big on luxe, check into the well-appointed rooms at the Hamptons-meets-beachfront stylings of the Sebel Noosa, or the Parisian elegance of the Sofitel Noosa Pacific Resort.

Want to really get away from it all? Make yourself at home at one of the six Mongolian yurts at Noosa Eco Retreat, or camp or glamp at Habitat Noosa Everglades Eco Camp. There’ll you find tours and activities as well as the CootharaBAR and Bistro—complete with its own microbrewery.

For more Noosa accommodation options, check out this Noosa accommodation guide.

For more tips and tricks on planning your trick, take a look at this local’s guide to Noosa.