Cooloola, Queensland
Geography
Cooloola is a coastal locality, being bounded by Wide Bay in the Coral Sea to the east including the major headland, Double Island Point. From Double Island Point, Rainbow Beach extends to the west and then to the north, while Teewah Beach stretches for many kilometres to the south. The locality's north-west boundary is Tin Can Inlet off Tin Can Bay.
Off the coast of Double Island Point is Wolf Rock which is Queensland's most important habitat area for the critically endangered grey nurse shark. It is a mating area and a high number of females and pregnant females have been seen there.
The entire locality is a protected area, mostly within the Great Sandy National Park except for a small area on Double Island Point which is within the Double Island Point Conservation Park. Consistent with its protected status, there is very limited development apart from some basic bushwalking and camping infrastructure.
History
In 1865, William Pettigrew discovered the timber resources of the Cooloola area and established a sawmill and a tramway to harvest the timber. Timber cutting continued in the area until the 1960s when proposals to introduce sand mining and other kinds of development of the area resulted in protests about the environmental damage that it would cause. In 1975, the area was gazetted as the Cooloola National Park (later renamed the Great Sandy National Park).
Demographics
In the 2011 census, Cooloola had "no people or a very low population".
In the 2016 census, Cooloola had a population of 3 people.
In the 2021 census, Cooloola had "no people or a very low population".
Heritage listings
Cooloola has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Attractions
The Cooloola Great Walk is a 5-day walking track through Cooloola through to Rainbow Beach (to the north) and Noosa North Shore to the south.