Emu Park: Beaches, History and Coastline

Emu Park brings together beach access, local history, distinctive memorials and events. When planning your stay, you can start by considering whether access to the water, an insight into the town’s history or an event date is most important to you. Each of the different sites offers a different perspective on Emu Park.

Beaches and access to the water

Emu Park Main Beach has beach access with reduced barriers for visitors of all abilities. Shops and cafés are within easy walking distance. Access conditions may change as a result of later works; check before your visit if needed.

You can reach Fisherman's Beach from the eastern end of Hill Street or via footpaths through Bell Park. Tanby Point Beach is accessible via Haven Road; there is a car park and a picnic table there. Access and facility conditions may change as a result of local works. If these details are important to your plans, check them before your visit.

The three beach locations offer different points of reference: at Main Beach, the beach access with reduced barriers and shops and cafés within walking distance are key features. Access to Fisherman's Beach is via Hill Street and Bell Park; Tanby Point Beach has access via Haven Road, a car park and a picnic table. This lets you distinguish the locations based on their respective access and facilities, without assuming a particular route.

Explore the town's history for yourself

Emu Park Museum is located on Hill Street and features exhibitions on local history. Information brochures and leaflets supplement what it offers. The museum also provides research assistance on former residents and historical events in and around Emu Park; availability depends on the museum's operations.

The Emu Park Historical Trail offers glimpses into the town's history. QR codes at Eric the Emu and his 20-member family guide visitors on a walk through Emu Park. Check locally to see whether the QR markers and trail are available as intended. A brochure with a map of the stops is also available at Emu Park Museum. This lets you consider the trail and a museum visit as two different ways to explore the town's history: the walk takes you through the town, while the museum's exhibitions bring together local topics.

Memorials, maritime heritage and views

The Emu Park Memorial Cenotaph is a white-painted obelisk erected in 1921. It displays honour rolls of Emu Park soldiers from the First World War. The Singing Ship commemorates Captain James Cook's historic explorations. Its design depicts the billowing sails, mast and rigging of Cook's ship, the Endeavour. Organ pipes hidden inside the memorial create musical sounds in the sea breeze.

Below the Singing Ship, an observation platform and a boardwalk form part of the Centenary of ANZAC Memorial Walk. The ANZAC precinct also includes the self-guided “Gatehouse” interpretive centre, a memorial walk and a boardwalk to the adjacent headland escarpment. From Emu Park, you can look out over the islands of Keppel Bay, including Great Keppel Island. The views of the islands and the memorials offer different points of interest for those drawn to the landscape or remembrance.

The Maritime Museum at Emu Park Museum displays ship models ranging from early vessels to the Endeavour and Victory, as well as modern naval and merchant ships. The collection thus spans historic sailing ships and more recent types of vessels. It complements the Endeavour's significance to the Singing Ship with its own perspective on how ships are represented in model form.

Market days and events

The Emu Park Picnic Markets are held on the third Sunday of every month at Bell Park. Dates and times may change; if you're planning to visit a market, check the date for the relevant event. The Festival of the Wind is a family kite festival with kite flying at Fisherman's Beach. Event dates and the programme vary, so it's worth checking the latest festival dates before planning a trip around it.

Kerr Park playground on the foreshore is another of the places described in Emu Park. Whether you focus on a market, the festival, the beaches or the historic sites, you can choose destinations based on the topics that interest you, without needing to include every stop in a fixed walking tour.

Discover more destinations: Goondiwindi, Welsby, Annerley, Kilcoy, Mungungo, Jindalee, The Keppels

Back to the main travel overview: Queensland.