Fort Lytton National Park

Fort Lytton National Park is a small national park, so small, that it is probably smaller than most national parks (or any park that is not your local street park) you may have been to. At only 0.13 km² (0.050 sq mi), this park nestled in the suburb of Lytton near the Port of Brisbane in Brisbane's northeast, protecting Fort Lytton, which was one of Brisbane's key defence forts in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The park can be said to be Brisbane's equivalent of Sydney's Sydney Harbour National Park, though Fort Lytton NP is much smaller.

Understand

Landscape

The area that the park is situated in is mostly a flat area at the mouth of the Brisbane River, though much of the area has been altered for the Port of Brisbane.

Flora and fauna

You probably won't be encountering any fauna, while the flora here is just grass.

Climate

The climate in Fort Lytton is generally the same as what you would find in the rest of Brisbane, though it can get very windy as it's situated right at the coast.

Visitor information

• Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) website
  • Site map
• Fort Lytton Historic Precinct website

If you're looking to get detailed information about the place, the park's 1 visitor information centre is a good starting point. It's located between the old blacksmith shed and laundry block.

Get in

From the M1 Gateway Motorway, use Exit 102 onto M4 Port of Brisbane Motorway and continue until just before the end of the rather short motorway, exit onto Lytton Road north (i.e. away from the motorway, not parallel to it) until the end of the road, which marks the start of the park.

Fees and permits

Like nearly every national park, access to Fort Lytton National Park is free. However, you may need to pay for tours.

Get around

As the park is only 0.13 km² (0.050 sq mi), the only logical way to get around (which also happens to be the only way that's physically possible) is by walking the tiny park.

See

• 1 Fort Lytton. Su (and most public holidays) 10AM–4PM. Built in 1880, this fort was built to protect Brisbane from a naval attack, in particularly from either France, or Russia. Its significance became even greater in the Pacific War when the Brisbane was under threat from a Japanese invasion. After WWII, the fort had served its time and now it remains an important historic site in Brisbane. Free. (updated Apr 2022)
• 2 Lytton Quarantine Station, 160 South Street, Lytton. Only open on special occasions.. A former quarantine station that was used to quarantine visitors entering Brisbane to were suspected to have disease in the early 20th century, but today now a historic site. The quarantine station has, however, had a bit of neglect, as it was once a QPWS office, and parts of it are located outside the national park. (updated Apr 2022)
• 3 Fort Lytton Military Museum. Contains over 2000 items which are found throughout the park including in 5 buildings, 6 gun pits, 2 shelter structures and several open air locations. Admission to the museum is free, although two of the buildings (the submarine mining building and the black powder rooms) can only be accessed on guided tours. If there's a particular section that can be said to be a "must", the Old Dining Hall section contains 10,000 artifacts pertaining to Queensland's military history. Free. (updated Apr 2022)
• Reenactments – these happen once every so often. The most popular one that happens regularly is the gun firing which happens on the first Sunday of every second month (February, April, June, August, October and December). The other regular occurring reenactment is the Brisbane Open House, which is the Brisbane Open House, which includes Fort Lytton which happens every October.

Do

Go on a guided tour at one of the points of interest. Tours can be found here on the Fort Lytton Historic Precinct website or you can call the QPWS at ☏ +61 7 3393 4647 though if you're coming as a small group, you do not need to book. Guided tours run at four times, and start at 10:30AM, 11:30AM, 12:45PM, and 1:45PM.

Buy, eat, drink and sleep

There are no shops, cafes, kiosks, restaurants, bars, pubs or any form of accommodation in Fort Lytton National Park. The nearest are all located in suburban Brisbane.

Stay safe

There is nothing to be concerned about in Fort Lytton National Park.

Go next

• Explore the rest of the Port of Brisbane region, or head west to Brisbane CBD, which is only a 20-minute drive.