6 more reasons to visit Outback Queensland in 2020

If you’re the person in your friendship group who likes to try new things before anyone else has even heard of them, it’s time to add Outback Queensland to your travel list.

2019 may have been the Year of Outback Queensland Tourism, but the good times will keep rolling in 2020, with six new experiences ready to welcome guests.

Whether you come by road, rail or air, get your mitts on these six new attractions taking over Outback Queensland.

1. Celebrate good times, c’mon

Artist impression

The Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach will shine bright in 2020 with the launch of ‘Luminescent Longreach’, a sound and light show projecting the history of Qantas onto the fuselage of its fleet.

The night show will launch in May – just in time to celebrate the centenary celebrations of Qantas.

The new infrastructure doesn’t stop there, to protect you from the elements of those hot outback days, the museum is installing a roof over the planes to ensure visitors are in ultimate comfort all year round.

2. Stockman for the day

#OutbackQueensland photo by @benjamin_crisp

If you needed more excuses to add Longreach to your 2020 to-visit list, Stockman’s Hall of Fame is all the convincing you need.

Next April, the team will unveil a $15 million redevelopment, including a brand-new cinematic experience.

Let your guide ‘Hugh’ (not Jackman, we asked), take you on a visual journey through history, retracing the footsteps and celebrating Australia’s stockmen and women.

This new experience will complement the existing Stockman’s live day and night shows.

3. Reaching new heights

Cinderella may have had a glass slipper, but Cobbold Gorge is soon to have Australia’s first glass bridge.

Spanning the width of the gorge, from October 2019 you’ll be able to walk over the 11m glass bridge, spanning the gorge’s sandstone cliffs.

Leave your vertigo at home – this is one experience you’ll want to look down to see.

4. The Biggest Rig

Roma might be known for oil and gas, but visitors will be digging for history in 2020, with the opening of The Bigger Big Rig Observation Tower and Tree Walk at the Big Rig in Roma.

The observation tower will be 30m tall and the 150m tree walk will showcase visual displays.

Ps – there’s talk of a zipline too!

5. More reasons to get outdoors

If you thought the outback was just a land of desert plains, we’ve just found your perfect road trip rest-stop – Hughenden’s recreational lake precinct.

The 22-hectare (that’s 35 football fields) lake precinct features a 500m rowing course, figure 8 for water-skiing, slalom circuits, boat ramp access as well as a sheltered sandy beach, recreational zone including shelters, BBQs, parklands and a kids play area.

Our swimmers are already packed!

6. Events galore

It’s not just Outback Queensland’s attractions that are growing – the outback calendar is jam-packed with quirky outback events.

The Outback Queensland Golf Masters will return in 2020 with your chance to tee off for the million-dollar hole-in-one as well as Julia Creek Dirt n Dust, Birdsville Big Red Bash and the Mount Isa Rodeo.

There are new-event-kids on the block too – the Festival of Outback Opera in Mount Isa and Birdsville’s Beer, Wine and Food Festival will be launching in 2020.

What new tourism experience are you most excited for?