West Stowe, Queensland

West Stowe is a rural locality in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. It is immediately west of the Gladstone urban area and immediately south of the small town of Yarwun. In the, West Stowe had a population of 391 people.

Geography
The Calliope River forms the southern boundary and most of the eastern boundary.

The Bruce Highway enters the locality from the south (River Ranch) and exists to the south-west (East End).The Gladstone–Mount Larcom Road (State Route 58) runs along part of the northern boundary.

The North Coast railway line also forms part of the north and north-eastern boundary. There are two stations on the north-east boundary:


 * Mount Miller railway station (-23.8525°N, 151.1651°W)
 * Wiggins Island Balloon Loop railway station (-23.8625°N, 151.1718°W)

The Wiggins Island Balloon Loop is a 13 km balloon loop within West Stowe. The loop is for unloading coal trains and transferring the coal onto a conveyor belt to the Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal in Callemondah where it is loaded onto ships.

The terrain varies from 10 to 314 m above sea level. There are a number of named peaks, all in the north of the locality:

Calliope Conservation Park is in the north-east of the locality and there are three sections of the Mount Stowe State Forest in the north of the locality. Apart from these protected areas, the land use is predominantly grazing on native vegetation.
 * Mount Sugarloaf (-23.8584°N, 151.1003°W) 316 m
 * Mount Martin (-23.8747°N, 151.161°W) 228 m
 * Mount Stowe (-23.8947°N, 151.1657°W) 239 m
 * White Hill (-23.9054°N, 151.1436°W) 81 m

History
The locality was officially named and bounded on 27 August 1999. It most likely takes its name from the parish.

The Wiggins Island Balloon Loop was built in 2012 to 2013.

Demographics
In the, West Stowe had a population of 311 people.

In the, West Stowe had a population of 391 people.

Education
There are no schools in West Stowe. The nearest government primary schools are:

The nearest government secondary schools are:
 * Yarwun State School in neighbouring Yarwun to the north
 * Clinton State School in Clinton (suburb of Gladstone) to the north-east
 * Calliope State School in Calliope to the south-east
 * Mount Larcom State School in Mount Larcom to the north-west


 * Gladstone State High School (to Year 12) in West Gladstone (suburb of Gladstone) to the north-east
 * Calliope State High School (to Year 12) in Calliope to the south-east
 * Mount Larcom State School (to Year 10) in Mount Larcom to the north-east

There are also non-government schools available in Gladstone.