Fort Lytton National Park

Fort Lytton National Park is a heritage-listed former coastal defence fort at the mouth of the Brisbane River in Lytton, Brisbane, Queensland. Built between 1880 and 1881 to protect Brisbane from naval attack, it is Queensland's foremost 19th-century fortification. Now managed as a national park, it preserves gun emplacements, tunnels, barracks and a military museum, offering insight into Australia's colonial defence history and the former Lytton Quarantine Station.

Visitors can explore a preserved 19th-century coastal fort set on the Brisbane River mouth with grassy embankments, underground tunnels, gun pits, barracks and searchlight positions. The site includes a military museum with artillery, uniforms and artefacts, and the former Lytton Quarantine Station buildings. Access is by guided tour on open days, with displays explaining colonial defence, military life and quarantine history, plus river and port views and picnic grounds.

Built 1880-1881 in response to colonial fears of naval attack following the withdrawal of British garrisons, Fort Lytton was Queensland's primary coastal defence fortification. Constructed to protect the Brisbane River and Port of Brisbane, it was garrisoned through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, expanded for both World Wars, and later used for military training. The adjacent Lytton Quarantine Station (1913-1980s) processed migrants and ships. The site is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

The park preserves Queensland's most intact example of 19th-century coastal defence technology and illustrates colonial defence planning, military life and quarantine history. It serves as a community heritage and education site with a volunteer-run military museum and interpretation of the Lytton Quarantine Station's role in public health and migration history.