Brown Lake, Perched lake on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia

Brown Lake, also known as Bummiera, is a freshwater lake on North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, Australia. Its water has a brown tint caused by tannins released from melaleuca and tea trees that grow along its shores.

Brown Lake is a perched lake, formed when rainwater collected above a hardened layer of sand and organic material known as coffee rock. The surrounding dunes took shape during the Pleistocene, when lower sea levels and strong winds built up the sandy terrain over thousands of years.

Brown Lake is called Bummiera by the Quandamooka people, the traditional owners of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), who hold a spiritual and physical relationship with the lake. The Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation shares traditional environmental management knowledge with the Queensland Government to care for the site.

The lake sits inside Naree Budjong Djara National Park and can be reached by regular car along Brown Lake Drive, a road that does not require a four-wheel drive. Picnic tables, wood-fired barbecues, and public toilets are available on site, and arriving early in the day tends to make for a quieter visit.

The lake is home to Hypseleotris galii, a native fish species that has adapted to survive in the acidic, low-nutrient water. Efforts are also underway to remove Gambusia fish, an introduced species brought in to control mosquitoes that now threatens native wildlife in the lake.