Samford Valley is a vibrant community roughly 21 km north west of Brisbane. The hilly area was first settled in the mid-1850s. The community is well catered for, with sporting facilities, parks and museums.

Indigenous history
Samford was occupied by the indigenous people who named it Kupidabin, which means an opossum. They named D.L. Brown's land in Samford, Karandukamari. Samford was an important location for "kippa-ring" or initiation ceremony. Tribes from Ipswich, Cressbrook, Mount Brisbane and Brisbane would travel here to have their "kippa's" (young men) initiated.

Location
Samford is one of the closest semi-rural acreage townships to Brisbane. There are many acreage properties located in Samford Valley which are a short walk to the village centre. Access to Samford from Brisbane is via Samford Road and takes about 10 minutes from Ferny Grove - meandering through the Samford State Forest brings one to the Samford village.

Samford is located adjacent to the Samford State Forest section of Brisbane Forest Park. Brisbane Forest Park comprises more than 26,500ha enclosing 16 separate recreation areas. The wide variety of habitat provides a sanctuary for a broad range of native wildlife. The D'Aguilar Range, which includes nearby Camp Mountain, Mount Nebo, Mount Glorious, Mount Pleasant) as well as the Glass House Mountain Range more or less encircles the valley. While Samford supports a substantial population from the surrounding areas.

Transport
Samford offers a well organised public bus service for commuters needing transport to Ferny Grove Train station which is a direct line to the CBD. Busses run multiple times both in the morning and evening throughout the Samford valley area. Taxi’s are also an easy way to also commute to your desired location.

Facilities
Samford Village contains a vast mix of historical buildings, restaurants, shops and services. Samford's heritage as a village servicing farming communities is apparent from the facilities which include hardware and produce stores, as well as banking, shopping, medical, chiropractic, fitness, legal and accounting.

A popular tourist attraction is the Samford Valley Historical Museum. Located in the heart of the village, John Scott Park is the frequent venue of community cultural activities such as free concerts and holiday celebrations. The park contains playground facilities for children, and is a popular venue for weekend barbecues. The Slab Hut Gallery is an information centre and art gallery located in John Scott Park at the centre of town. There are several boutiques and gift shops in the immediate vicinity of John Scott Park.

In addition to the Samford Scout Group, the Scout Association of Queensland operates Baden Powell Park. An easy walk to the Village, Baden Powell Park consists of 56 hectares of natural bush land bordering the Brisbane Forest Park. Included within the grounds are modern fully equipped conference facilities for up to 150, commercial kitchen, accommodation blocks, camping ground, swimming pool, dam, abseiling tower as well as walking trails of various grades throughout the park. Baden Powell Park is the venue for a number of activities open to the public such as laser skirmish and abseiling.

The Baden-Powell Heritage Centre & Museum is also open to scouting groups and to the general public on weekends.
 

Sports and activities
Some of the local sports played in and around town include swimming, horse riding, soccer, football, cricket, netball, tennis and lawn bowls. The Council is planning a sport and recreation facility that will become a major resource for the residents of Samford Valley and the Moreton Bay Regional Council. The possible facilities include open space, camp ground, equestrian, tennis, netball, amphitheatre, kiosk, soccer and rugby league and parking.

Education
The two local primary schools are Samford State School and Samford Valley Steiner School. Samford Valley Steiner School became a high school in the year 2006. A close high school is Ferny Grove State High school which is located approximately 10 minutes away at nearby Ferny Grove. Several private schools also maintain buses to Samford, including St Paul's School, Bald Hills, Padua College and St. Joseph's Nudgee College at Boondall.

History
Samford's very first inhabitants were an aboriginal tribe which belonged to the Waka language group, whose territory also included the upper Brisbane River and the South Burnett. While there are no aboriginal tribes still living in Samford, their history remains by means of the very well maintained Bora Ring at Wights Mountain, the burial site near Upper Camp Mountain Road and the records kept at the local historical museum.

Although they're closer to Brisbane than most acreage areas in the Pine Rivers Shire, the secluded valleys of the upper reaches of the South Pine River were not settled by Europeans until the mid-1850s. The first land auction were held on 1 February 1855. After the subdivision of farms into acreage homesites commenced in the 1960s, and substantial upgrading of road access more recently, some of Samford's residents now commute from their homes to work in Brisbane.

This first business to open in the Samford area was a shop and bakehouse which was owned and built by Alex Lawson. In 1919 the O'Hara's Hotel or the Samford hotel shifted to its current location where it still operates from today, the location where the hotel previously operated from before the moved was then bought and used by the CSIRO. In the late 1950s, this hotel again changed its name from the Samford Railway Hotel to the Golden Valley Hotel.

By 1908, banana growing on the steep ridges at the foot of the ranges had become one of the most important industries in the Samford district. After World War 1, the Government created additional small farms so that returned servicemen with limited capital were able to get started in the industry. During 1926 and 1927, more bananas were consigned to southern markets from Samford Railway Station than any other railway station in Queensland. This success was short-lived, however, as a virus which had wiped out banana growing in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, 'Bunchy Top' disease, finally affected the crop and was the primary reason for the decline of the industry in the Pine Rivers Shire.

In 2008, Samford became part of [Moreton_Bay_Region| Moreton Bay Regional Council].

Climate
Samford has a sub-tropical climate with very hot humid summers and mild, dry, sunny winters. Most rain falls during the height of summer, between November and February. Whilst summer maximum average temperatures generally linger around 30C, the summer months have some extremely hot days, sometimes as high as 40C.