Conondale is a rural village west of Maleny and 45 km west of Caloundra. The Conondale Range National Park is west and south of the village. The locality was named after the Conondale pastoral station (c1853) taken up by Donald McKenzie who had probably come from an area near the River Conon in Scotland.

Conondale is near the headwaters of the Mary River, and is one of the numerous communities in the Mary Valley. As early as 1885 the land was recognised as 'very good' in the Queenslander.

In 1906 the Conondale Estate, consisting of farms intended for dairying, was put on the market, and a dairy factory was built. The factory was never used for its intended purpose, instead functioning as a hall. A primary school was opened in 1912.

By 1949 dairy farming was well established, and Pugh's Almanac listed all farms as 'dairy'. There were also three sawmills, a store, a garage and a one-square-mile Conondale National Park (1931). It was enlarged to about 20 sq miles in 1995.

Conondale has a general store, a sawmill, a public hall and an annual rodeo. Its community foci include the school and the rural fire brigade. There are an eco-village with permaculture and cooperative housing, and a weekly Crystal Waters market. A walk on the Conondale Range was developed for tourists in 2008.

Sand mining has been a controversial addition to local industry with Integra Resources mining 150,000 tonnes of sand annually on the Mary River at Conondale.

Census populations have been:

Census DatePopulation
192163
1947443
1961418
2006766
2011799
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