[1] The town is located on the Mary Valley Road (State Route 51) 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane and 28 kilometres (17 mi) south west of Gympie, on the banks of Kandanga Creek, a tributary of the Mary River.

[5] The name "Kandanga" may be derived from the local Kabi Aboriginal language, meaning a fork or sharp bend of the creek[6][7] or it may refer to the cabbage tree.

[10][11] The Kandanga War Memorial was unveiled on 11 November 1920 by the Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the Cooroora Harry Walker.

The proposed dam, designed to provide water to the growing Sunshine Coast, was to have flooded fertile farmland, including Kandanga.

[13] A reconstruction plan was implemented following the decision to not build the dam, with farm land subdivided and offered to new owners who have introduced new crops to the Mary Valley.