Hikes in search of waterfalls
There is a classical Chinese poem that goes,
The wise man walks in the mountains, the intelligent man sits by the waterfall. Why not both? Why not walk in the mountains to a waterfall? Here are the best waterfalls that can be reached by hikes in South East Queensland.
There are lots of waterfalls across South East Queensland
The waterfalls here are all what would be considered hikes. They don't have to be long hikes, but I left out the short walks and strolls to waterfalls. Where there are multiple waterfall hikes in an area, I sometimes just listed the best one. I also have a list of
waterfalls in South East Queensland if you are just interested in easy to reach waterfalls.
It is worth walking to, by or under many of the waterfalls in South East Queensland
The
Green Mountains section of Lamington National Park, which everyone calls O'Reilly's, has lots of waterfalls on most of the tracks, but the essential one is the
Box Forest Circuit. It has 3 main falls on the walk, including Yanbacoochie
Falls, Tullerigumai or Box Log Falls, and Elabana
Falls, though the walk also includes smaller falls and cascades.
The Box Forest Circuit is well known for its large number of lovely waterfalls
While it is only a 10.9 km easy walk, you should still set aside enough time to admire, photograph and enjoy the various falls and other spots on the circuit. You could get it done in a couple of hours, but it took us 5 hours the first time we did it as we stopped everywhere, including having a picnic lunch at Picnic Rock.
If you are sick of waterfalls on the Box Forest Circuit, there are always The Cascades
Remember, there are plenty of other waterfalls in this area, so consider some of the other walks, such as
Toolona Creek Circuit or
West Canungra Creek Circuit. After a weekend of hiking at O'Reilly's you can be pretty much guaranteed to be sick of waterfalls.
Queen Mary Falls
If you want a small hike and a great waterfall, then consider the
Queen Mary Fall's 2 km circuit where you can view the falls from the top, walk over the creek at the top of the falls, walk down the to the base of the falls, across the creek again and back up the stairs to the start. Sure it is only 20 minutes, but do it a few times and it counts are real exercise.
Queen Mary Falls in Killarney
This is part of the
Falls Drive between Boonah and Killarney over The Head. This scenic route features 4 falls, a lookout and some places of interest. Definitely stop at Queen Mary Falls to view the falls or better yet, do the walk.
Queen Mary Falls is an essential stop on the Falls Drive to Killarney
The
Cronan Creek Falls is close to being the perfect ideal of a little waterfall swimming spot. It is less perfect now that it is no longer a secret and is at the end of a signed track. You used to be pretty much guaranteed a private waterfall experience. But that is okay, it makes the walk a little easier.
Swimming at Cronan Creek Falls
This is a 13 km walk along a wide trail that crosses multiple creeks with 2 campsites on the way. The last part of the walk is along a narrow little trail down to the creek, where you need to rock hop or wade your way up to the falls. It is not a hard walk and well worth it.
One of many creek crossings on the Cronan Creek Falls Track
I can't include Mapleton Falls by itself because it is right next to the car park. However, it is possible to include it in a walk that goes from Flaxton, down to the lovely
Baxter Falls, then up to and along the road to Mapleton Falls. It is around a 5 kms return walk to Baxter Falls and 12 kms for the return walk from Flaxton to Mapleton Falls and back.
Baxter Falls in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland
The walk down to Baxter Falls is fairly steep whether you start at Flaxton Mill Road or from Sues Pocket Road. But it is a pleasant walk through the rainforest down to the falls which is still lovely with only a little water.
Walking across the suspension bridge at Baxter Creek
Then of course you have to push up to the other side of the road and walk along the footpath to Mapleton Falls. Yes, you could just drive that if you wanted to, but where is the fun in that?
Cameron Falls on the Sandy Creek Circuit on Mt Tamborine
This is another easy walk on the 2.6 km Sandy Creek Circuit at
Mt Tamborine. This is a pleasant walk through the rainforest and along the palm tree-lined creek. You get views of Cameron Falls from the lookout and some people walk down the creek to the top of the falls as well.
Look, Cameron Falls is really nice when the water is flowing, but not this time
But there is also more in the area, with additional walks in the nearby areas, including Witches Falls Circuit and also the short strolls to Curtis Falls and
Cedar Creek Falls. While the area only has short walks, the 3 falls and multiple tracks can add up to a nice day on the mountain.
You can follow up Sandy Creek Circuit with other walks & falls, including Curtis Falls
One of the great walks in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland is the walk to Booloumba Falls in the Conondale National Park. This walk combines art, history, waterfalls, lookout and swimming, with the Gold Mine,
Strangler Cairn and
Artists Cascades, Breadknife Lookout on the way to the falls. The cascades are pretty much a falls even without the name and this can be an option for people who don't want a hike that is too long.
Photo of Booloumba Falls courtesy of Darren McMillan @ Wikimedia
The total return walk from the trailhead at
Booloumba Creek is around 16 kms return, and only 11 kms return to the Artists Cascades. If you don't have a 4 wheel drive you will have to park your car before the first creek crossings on the way into the park and walk in, which adds another 3 kms to the walk. Those with a 4 wheel drive also have the option to drive into the Booloumba Falls Car Park and do the 2 km return walk from there. As the falls lie on the Conondale Great Walk, hikers can choose to hike to the falls as part of the great walk, or just do an overnight hike to the Wongai Walkers' Camp.
Swimming at Artists Cascades in Conondale National Park
is an out-of-the-way area of the
Main Range National Park. There are lots of walks in the area with both views and waterfalls. The best waterfall is
Araucaria Falls and is down a 3.2 km track. The walk takes you over the top of the falls and then down to the base where there is a swimming hole.
Araucaria Falls in the Goomburra Section of the Main Range National Park
One thing about the Araucaria Falls is that more experienced hikers might consider walking to the end of the
North Branch Track then rock hopping, wading and scrambling up the creek to the base of the falls. You can turn it into a complete circuit by following the track back to Lookout Road, then hiking to
Sylvesters Lookout and diverting on the Scenic Rim Great Walk Trail which takes you back to the
Cascades Circuit, from where you can walk to your starting point.
Crossing the top of the Araucaria Falls
While the little 1 km Natural Bridge walk at Springbrook is famous, there are 2 other hikes that lead to waterfalls, and I can't separate them because they actually overlap. The first is the 4.7 km Twin Falls walk that goes down into the valley and visits the Twin Falls before coming back out and along the ridge. The
Warrie Circuit is a 14 km walk that also includes 5 additional falls.
The best part of the Springbrook walks is taking the path behind the waterfalls
One end of the Warrie Circuit includes the Twin Falls Circuit, and you can choose to exit via the valley part of that circuit or the ridge. As you came to this article in search of waterfalls, you probably want to go out by the valley. Mind you, the ridge views are also amazing if you are already waterfalled out by this stage.
Contemplating the view from the top of a waterfall in Springbrook National Park
There is no single way to get to these falls at
Binna Burra, but just to walk to the falls, most people will do the 10 km Lower Bellbird Circuit and then divert onto the short
Ballanjui Falls Track. You can do it as a sidewalk on the 21 km Ships Stern Circuit. On both walks, it is the only falls, but both walks also include lots of views as well.
There are great views on the Ballanjui Falls walk
Looking up from the bottom you can see both parts of the falls, with an upper and lower parts to them. Beneath the falls is a small pool that you might be able to paddle in if there has been a bit of recent rain.
At the base of the Ballanjui Falls looking up
is one of the favourite little walks in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. It is a 1.2 km one way walk to the rock pools with a small fall above the main falls. This is a popular spot for families to swim and escape the summer heat.
The rock pool above Kondalilla Falls
There is also a circuit that takes you down to the bottom of the falls, which is a total of 4.7 kms including the walk to the rock pools and includes over 300 stairs. But as it is not long, anyone with basic fitness can enjoy this walk. Then of course, while it is hot work coming back up the stairs to the rock pools, you do have a nice place to swim.
The walk to the base Kondalilla Falls is worth doing
is one of the shorter walks on the list, with a 1.2 km return walk to the 15 metre falls. I have included it because the track is very rough and ready and involves a little bit of rock hopping across the creek and a bit of mild scrambling up creek banks. But it is well worth it.
Photo of Browns Falls courtesy of Bryce Walker at Flickr
One thing to note is that there is a cascade along the walk not far from the end of the track that some people mistake for the falls. This falls is part of the
falls drive between Boonah and Killarney and so it is something worthwhile combining with the
Queen Mary Falls walk.
The early part of the track is well defined, but closer to the falls the trail gets rougher and less well defined
The 17.4 km
Coomera Circuit walk at
Binna Burra has 4 great falls on the track, with the most famous being Coomera Falls, of which you great views from above. Despite its length, this is a fairly easy track with no steep sections.
Coomera Falls on the Coomera Circuit at Binna Burra
Most people will do this walk anti-clockwise to get the falls in first, then head back home along the border track which offers a few views down into the valley. Other people will do the walk as part of a
walk between Binna Burra and O'Reilly's, with a diversion onto the Coomera circuit to make it more interesting.
Another waterfall on the Coomera Circuit at Binna Burra
has to be the hardest hike on the list, simply because the route to the falls is mostly along an unmarked track and involves rock hopping up the creek. But it is well worth it for the spectacular falls at the end of the walk.
Larapinta Falls in Lamington National Park
The
hike starts at the Christmas Creek Section of the Lamington National Park. The start goes through private property so please make sure you close the gate on your way through. The first part of the path is pretty straightforward to
Westray's Grave. This is the grave of one of the passengers of the famous Stinson plane crash who survived the crash but died trying to hike out.
Grave of Westray who was a survivor of the Stinson crash who died trying to get out
At a point in the walk, you need to divert to the left along a different branch of the creek. This is where you will need to rock hop up the creek to the falls. As long as you stick to the creek you won't get lost and you can't miss the falls. The only person I know who got lost here just followed the wrong branch of the creek and could easily backtrack out.
Rock hopping up the creek to Larapinta Falls
Moran Falls in the
Green Mountains section of Lamington National Park, which everyone calls O'Reilly's, is a long drop falls that can be viewed from 2 different tracks. You can walk along the
Moran Falls Track, which is a 4.4 kms return to the Moran Falls Lookout. You can also add in the 3.1 km walk to
Python Rock, from where you can see Moran Falls in the distance. Add in the 1.8 km walk from the car park to the start of the 2 walks, it is over 9 kms in total.
Moran Falls at O'Reilly's
While not my favourite hike in this part of Lamington National Park, it is a shorter and easier walk with great views down into the valley. Well worth it as another reason to head to O'Reilly's.
Rock hopping down the creek to the top of Moran Falls
The other great hike at Springbrook National Park is the 4 km Purling Brook Falls Circuit. Please note, while people often write it as Purlingbrook, the correct way to write the name of the falls is as 2 words. This hike takes in the view from the top as well as visiting it at the bottom. There are also more falls on the way.
Purling Brook Falls in Springbrook National Park
The closest hiking spot for people in Brisbane with waterfalls is in Mt Coot-tha with JC Slaughter Falls and Simpsons Falls. Though generally they only have a trickle of water, so you may be wondering why they are on this list. But if you go when it is raining or after recent rains, you can enjoy the falls with water, especially Simpsons Falls where water gushes down the rocky slope of the falls.
Simpson Falls with only a little water trickling over the drop
The main way to get to Simpsons Falls is along the 650m track from the picnic area, but you can also do decent hikes from a lot of different places. Often Simpsons Falls makes a good stop when hiking the
Summit Circuit and diverting onto the Eugenia Circuit. This circuit will also give you the opportunity to visit JC Slaughter Falls as well. You can also hike up from Bardon via the Malculata Track. There are plenty of other walking tracks from other parts of Mt Coot-tha that will take you to one or both of the falls.
The Simpsons Falls Picnic Area at Mt Coot-tha
