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" />The green behind the gold, the verdant green Gold Coast Hinterland is made up of several mountain ranges littered with Gondwana Rainforest, breathtaking scenery and refreshing mountain streams. It is extremely popular with visitors and locals alike to escape the Summer heat for the coolness and lushness of the mountains for a day trip or a weekend escape. You don’t need to go chasing waterfalls in the Gold Coast Hinterland because they are very easy to access, with most being only a short bushwalk through the rainforest.
Springbrook mountain and plateau is only 32 Kms from the Gold Coast. Spectacular waterfalls, lush rainforest, ancient trees, impressive views, exceptional ecological importance and natural beauty makes this a worthwhile day trip whilst visiting the Gold Coast.
There are several walks available at the 100m Purling Brook Falls, starting with the short 100m walk to the lookout, the more challenging 4km circuit walk or the 6km Waringa Pools walk. All offer magnificent views of the waterfall and dense rainforest vegetation.
Starting from Tallanbana Picnic Area in Springbrook the 4km track of Twin Falls Circuit is one of the best and most scenic walking tracks in this world heritage listed area, which was once part of an ancient volcano.
You can also take in the superb views of Twin and Rainbow Falls, the sheer walls of The Canyon and the ocean beyond from the easy to get to Canyon Lookout.
Around 40 Kms from the Gold Coast in the glorious Gold Coast Hinterland is the scenically abundant Numinbah Valley. The valley is trapped between the Springbrook Plateau to the east and the Lamington Plateau to the west and is broadly underdeveloped apart from a small township.
Numinbah valley covers 116 km² and mainly consists of cleared verdant green grazing land, rocky outcrops, waterfalls, rainforest walks and stunning hinterland scenery. But its major attraction is the Springbrook National Park and the Natural Bridge, where tourists flock every weekend to take in this natural wonder.
Visit Natural Bridge by day to see a unique waterfall or after dark to discover the park’s amazing glow-worms. You can also picnic on the shaded banks of the Nerang River at Forest Park picnic area and have a refreshing swim in the rock pools.
40 Kms drive, give or take a few kilometers, from the Gold Coast is the plateau called Tamborine Mountain which is part of the Scenic Rim, the name given to a group of mountains in South East Queensland.
There is a vast area of rainforested national park areas on the mountain with abundant birdlife and a variety of flora, one of which is the oldest national park in Queensland, Witches Falls National Park. Walking tracks are provided in six sections of Tamborine National Park. Most walking tracks are short and can be walked within a few hours. The walks are relatively easy although some tracks have short, steep grades.
Cedar Creek Falls is a 900m path to the lookout that has views of waterfalls, cascades and rock pools.
Witches Falls track zigzags down through gorgeous palm groves and rainforest with excellent views over the Dividing Range.
Curtis Falls walk is 1.5 km circuit beside the river through the rainforest, showing lower pools and giant strangler figs. Descending down stairs to a large pool at the base of Curtis Falls.
Killarney Glen is located just off Beechmont Road, between Beechmont and Canungra. A street sign marks where the 2.5km walk to Killarney Glen starts and a narrow steep path winds its way down to the rock pools and waterfalls.
The Australian Defence Department owns and uses this property as a buffer zone for the Canungra Land Warfare Centre, and access to this waterfall may sometimes be closed due to the army training nearby. But on most weekends and school holidays it is open to the public.
There is a steep path downwards for 2.5 kms until you reach the rock-bottomed creek and waterfall into the beautiful heart-shaped rock pool. You can jump off the rocks into this “love pool” or walk further downstream where there are more rock pools that are a little easier to access.
The Gold Coast Hinterland does offer a great variety of scenic walks through rainforest to some spectacular waterfalls. I recommend seeing the waterfalls after recent rainfall when they are at their best with lots of water gushing over the escarpments.
Have you seen any of these waterfalls? Which one is your favourite?
Linking up with Travel Photo Thursday
Kathy was a 50 something year old when she started up this blog 6 years ago, but has since turned over another decade and is now in her early 60s. She is married with two adult children and lives on the Tweed Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Kathy enjoys living life to the fullest and loves to keep fit and active by maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Some of her interests include reading, photography, travelling, cooking and blogging! Kathy works part-time as a freelance writer but her real passion is travelling and photographing brilliant destinations both within Australia and overseas and writing about it.
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Michelle Weaver (@pinkypoinker)
January 31, 2017You just mentioned all my favourite places. What a great post for Gold Coast visitors and locals who may not be aware! The green behind the gold indeed!
Kathy
January 31, 2017I had a feeling that you would recognise most of these beautiful places in the Hinterland Michelle. I was only made aware of Killarney Glen about a year ago, so that shows you how ignorant I am. :)
Life Images by Jill
January 31, 2017so many beautiful falls! We have some gorgeous ones up in the Kimberely too – just a bit of a hike to get there.
Kathy
January 31, 2017Yes there are many of them in the Gold Coast Hinterland and I need to visit some other areas where there are more. We saw a few of the waterfalls in The Kimberley and were very impressed. The long hikes were always rewarding with a refreshing swim in the swimming hole at the finish. :)
budgettraveltalk
February 3, 2017Great capture of the rainbow. The hinterland is such a beautiful asset to the Gold Coast. That water looks a tad cold! I’ve been in Springbrook National Park about 20 years ago when our kids were about 12 years and nine years lol. We stayed in a tall newly built “Old” Queenslander in the forest. It was winter so although we walked to the waterfalls we didn’t swim. Our Queenslander did have a lovely warm wood fire though so we had a wonderful time. Great post, I always like a map to see where the places are.
Kathy
February 3, 2017Springbrook National Park has so many beautiful places to explore. It is a paradise for hikers and nature lovers. I would love to do some more walks here, but I’ll wait until Winter. :)
Ruth
February 3, 2017These places are beautiful! I can use some of those waterfalls right now. So bad there are not a lot of waterfalls around Southern California. When I lived in Puerto RIco, there were a lot of them within close distance. #TPThursday
Kathy
February 3, 2017I’m very fortunate to have these waterfalls within a short driving distance away. The hikes to them are also very pretty through the dense rainforest. It is a refreshing change from the coastline. :)
Nancie
February 9, 2017Hi, Kathy. These are all so gorgeous, and it’s nice to read that access is easy. I can imagine how refreshing it would be to plunge in on a hot summers day. Thanks for linking up. #TPThursday
Kathy
February 9, 2017Waterfalls do have a certain charm about them and the walk is also part of the thrill of seeing them. We are truly blessed here on the Gold Coast with both gorgeous beaches and verdant green hinterland. :)