Landing just on the border of New South Wales, but in Queensland, Springbrook National Park is the go-to for bright green rainforests, pouring waterfalls and enchanting glow worms. There’s even a short walk (Best of All Lookout) to NSW—but without road access, so it’s still COVID-safe.
This park is about 100 km (or 1 hour and 30 mins driving) from Brisbane, Queensland and nearly the same amount of time from Byron Bay, NSW.
There’s so many great hikes, lookouts and waterfalls throughout Springbrook National Park. On separate trips I’ve visited all angles of the park, and now I’m sharing this guide for everything visitors need to know about the park. This guide is divided in sections for walking tracks, lookouts, the glow worms cave and more.
Table of Contents
Bushwalks and Hikes
Springbrook National Park is known for its bright green rainforests and waterfalls. The best way to see those spots are by taking a bushwalk or hike through the park. All of these hikes can be done on a day trip to the park, just make sure you’re heading back to your vehicle before dark. Due to the dense rainforest, it will seem darker in the forest on many of these bush walks.
Bushwalks and hikes are listed from shortest to longest in kilometres. This section is for bushwalks and hikes only, for lookouts check out the next section below. All walking times and kilometres include return journey.
Natural Bridge Circuit – 1 km, 1 hour
This short hike allows visitors to see the inside and outside of Springbrook’s Natural Bridge. There’s toilet facilities in the parking lot, which is where the track begins. The track starts out by swerving downwards until meeting a few large trees and a wood platform. This platform is the beginning and ending of the circuit portion of the trail.
The trail that goes over the wood platform is the shortest way to inside of the Natural Bridge. Which is also good for seeing the glow worms (see more information on this in the section below!)
After visiting the inside of Natural Bridge, the trail continues up to the top of the waterfall for a view over the bridge. Winding back up to the top of the waterfall, the trail makes its way to a bridge that crosses back over the the first trail. There’s another part of the trail that goes over to see the top of the Natural Bridge and waterfall from the other side.
Cascades Track – 1.6 km, 1 hour
The Cascades Track in Springbrook National Park is in the southern Mount Cougal section of the park. There’s smaller cascades—compared with other waterfalls in the park—along the track, explaining its name. There’s also small rock pools from the cascades. As with other parts in the park, along the trail is dense and bright rainforests.
Purling Brook Falls Circuit – 4 km, 2 hours
Over in the main section of Springbrook National Park is home to some of its biggest waterfalls. Purling Brook Falls is 109 metres high, and on this hike it’s possible to see it from both the bottom and top. Starting in Gwongorella picnic area, the trail heads downward near the top of the waterfall. The circuit can be done in either direction, but Queensland Park’s says doing the walk clockwise is easier.
Heading clockwise, the track greatly follows the cliff’s edge until it descends down. This is when the trail begins to turn back towards the waterfall. At the base of the waterfall is where another trail snakes off to Warringa Pool. If you’re not taking this trail, head past the waterfall to finish the circuit trail. Similarly back up to the parking lot, the track heads up then meets up to the cliff’s edge again. If you didn’t before heading down, check out the top of Purling Brook Falls.
Check out this other article Purling Brook Falls Circuit and Warringa Pool Track for more information on the hike!
Twin Falls Circuit – 4 km, 2 hours
The Twin Falls circuit is a short and stunning walk through Springbrook National Park. The trail can be started at both Canyon Lookout and Tallanbana picnic area. As the track’s name alludes to, it goes to Twin Falls, which can be seen from the top and bottom of the trail. It also goes past Blackfellow Falls, later on the trail—or earlier, depending on where you start. At the bottom, the trail actually goes behind the waterfall, so be prepared to get a bit wet.
The day I did this hike it was pouring rain so all the lookouts were too cloudy, but it did make for an extra big and pouring Twin Falls. The track doesn’t just go to waterfalls, it also goes in-between giant rocks. At one point the trail splits to go either through a cave or beside a creek for more incredible views.
Warringa Pool Track – 6 km, 3 hours
This hike is a combination of the Purling Brook Falls hike noted above. Warringa Pool is a 1 km track off the falls hike and takes about 40 minutes extra each direction.
Queensland Park’s explains this addition to the hike as arduous. Walkers should have a copy of a local topographic map and be a great walker. Personally I wasn’t aware of this information before doing the hike and didn’t get lost or confused, despite it being my first time in the national park. But, it’s good to be aware of the dangers of this trail, such as slipping on rocks and leeches.
Warrie Circuit – 17 km, 5-6 hours
Warrie Circuit is the ultimate day hike to see the best of Springbrook’s lesser visited waterfalls. The trail begins and ends from the Twin Falls track but continues on through the wild terrain of the park.
Including Twin Falls, Warrie Circuit passes by eight other waterfalls on its trail. The others are: Rainbow Falls, Goomoolahra Falls, Kadjagooma Falls, Ngarri-dhum Falls, Gooroolba Falls, Poonyahra Falls and Poondahra Falls. Try to visit after a good downpour so the waterfalls will be full and pouring!
It’s a good day hike, so make sure to bring plenty of water, snacks and first aid kit, in case. And, try not to get tired of all the waterfalls!
Lookouts
There’s not really any better opportunity to see far out views from Springbrook National Park than these lookouts. Some of these lookouts are in the park, whereas one is along the road en route to the park. Be sure to look out for fruit and veggie stands from the community of Springbrook. All distances include return trip.
Canyon Lookout – 30 m
The Canyon lookout is the easiest lookout to get to, hardly any walking required. When it’s not covered by clouds, there’s views out to the ocean, Rainbow and Twin Falls and the canyon itself. The walls of the canyon have been created naturally from landslides, erosion and weathering.
Buliya-buliya jagun (land of many little birds boardwalk) – 100 m
This short boardwalk is the place to see cute little birds—or at least hear them. It’s in the park’s plateau montane heathland, which is about 100 m from Gaureimabah—place of stories. The lookout on this walk mainly focuses on Gold Coast City’s high rise buildings and the Coral Sea, in the distance. The view is folded in Springbrook’s luscious rainforests first though.
Goomoolahra Falls Lookout – 200 m
This lookout towards Goomoolahra Falls actually goes to two different lookouts in the area. They both go to different views of the 60 m waterfall. The track to them is easy and fast for both lookouts.
Best of All Lookout Track – 600 m
This track starts in Queensland and ends in NSW! Why is it called the ‘Best of All’ lookout track? Properly because of its unique and ancient forests, which is one of a kind in Australia. The trail passes by Nothofagus forests, which is Australia’s last link to its historical and geographical connection to Gondwana.
For those that don’t know, Gondwana was an ancient supercontinent made up of what we now know as South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica.
After spending some time on walking tracks in Australia it’s easy to notice how special this small pocket of Antarctic beech forest Nothofagus moorei is. These types of forest were once all over Australia but have essentially died off with the hotter and dryer temperatures that now take over the country. The trees are truly different from anything I have seen before in the country. The lookout at the end of the trail is normally beautiful but was cloudy when I visited.
Wunburra Lookout
This lookout can be stopped at either heading up to Springbrook National Park, or on the way back down. The views out are towards the surrounding mountains then into Gold Coast City. The lookout is accessed by a parking lot along the roadside, and it’s just a few metres to the lookout across the road.
Glow Worms at Natural Bridge
There’s plenty to do in Springbrook National Park, but this is one of the most popular spots for night time! As soon as it goes dark, the glow worms light up at the Natural Bridge cave.
Natural Bridge is great to see during the day, so maybe check it out during the sunset and wait for the glow worms during the dark. Anyways, this is some advice for catching the glow worms at the Natural Bridge. But not literally catching because that would be illegal and inhumane.
First off, bring at least one torch/flashlight per person for the track at night time. There’s lots of tripping hazards so it’s better to be over prepared than not. The track itself is not long (see Natural Bridge in the bushwalks section above). So bringing lots of water and snacks isn’t that necessary. The track is also well-maintained and easy to navigate so the chance of getting lost is low.
Another reason to have flashlights is to be aware of the track, there’s fences along the waterfall and waterways but don’t take a chance of falling in.
The glow worms are both in the Natural Bridge and along the track. That’s right, they’re everywhere. Inside the Natural Bridge is one of the best places to see them because there’s no other distractions aside from the waterfall coming through. Whereas on the walking path, there may be potential moonlight coming in.
Previous to the COVID pandemic, tours to see the glow worms would come all throughout the night. Due to social distancing and no international tourism this isn’t occurring, so this is a good time to enjoy the glow worms in peace. For additional safety and other information on the glow worms in the cave, check out Queensland Parks page.
Camping
Springbrook National Park has just one campground within the park, The Settlement. Campsites can be booked online, but make sure to book in advance for weekends, especially long weekends and holidays as they book up fast.
The campground has just basic facilities including drop toilets, barbecues and picnic tables. It’s the perfect camping spot for a stay at the park, as other camps are pretty far from the park.
Picnic Areas
There’s a few different picnic areas scattered throughout the park. To be exact, there’s at least one in each section of the park, so depending on where you are, they should likely be a picnic area around. At the Natural Bridge parking lot, Queensland Parks says there is a sheltered picnic table in the area.
In the Springbrook plateau area there’s a few picnic areas. One is the Gwongorella picnic area and the other is Tallanbana picnic area. There’s also spots in Springbrook town area for picnicking, such as near Springbrook Community Hall.
And in the Mount Cougal area, there is a single picnic area next to the parking lot. There’s toilet facilities, water for dishes and picnic tables available to visitors.
Visiting Queensland? Checkout this guide to Cape Hillsborough National Park and How to Choose a Whitsunday Islands Tour!
