Lamington National Park is listed within the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area which protects Australia’s largest subtropical rainforests. Springbrook National Park is next door: both offer richly rewarding rainforest experiences amidst fabulous mountain scenery.
LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK
Three quarters of the rainforests in Australia have been lost or degraded so such rainforest parks as Lamington are highly important.
They shelter a rich diversity of wildlife, including more than 1,700 species of flowering plants and 500 vertebrate animals.
Lamington National Park was established in 1915: unfortunately or otherwise, 4 years earlier the O’ Reilley family had taken possession of the heights for dairy farming.
Obviously thinking if you can’t beat them, join them, in 1919 Mick O’ Reilley became the first park ranger. The family was quite prescient, taking their first paying guest in 1926. They are still there today and there is now a vast Eco Resort at the top of the park.
The park is about 1000 m above sea level and an average of 5° cooler than Brisbane. Although winter nights can reach freezing and there is more rainfall in the summer months, anytime is a good time. Even on a hot day the forest provides cool shade and with about 500 waterfalls to choose from, you are never far from a refreshing dip.
Although only about two hours from Brisbane, many of the Queensland border parks are out on a limb and Lamington is no exception. It is accessed via the Green Mountains or Binna Burra sections. Both are down dead end roads a good distance from anywhere.
GREEN MOUNTAINS
From Canungra it is an extremely windy 36 km to the Green Hills area of the park. The road is narrow, at times one lane, twisty and uphill all the way. Near the end, it is also extremely potholed and rough – but at least it is all bitumen.
The rewards are worth it. Winding up from the dry eucalyptus landscape, our first viewpoint was the Kamarun Lookout. An all embracing view over hills and valleys all the way to the Gold Coast was revealed. We decided to have our picnic lunch there to allow more time to enjoy the view.
The rainforest closed in as we neared our destination at Green Mountains. It was a great drive with the lush trees crowding the road in rich greens and towering high above us.
The camping in the park has been taken over by O’ Reilleys, who seem to have combined safari tents with tent sites. Quite close by, they also have luxurious lodges with a spa, and, in the main section, hillside units, with restaurant, cafe and shop. Various sorts of excursions can be booked or you can simply feed the waiting crimson rosellas and king parrots.
The various sites have the most wonderful views, stretching away over blue shaded mountains to the distinctive shape of Mt. Lyndsey, an old volcanic plug.
MORANS FALLS
We decided to do a short walk on the afternoon of our arrival and as is the way with such things, it segwayed into something of about 5.5 km although it was an excellent and varied introduction to Lamington.
Initially we followed the short 900 m Centenary Track from the entrance of the campsite, which led gently upwards through tall hoop pines to the start of the Morans Falls Track.
This leads in 2.2 km to a superb lookout over the 80 m high falls which tumble down from a high escarpment. A little further on, the track crosses the creek and emerges in a clearing for a valley view: this is actually where the O’ Reilley brothers had their first cabin.
It is worth detouring down – with care – to the head of the falls for an idyllic view over the edge of the cliff. It’s a great picnic spot.
From the valley lookout we followed steps up to the Red Road – the tracks around the resort are on private land so are generally unmarked on the maps.
We followed it for about 500 m, ignoring the turnoff for the Crag Rock viewpoints, to a stream crossing and an open grassy area.
A sign beckoned us to the Wishing Tree, leading us back into the forest alongside the creek. This is a huge, very ancient and entirely hollow O’ Reilley favourite which is quite striking. There are some glow worm gullies nearby which I think are a bookable excursion!
The track continues over a tree fern gully spanned by a rather shakey suspension bridge and past some giant brush box trees.
A short side track led off to the 18 m high Mick’s Tower which offers an elevated view of the trees and has various information signs about the rainforest. I particularly like the epiphytes which grow on the higher reaches of the trunks.
The path finally emerges just under the main accommodation lodges. This was fortuitous, as we discovered the pool and jacuzzi area, nestled amidst rocks and gardens. The hot tub was most welcome after a day’s walking.
The West Canungra Creek Circuit
The trails in Lamington are generally on the longer side, requiring a certain level of fitness and commitment. We decided to tackle one of these bigger options on our second day in the park.
However the paths were brilliantly laid out in the 1900’s by Romeo Lahey who had observed how cattle could walk all day up a steep mountain and not get tired: he designed the trails to no steeper than 1:10 and today the hiker still benefits. I was continuously surprised by how easily one covered the steep terrain.
The 13.9 km West Canungra Creek Circuit is a perfect example. The track takes 5 km to drop 450 m and is even less steep on the ascent, so although it was a long day, it was not as tiring as we expected.
There are plenty of bird watching opportunities as one walks through the rainforest. The small, brown log creepers, frantically scratching with their oversized feet, are quite easy to spot and the whip bird is easily recognisable by his crested head – his call is unmistakable: it does sound just like a whip cracking.
The track passes through the sub-tropical rainforest with stands of red cedar, booyongs with their immense buttresses, giant stinging trees and hoop pines, often supporting large staghorns.
At the valley bottom, we came to Yerralahla, the Blue Pool, where deep swimming holes gave us a cool respite for lunch. Simon found a waterfall with a jacuzzi effect and emerged after a good pummelling.
The path continued upstream along West Canungra Creek with numerous crossings. We gingerly hopped across on huge boulders and enjoyed the many waterfalls.
We had been steadily but gently climbing since our Blue Pool stop and were on the final loop when we reached Box Log Falls, which were hidden around a corner in a dark canyon.
More spectacular were Elabana Falls although to view them properly it was necessary to climb over and slither round some huge boulders.
The final climb took us to Picnic Rock, a pretty spot where the Elabana Creek nears its falls, before continuing past some Antarctic beech and the largest brush box trees in the National Park – estimated to be about 1,500 years old – before emerging on the Border Track for the last easy stretch home. The hot tub was beckoning!
O’Reilly’s Tree Top Walk
After two nights at Green Mountains, it was time to continue to the other side of the park but we fitted in a couple of other quick walks before we left.
The Tree Top Walk is a great attraction at O’ Reilleys resort and it was one of the first in Australia. It consists of nine suspension bridges over 200 m long and some 15 m high in places, giving a fully immersive rainforest experience.
The walk is only 800 m in total, leaves from near the main lodge, and there is no charge, so it is easy to dip into it at anytime of the day.
It is a nice place to loiter and enjoy the bird life, or tackle the 30 m high observation deck up a rather scary vertical ladder – the view is actually better from the first deck so don’t worry if you don’t feel up to the second!
Python Rock
The path for Python Rock leaves from the same place as the Morans Falls Track. It is an easy 3.4 km return and leads to a viewpoint over Morans Falls and the long Castle Crag ridge.
However, you are only seeing half the possible view and I would recommend a detour on to Pat’s Bluff.
This track leaves behind the bench just above the lookout, where a sign tells the story of an Albert lyrebird who lived in the area for many years. Apparently, his mimicry extended to fighting possums!
The country opens out under telegraph pylons and in just over a kilometre, the edge of the escarpment is reached, giving a 270 ° view over the Albert and Logan River valleys far below, all the way to the Great Dividing Range and the wooded mountainous expanses of the park.
In the distance is an area called the Lost World. On the 19th February 1937 a Stinson mail plane crashed on the nearby McPherson Range. There were 6 people on board, 3 of whom survived the crash and were able to get out before the plane burst into flames.
An Englishman amongst them set off for help but, in an ironic twist of fate, was killed falling off a cliff. The others, one with a broken leg, stayed put and 9 days later were miraculously found by Bernard O’Reilly. He had decided to search the flight path of the aircraft, which had only just left Brisbane, and on climbing Mount Throakban saw a tree 8 km away that appeared to have been burnt, which led him to the crash site.
In 1942 he published a book about the rescue called Green Mountains – later on a film was actually made. It is still possible to visit the wreckage today, either alone or on one of the O’ Reilleys guided walks to the area. The recreated Stinson that was used in the film now stands in the middle of the resort.
Carry further on along the escarpment for about 300 m to find Raining Falls, a delicate little waterfall with a big drop. The path leads to a forgotten picnic area and the little creek which creates this charming cascade. There is an extremely high drop off so be careful around the edges!
We tried to find an old O’ Reilley cabin that was supposed to be only 70 m away from the falls but failed: maybe it was burnt in the huge 2019 bushfires.
It is possible to continue on along the edges and swing around to emerge onto the main road into O’ Reilleys, but this time we retraced our steps and were soon back at the trailhead.
The Border Track
Our next stop was to be Binna Burra on the eastern side of the park. The Border Track actually connects it with Green Mountains but it is a long 21.4 km walk which is actually part of the Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk, a 54 km walk over 3 days.
O Reilleys have a shuttle bus every Saturday (more often in the winter) which for $35 takes walkers around to Binna Burra so they can walk back. There is also a bush camp option on the track at Mount Bithongabel, 7 km before O’Reilly’s, which would make it a shorter day and allow more leisurely visits to the various viewpoints en route.
It might be an easier option than this entire great walk whose ends are so far removed from each other by road that it would be a real nightmare leaving a car at one end and then trying to get back to it!
BINNA BURRA
The first thing to say about Binna Burra is that it is a lot easier to get to than the Green Mountains side of Lamington National Park, being only 20 km south of Canungra on a good two lane bitumen road. The Kokoda Barracks are en route: they were established in 1942 for jungle warfare training and are still in use today.
At first glance, Binna Burra looks quite low key after Green Mountains, but that is actually in its favour. Although it has some lovely accommodation in the Sky Lodges, these are few and well hidden. Here one does actually feel amidst the rainforest with accompanying wildlife and noises – the evening cicadas are deafening!
There are only 10 campsites (which are quite dark amidst trees) and some safari tents in the main area. Here one also finds the Binna Burra Tea House which is open every day for meals and coffee. It also has some useful maps of the walks and a minor gift shop. The view from the terrace is stunning.
The nearby Walker’s Bar is another good hang out, being housed in an old 1935 log cabin. It serves drinks, pizza at the weekends and various platters in a pleasant setting: from its outside terrace there is a fabulous view over lush rainforest to the high rise towers of the Gold Coast. It also has a cosy upstairs reference library and a good stock of board games.
The resort was largely destroyed in the 2019 bushfires and there are plans afoot for a new eco resort – let’s hope it doesn’t get too ambitious.
Binna Burra Walks
The walking is varied, although a lot of the circuits tend to be on the longer side. However it is possible to do shorter walks on them which will still lead to great viewpoints or waterfalls, as well as a couple of shorter options.
One I particularly liked is the Tullawallal Circuit, an easy 5 km walk which leads through cool temperate rainforest to a fabulous grove of Antarctic Beech at 950 m.
Scattered around a jumbled collection of boulders on the summit of Tullawallal, they are part of the northernmost patch of Antarctic beech forest in Australia.
Leftover from cooler, wetter times when Australia was part of the giant continent of Gondwana, they have an ancient aura about them, seen in their tortured writhing branches and mossy trunks. The atmospheric combination of old trees and rocks reminded me of an ancient stone circle.
Keep an eye out for colourful fungi amidst giant booyong trees and trailing vines, as well as birds: the eerie cry of the cat bird is often heard, reminiscent of a cat when it’s tail is trodden on.
The Dave Creek Circuit
There seems to be a general consensus amongst hikers that should one only do one walk from Binna Burra, then it should be this one.
It certainly has some wonderful variety over its 12 km. It leaves from the Teahouse area and follows the Border Track for about 2 km before branching off on the Ship’s Stern Track and then off again.
From the classic subtropical rainforest, it gradually merges into temperate forest and unexpectedly scrubby bushland where there are spectacular views over Numbinbah Valley.
There is a quick detour to Molongolee Cave, which is a rough and shallow one with trickling water on its edges providing a rich habitat.
Our next stop was Picnic Creek, where a giant fallen log provided a handy seat. We were lucky enough to spot a blue and white spiny Lamington Crayfish in one of its deep pools. These freshwater crayfish are often encountered on the paths and will wave their claws aggressively if threatened.
We had our picnic lunch at Numinbah Lookout at the easternmost point of the track. On the other side of the Numbinbah Valley, the heavily wooded heights of Springbrook National Park begged exploration. The sheer sides of the escarpments displayed volcanic organ piping formations.
Our return route led us to Surprise Rock where a rough scramble led to its rocky heights. There was a superb view over the high rise buildings of the Gold Coast and the marshy scrubland behind us.
I am not sure whether it is so called for this sudden view or the fact that if walked clockwise, one comes across the rock quite abruptly. For the adventurous, there is a handy tree at the steeper end to aid the ascent or descent.
We branched off on the Tullawallal Circuit on the homeward leg in order to visit the Antarctic beeches and then followed that back to the Tea House, where we had a well deserved coffee on the terrace – unfortunately they were out of their signature Lamington cakes (which unfortunately appear to have been named after a former Governor of Queensland, not the park!)
SPRINGBROOK NATIONAL PARK
Our plans went awry here: Springbrook only has one campsite with 11 spaces and they were all reserved when we tried to book one. Being a touch closer to Brisbane, and another ridge eastwards from Binna Burra, this is a popular destination and has some spectacular and easy walks which appeal to many people.
This meant only a day trip into the park for us, but it was still worth while, although a shortcut to Nerang from Binna Burra was ruled out when we discovered the road was closed due to work being done on a landslide. Once again, we found ourselves traipsing back to Canungra.
There is an extremely steep climb up to the top of the mountain, which has a surprising amount of private houses, and guesthouses, along the road at the top.
We decided to start at the southernmost reaches of the park at Best of All Lookout, whose vast outlook clearly shows the eroded caldera formation around Mount Warning, which stretches some 80 km and is the largest one in the world. This volcano dominated the region 23 million years ago, before dying off 10 million years ago, leaving some lava flows up to 270 m deep.
Slightly spoilt by an overcast murky morning, the view was still impressive and further enhanced by the cluster of Antarctic beeches on the short 350 m walk to the lookout – some of them are thought to be 3000 years old.
The Twin Falls Circuit
With time for just one walk at Springbrook, we chose the easy 4 km Twin Falls Circuit, which although short did not disappoint. If you want the easy option, Twin Falls can actually be approached in only 15 minutes from the parking area at Tallanbana Picnic Area, which gets very full.
If doing the entire circuit, I would recommend a clockwise loop starting at the Canyon Lookout, so saving the best until last.
The route drops down gently through remnants of subtropical forest to Blackfellow Falls. We found ourselves tip toeing behind their delicate screen before winding on to Twin Falls.
Here we coincided with the day walkers and Insta crowd, watching in amusement as plain friend took photos of glamorous friend in the elusive perfect pose in front of the waterfall.
The falls were beautiful, descending in two separate cascades into a deep pool, fringed by boulders and flamboyant greenery. It was a popular swimming spot.
We paused for lunch, overlooked by a friendly lizard who hoovered up our crumbs before heading on.
It is possible to walk behind these too, a pretty path unfolding through their myriad sparkling droplets before a final steady 20 minute ascent back to the carpark.
With more time, it would have been nice to do the 17 km Warrie Circuit which descends into a gorge to the Meeting of the Waters, where all the watercourses which drain the Canyon meet and elusive giant spear lilies are found.
It has the best of the rainforest and waterfalls en route -maybe another day! It is true that the longer one spends in each park the more walks one discovers: if you spent a week in each, it would not be wasted if you enjoy walking.
Goomoolahra Falls Lookout Track
Our last stop before leaving the park was the 250 m return Goomoolahra Falls Lookout Track. There is a nice picnic area near the start.
Although we had a nice view as far as the coast of eastern Australia, the 60 m high falls were hardly visible.
THE NATURAL BRIDGE
Although still part of Springbrook National Park, this feature is approached from a short road in the Numinbah valley – we dropped down from the cool heights of Springbrook and duly headed south.
This is a not-to-be-missed part of the Park and it can be visited on a 1 km long loop trail. It leads past soaring hoop pines, primitive trees which originated 180 million years ago in the Jurassic Age.
The Natural Bridge is actually the hard basalt lip of an old waterfall. Softer basalt at its base was undercut by the water to produce a cave then rocks swirling in the river bed above created a pot hole which finally broke through into the cave below.
On walking into the cave one sees the tumbling waterfall, the waters turning to exit through the framed green of the cave mouth. It is a lovely juxtaposition and an unusual setting.
The path then climbs up and crosses the creek above the cave with a couple of viewpoints where one can see directly into the hole.
However, it is at night that it all becomes particularly enchanting. We found a Seventh Day Adventist campsite only 1.4 km south of the bridge in a lovely lush rainforest setting that compensated for the ‘no alcohol’ rule. This made it quite easy to pop back later when dark to see the glow worms.
The glowworms are actually primitive fly larvae (Arachnocampa flava) which glow in the dark to attract and catch small insects. Their bioluminescence, which is caused by a chemical reaction between four different chemicals, lures their prey onto long sticky threads. Found only in Australia and New Zealand, they need the damp rainforest environment with its dense canopy to survive, or in this case, a permanently wet cave.
Between our afternoon visit and our return there was a torrential downpour; in fact it was actually still raining as we retraced our steps to the Natural Bridge.
As soon as we entered the forest we saw them: thousands of little vivid blue-green pinpricks of light scattered along the hillsides and banks. In smaller conglomations were tiny florescent fungi.
The waterfall into the cave was now a torrent swollen by the rainwater and the sound was tremendous. However, it was the glow worms that caught the eye: it was rather like looking down on a city at night from an aeroplane, except that the lights were mostly above on the ceiling, although there were a smattering on the walls as well.
It was a fairy grotto of twinkling lights and incredibly beautiful – it was actually one of the highlights of our holiday.
Yet more delights were to come : as we headed up towards the creek crossing, my ears were assaulted by a happy frog chorus – they were obviously delighted by the rain.
We honed in on the sound and discovered hundreds of jewel-like bright green frogs on the rocks beside the water.
These entertained us for another hour as we watched their swelling throats emit a high pulsing croak whilst hopping around. It was nice to actually put a frog to the sound: although one frequently hears them, it is not always possible to see the animal.
As we finally headed back to the car park, accompanied by glow worms, we kept an eye out for any other nocturnal delights. The park also has a population of rare spotted-tailed quolls, mainland Australia’s largest native marsupial carnivore and largely nocturnal, but we had no luck on this one.
