Your guide to the best walks on Tamborine Mountain, the home of Queensland’s first national park.
Tamborine National Park is a nature lover’s paradise with so many rainforest walking tracks as well as wildlife, birdlife, and lookouts with amazing views.
Tamborine Mountain is located in the south of Queensland. The famous Witches Falls section of this national park was Queensland’s first national park back in 1908. Today, Tamborine National Park is made up of 14 sections of land on the Tamborine plateau and surrounding foothills.
This national park has become popular for visitors to explore. There are many easy trails and swimming holes for the whole family to enjoy, as well as waterfalls, creek crossings, and diverse subtropical rainforests.
There is so much nature to see here, and the many walking trails are the perfect place to stretch your legs and immerse yourself in the wilderness.
Here is our list of the best Tamborine Mountain walks.
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Best Hikes in Tamborine National Park
Tamborine National Park is a gorgeous area of lush wilderness located less than an hour from the Gold Coast and Brisbane. This area will provide you with views of the Pacific Ocean and Gold Coast skyline to the east. To the west, you will see national parks of the Scenic Rim.
There is so much hiking in this national park to be done, so here is our list of the best walking tracks.
Don’t forget to check out our guide for the best things to do on the Gold Coast!
1. Curtis Falls Walk and Lower Creek Circuit
- Distance – 3.6 km
- Duration – 1.5 hours
- Difficulty – Easy
- Start / Finish Points – Carpark on Dapsang Drive
- Section – Joalah Section
This beautiful, easy walk starts in a wet eucalypt forest and eventually ends at a lookout. This is the Curtis Falls Track. From the car park, it is only a short walk to the platform where you can view Curtis Falls.
As you are walking to the viewpoint you will feel the temperature drop as you walk into the lush rainforest canopy. The smell is amazing.
If you want to walk more, you can do the Lower Creek Circuit trail which branches off of the Curtis Falls Track. You will see the sign!
During the Lower Creek Circuit Trail, you will cross Cedar Creek and pass an amazing giant strangler fig. The creek crossing does involve rock hopping to the other side. If you are uneven on your balance, bring some trekking poles for balance.
2. Sandy Creek Circuit and Cameron Falls
- Distance – 2.5 km
- Duration – 1 hour
- Difficulty – Easy
- Start / Finish Points – Carpark just off Knoll Road
- Section – Knoll Section
This is a great circuit track that travels close to steep cliff edges and provides you with great views over the Brisbane area and the valley to Mount Flinders.
This enchanting walk begins from the car park and loops through the forest. Like other hikes in Mount Tamborine National Park, you will walk through the lush rainforest and the amazing towering trees of the eucalypt forest.
Once you reach Sandy Creek, the circuit continues along the high mountain ridge. Near the end when it loops around, there is a 100m detour that leads to Cameron Falls Lookout. Definitely stop here for some lovely views over the Gold Coast Hinterland.
Read next: The 21 Best Things To Do In Brisbane, Queensland
3. Palm Grove Circuit
- Distance – 2.7 km
- Duration – 1 hour
- Difficulty – Easy
- Start / Finish Points – Car park at the end of Palm Grove Avenue or the car park on Curtis Road past the Mt Tamborine State School
- Section – Palm Grove Section
On this nice and easy 2.7km loop on Mt Tamborine, you will be greeted with more beautiful green subtropical rainforest.
On the trail, you’ll see lots of palms, lawyer vines, burrawangs, grey eucalypts, strangler figs, and lots of huge trees like big buttress roots. You may also see some redneck pademelons and local birds, so keep your eyes peeled!
After doing this walk, you could add on the Jenyns Circuit which is nearby. Doing them back to back would be about 6km. See information below about Jenyns Circuit. If you want to do both, park at the car park at the end of Palm Grove Avenue.
4. Jenyns Circuit
- Distance – 4.3 km
- Duration – 1.5 hours
- Difficulty – Easy
- Start / Finish Points – Car park at the end of Palm Grove Avenue
- Section – Palm Grove Section
This beautiful 4.4km walk is a quiet trail with lots of birdlife and plant life to check out.
The trail along Jenyns Circuit drops in altitude from 530m to 340m, and the path winds down through drier eucalyptus forest and open canopy. There are steep cliff edges along the way so watch your footing and be careful.
Here there are hoop pines, brush box, and grey gums abound and you will pass through a grove of ancient cycads. There are truly so many unique trees in this corner of south east Queensland!
There is a picnic table and a small parking area at the start of the trail. There are no toilets though.
5. Witches Falls Circuit
- Distance – 3.4 km
- Duration – 60 – 75 minutes
- Difficulty – Easy
- Start / Finish Points – The car park on Main Western Road near the Mount Tamborine Cemetery
- Section – Witches Falls Section
Witches Falls Circuit is another beautiful walking track that takes you through the rainforest. Along the path, you will pass the Witches Chase Waterfall.
This is an easy walk but it does get a little rocky near the end. You will get great views over the Dividing Range at the Witches Falls Lookout.
There are two ways to tackle this walk; one is easier and one is harder. If you want the easier way up, start the trail from the opposite way of the public toilet (left as you walk out of the car) and vice versa.
There is a section that is quite steep and exposed to the sun, so I would recommend doing it anti-clockwise so you are hiking the incline in the shady canopy section.
You can also park on Colville Drive and Witches Chase Road where you can walk in from another way to the Witches Falls Lookout. This trail is called the Witches Chase Track.
Along the track, you will pass large red cedar trees and eucalypt forest before you pass Witches Falls Lookout. You can return the same way from here or continue to walk the Witches Falls Loop.
Don’t forget to stop off at Rotary Lookout on your way out. It offers views to the west of Tamborine National Park where you can see the Main Range, the Cunningham’s Gap, and Flinders Peak.
This is one of the best lookouts in Mount Tamborine National Park so do not miss it.
6. Cedar Creek Falls Track
- Distance – 1 km
- Duration – 30 minutes
- Difficulty – Easy
- Start / Finish Points – The car park at the end of Cedar Creek Falls Road
- Section – Cedar Creek Section
This is a short, easy walk that is only about 500 metres one way. The track leads to the stunning Cedar Creek Falls, where you can view the waterfall from above at the Cedar Creek Falls Lookout.
If you are keen you can follow the path which descends through wet eucalypt forest and dry rainforest to end up at the crystal clear rock pools. This is about a 1.1km return track down to the rock pools from the lookout.
Don’t forget to take your bathers so you can go for a dip. There are three rock pools to choose from.
Bring some snacks and a packed lunch, as this is the perfect place for a picnic. There are picnic tables at a couple of locations along the trail. Get here early as there is a limited number of parking spaces
For an extra dose of fun at Tamborine Mountain book a ziplining tour over Cedar Creek Canyon here on Klook.
7. MacDonald Rainforest Circuit
- Distance – 1.2 km
- Duration – 1 hour
- Difficulty – Easy
- Start / Finish Points – car park along Wongawallan Road
- Section – McDonald section
Located just south of the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens, this short walk will take you past towering strangler figs and piccabeen palm groves.
The area was named after Miss Jessie MacDonald, who donated part of this land to the National Park back in 1933.
This short walk can be completed in about 30 minutes. If you want to build up to the other hikes in Tamborine National Park, this one is a good one to start with.
There is a shelter shed with a large picnic table at the start of the walking track on the edge of the rainforest. There are no toilets.
If you have some extra time, drive around to the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens and check out the colourful and diverse range of exotic and native flora. It also has a Japanese garden to relax in. Read more about the attractions in the garden here.
8. Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk
- Distance – 1.5 km
- Duration – 45 hour
- Difficulty – Very Easy
- Start / Finish Points – Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk Centre
This walk will take you up into the sky where you can see the rainforest from a different point of view. You will be able to see the middle and upper canopy, which is hard to see from the ground.
The Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk is 30 metres above the ground, and is made with sturdy, high-tech steel so you are perfectly safe up there!
The path descends gradually to the lower canopy where you will pass the rock pools, tumbling creeks, a butterfly lookout, a local history enclosure, and a rest shelter. You will reach the floating Cantilever Bridge which will take your breath away.
This path is wheelchair friendly and great for the whole family and people all ages.
There is a cost to go on the skywalk:
- Adults (17 Years & over) $19.50
- Children (6-16 Years) $9.50
- Children 5 years and under are free
Another fun idea for the whole family is to book a Treetop Challenge at Tamborine Mountain. It consists of games, activities, and obstacle courses through the subtropical rainforest.
We hope this article has helped and you enjoy your time in Queensland’s first national park, Tamborine Mountain. Happy hiking!
