Springbrook Things to Do

The Best of All Lookout is a 700m return walk which only takes about 30min.

It takes you through an ancient Antarctic beech forest and to a view of northern New South Wales dominated by Mount Warning.

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The Wunburra Lookout is located just off the Gold Coast-Springbrook Road with views of Purling Brook Gorge, Mount Cougal and the Little Nerang Dam.

The carpark is quite small and next to a busy road so please take care with children.

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From Canyon Lookout you can see the high rise teeth of the Gold Coast skyline some 20km's ahead of you and 800m below is a tangle of dense sub-tropical rainforest.

It's a good starting point for the 4km Twin Falls Circuit or the more demanding 17km Warrie Circuit. I took the advice of a couple of locals, Colin and Jane Crisp, to take the long way and really appreciate the inspiring beauty of the valley and its cliffs with cascading waterfalls.

The Warrie Circuit is a longer extension of the Twin Falls Circuit so you will need to allow at least 6 hours walking depending on how many sightseeing and rest stops you make along the way.

I you are looking toward the coast from Canyon Lookout the track immediately to your right descends and takes you to Twin Falls.

I have added some maps to give an indication of the distances and attractions along this walking track.

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The Twin Falls Circuit takes you on top of the cliff above the falls and to the base along concrete and earth ramps.

A great view of the the Canyon Cliffs can be seen from the track that leads you across the top of the Twin Falls.

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From the Cleft you follow the Warrie Circuit sign and then descend on a zigzag path before beginning a steady rise towards the Blackfellow Falls.

For most of the year these falls consist of a fine sheet water sliding down the cliff with a tumble of large rocks at its base.

Soon after BlackfellowFalls you enter a valley that eventually leads you to The Poonyahra Falls which is not far from the Meeting-of-the-Waters.

From the rocks at the top of these falls you can contemplate nature and admire the falls cascading into a natural rock amphitheatre.

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After I had completed the Warrie Circuit it was past 4 o'clock in the afternoon so it would not have been wise to attempt any more long walks. Darkness descends swiftly in these hills.

But I did check out some more sights along the way including stopping to admire the Purling Brook Falls which consists of a single sheer fall of 106m.

The Purling Brook Circuit is 6km's and would take about 2-3hrs to walk.

I have added some maps to give an indication of the distances and attractions along this walking track.

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The Mt Cougal Cascades and walking track are at the opposite end of Springbrook National Park to the Canyon Falls. So the tips that follow from here on were from an entirely different day. A less than perfect day in fact.

I set out early enough to attempt the 8.5km Mt Cougal track but not knowing the area I was unaware that it wasn't a marked track. I had a reasonable topographic map but no compass because I thought the track was marked.

But after jumping over a fence and heading uphill and after many dead ends and false trails I became uncomfortably aware that this is not a good spot to be lost in.

It is steep and rough terrain without well defined tracks. So the idea of spending 24hrs in the bush before any search and rescue team acknowledge that I may be lost and begin a search I retraced my steps back to the car park.

It was still a couple of hours well spent exploring with a couple of interesting features along the way including a disused sawmill and the Mt Cougal Cascades.

I have added some maps to give an indication of the distances and attractions along this walking track.