The Best Waterfalls – Sunshine Coast Travel Guide
The Sunshine Coast Hinterland is renowned for its spectacular waterfalls and rainforest nature trails, featuring vast valley views, rocky paths and many water crossings! If you love taking holiday adventures, tick off some of these must-see Waterfall Hotspots! This guide explains getting to Kondalilla Falls, Mapleton Falls, Baxter Falls, Obi Obi & Narrows Falls, Gheerulla Falls, Booloumba Falls and Buderim Falls as a bonus. So crank up that TLC and get ready to chase some waterfalls!
HOT TIP: Our waterfalls are best seen after rain. If you go chasing waterfalls for a swim on a hot day when we’ve had a dry period, you will be seriously disappointed! Make sure to be careful when paths and rocks are slippery, be sure you let someone know where you’re going.
Kondalilla Falls
Montville | Directions
Starting with a splash is the most popular and closest to Montville.
Kondalilla Falls, meaning ‘Rushing Water” to the local Kabi-Kabi tribe, has held significant cultural connections for thousands of years. With beautiful waterfalls along the way, it’s clear why this location attained its name.
Featuring the Fairy Pools (500m), Main Swimming Hole (2km) and Full Track (2-3hrs), Kondalilla is a frequent feature in our Head On Up volumes due to its stunning natural environment. If there’s only room for one nature stop on your hinterland itinerary, this would be our recommendation.
This walk features three large waterfalls: the Fairy Pools, the Main Swimming Hole (Kondalilla Falls), and the grand Rock Pools, which awaits you at the bottom of the Full Circuit. Walking through Kondalilla Falls provides surprise after surprise and is truly unmissable. If you do not want to complete the whole walking track but would like an alternate viewpoint of Kondalilla Falls, steer right at the steel-fenced staircase, and you’ll arrive at a lookout with a seat.
Mapleton Falls
Mapleton | Directions
Park the car and arrive at the central viewing platform, which extends over a 120m drop for an epic view of Mapleton Falls. You may feel your heart drop slightly as you look down to where the falls end in Obi Obi Valley. It looks like a scene from Jurassic Park, leaving you almost waiting to hear a dinosaur roar or to hear a large rustle in the trees!
Take in all the viewpoints from the 360° platform and then follow the walkway over Pencil Creek to the parks circuit. Offering a shorter but refreshing walk, Wompoo Circuit (1.8km) adds a prehistoric touch as you walk into the winding trail beneath the palms and become immersed in Mapleton’s rainforest escape. Offering another lookout towards the end of the walk, looking back on the valley drop-off, this is an excellent walk for all abilities with spectacular views.
Baxter Falls
Flaxton | Directions
If a philosophy reads “the longer the walk, the greater the waterfall”, it would apply to Baxter Falls, nestled away in Flaxton, 10 minutes from Montville. Walking down nearly 300m of elevation over 3.3km, be rewarded with the suspension bridge across Baxter Creek with the falls to your right. Baxter Falls is one of the less visited falls due to its longer distance, but it makes for a perfectly private spot for lunch or a swim if you’re up for it!
Be sure to bring snacks and plenty of water, as this walk’s significant descent makes for a long journey back to the car, especially on a hot day for casual walkers. Watch for nestling echidnas and bower birds at the creek bottom.
Narrows Falls
Montville | Directions
A location we’ve featured in our past volumes and a personal favourite of Jackson’s, Narrows and Baroon Lookout Walking Track provides multiple waterfalls set to inspire any avid adventurer.
The park’s entry is just 100m before the Secrets On The Lake entrance. Arrive at a junction after a Ikm start on the rainforest trail; turn left, and you can descend to Baroon Pocket Dam’s Waterfall and be treated to multiple natural waterfalls along the Obi Obi River as you hop and explore across the river rocks. Turn right at this junction, head towards Narrows Lookout, and be greeted by more stunning waterfalls and lush scenery without descending to the river. To enjoy this location fully, allocate 2-3 hours and tread carefully when crossing the river rocks. If you are uncomfortable walking along the river, there is enough space at the paths clearing for adequate viewing without making your way up or downstream.
Booloumba Falls
Conondale | Directions
Overshadowed perhaps by its Instagram-famous neighbour but well worth the visit, Booloumba Falls is one of the most beautiful days out on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Covered in our ‘Country Road Trip’ in Volume One, the Conondale National Park boasts waterfalls, idyllic blue waters, extraordinary views, wildlife, and bird choruses. Best known for the iconic Booloumba Creek, with a further 20-30 minute offroad drive and a 2km walk along rivers and mini-flowing waterfalls, you arrive at the grand Booloumba Falls. With possibly the most enormous swimming hole on this list, soak in this glorious location that overlooks the valley as you venture over massive boulders.
It is highly recommended that you travel in a 4×4 vehicle and check the Park Alerts available online at www.parks.qld for any track closures or flood warnings. To access the Booloumba Creek Day Area (Main Swimming Hole), you must cross two creek crossings with minimal off-road difficulty for 15 minutes. To continue to Booloumba Falls and the magnificent lookout, Booloumba View, along the way, you will need to embark on a 20-30 minute further off-road track with a medium level of experience recommended. There is also a 20-minute walk involved to the central Booloumba Falls location.
Gheerulla Falls
Mapleton | Directions
Gheerulla Falls is another reasonably easy waterfall location that has yet to be discovered by many new visitors and some locals! It makes for a fun, short waterfall snap. Located in Mapleton, follow Delicia Road for 5.5km, the last part of which is a gravel road. You will see a small clearing to park your vehicle on your right with signs.
Walk through the gate and follow the track (1.8km), sometimes somewhat overgrown. When you arrive at the creek crossing, turn right up the creek 100m to the falls. We only recommend this trip after some rain, as this waterfall turns into a trickle during the dry season!
Buderim Falls
Buderim | Directions
With such an iconic, picturesque setting, we can almost guarantee you’ve seen Buderim Falls before being hung in a dentist’s waiting room! However, do not associate this glorious getaway with the dentist; this location will only make you say “ah” with your mouth open as you see the peaceful falls for the first time. Known to the locals as “Serenity Falls, take the journey into a unique, secluded rainforest oasis.
The falls itself is nothing short of stunning! With an accompanying outcropped boulder, seek shelter and walk behind the falls to live out your most extraordinary fantasy tales. It is a perfect place to sit and watch the water flow. Overlook the falls on the trail bridge and many viewing platforms.
Be advised that the path and rocks can become muddy and slippery after rain.
With spacious parking less than a kilometre from Buderim Village, this 2km walk is a treat for the whole family. Make sure to bring your togs, as you could spend hours swimming at the falls or rock hopping down the river in the jungle-like setting. Do a complete circuit and end at the falls, or head directly there-this is a great day out!