Recently I spent a bit of time on the Sunshine Coast, QLD doing a tourism project and one of the locations I had to explore and photograph was Kondalilla National Park. I have been to this national park before but only briefly so it was nice to spend quite a bit of time exploring all of it this time. It really is a beautiful place with dense rainforest, massive waterfalls and gorgeous rock pools.
There are well laid out paths and tracks and its a great workout if you want to walk the Kondalilla Falls circuit that takes you to the bottom of the falls which is 90 metres high. The complete circuit is 4.7km and takes about two hours. There are over 100 stairs on this walk so you need to be reasonably fit.
The first waterfall you will pass is Picnic Creek. Its a beautiful little cascade that flows into a refreshing swimming hole. From here you enter into the bushy rainforest before coming out on the other side of the park where you can see views of the valley below.
After walking a bit further through the rainforest you can chose to turn left or right. If you go left it takes you to the rock pools. If you choose to go right you will head down to the viewing platform for Kondalilla Falls. I suggest you turn right if you are intending to do the whole circuit because the steepest section is to the right which is much less strenuous going down than if you had to walk up it!
After spending some time taking in the beauty of this huge waterfall you can keep heading down the track right to the bottom of the falls. It really is worth the walk down. The rainforest changes as you go and gets cooler and more tropical.
After exploring the bottom of the falls you then walk beside the creek, cross a bridge and start the trek up the other side of the falls. Its a long, winding track but a lot less strenuous than the other side. Eventually you will come out at the top of Kondalilla Falls where there is a beautiful little waterfall that flows into a swimming hole that you can have a little rest by! I was pretty pooped by the time I got to here!
After enjoying the break it times to keep trekking back to the carpark. Again you head back into dense rainforest for a good while until you come out into a clearing and back to the start of the track. This really is a beautiful walk and one worth doing at least once in your life. Make sure you take some water with you to keep hydrated.
Have you done this walk before? I would love to know what you experience was like so leave a comment below and let me know!
Beautiful photos, never heard of this National Park but again (like all your posts) adding this to the list. Great share. Kate, Wondrous x
Thanks so much Kate. Yes, definitely another to add to the bucket list when you head up this way! ๐
Absolutely stunning! I’ve never heard of this National Park before so thanks so much for opening my eyes to its beauty.
Siobhan x
My pleasure Siobhan! You will have to explore it next time you are in QLD! ๐
So beautiful Larissa. I love this National Park and you have captured it so well. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Kiki! Its a beautiful place to spend a couple of hours! ๐
Wow – I didn’t even know this places existed! Thanks for sharing!!
My pleasure Ella! So glad you enjoyed it! ๐