Lamington National Park Brisbane | Gold Coast

Elabana Falls is not to be missed! Photo credit: Cameron Semple © High and Wide

Lush rainforest, ancient trees and stunning waterfalls make Lamington National Park an outstanding place to visit! Photo credit: Nick Hill © Queensland Government

Be inspired: Long hikes in Lamington take you back through time

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to step back in time, not hundreds of years but millions? Photo credit: Lightcapturer © Queensland Government

Be inspired: Meet Lamington’s iconic and elusive wildlife—let the show begin!

Roll up, roll up! You’re about to meet the show-stopping performers of our Gondwana World Heritage Area rainforest! Photo credit: Lightcapturer © Queensland Government

Be inspired: 7 accessible (wheelchair and stroller-friendly) parks close to Brisbane

There’s no need to feel like you’re stuck in the city with nowhere to go this weekend! Photo credit: © Queensland Government

Be inspired: 8 family-friendly walks around the Gold Coast

Calling nature enthusiasts of all ages! If you’re looking for nature therapy the whole family can enjoy, there’s no better place than Queensland’s biggest playground—Queensland National Parks! Photo credit: Anna Osetroff © Queensland Government

Be inspired: A magical history tour of Queensland’s earliest national parks

South-East Queensland is the cradle of Queensland National Parks. So let’s take a tour of 4 of our earliest parks to learn the fascinating stories behind their creation and find out how to best enjoy them today. Photo credit: Nick Hill © Queensland Government

Be inspired: Refresh in the ‘green behind the gold’—5 bushwalks on the Gold Coast

Queensland National Parks in the Gold Coast hinterland offer bushwalks where you can refresh in cool mountain air, immerse your senses in lush green forests and feast your eyes on breathtaking scenery. Photo credit: © Tourism and Events Queensland

Box Forest circuit

Wander through stands of pink-barked brush box and on to Darragumai Falls, Picnic Rock and picturesque Elabana Falls.

Journey type
Walk
Distance
10.9km circuit The same start and finish point, but the traveller doesn’t return along the same path
Time suggested
Allow about 4hr walking time.
Grade
Grade 4 walking track

Accessible by

  • Conventional vehicle

Journey facilities

  • Walking

We recommend walking this circuit anticlockwise.

From the Border Track, branch off onto the Toolona Creek circuit and finally onto the Box Forest circuit. Head anticlockwise through rainforest and past impressive stands of smooth, pink-barked brush box Lophostemon confertus and a few Antarctic beech trees. In spring, delicate white flowers of box orchids cling to their fibrous branches and trunks. Similar brush box in other parts of the World Heritage area have been radiocarbon-dated at 1,500 years, making these giants the oldest ever carbon-dated trees on Australia's mainland.

Stop for lunch at Tullerigumai Falls (Box Log) or Picnic Rock and stay for a while at photo worthy Elabana Falls. Watch as the clear mountain water cascades from high in the forest, plunging into deep swirling pools, over rocky faces and down the rainforest valley. This is a photographic opportunity not to be missed!

Return the way you came or walk the whole circuit and be rewarded with views of many other picturesque waterfalls such as Darragumai Falls and Yanbacoochie Falls.

This park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, famed for its ongoing geological processes, evolutionary history, and diversity (especially of rare, threatened and endemic species).

Getting there and getting around

The Box Forest circuit is in the Green Mountains section of Lamington National Park, 110km south of Brisbane.

  • The circuit starts 3.2km along the Border Track from the trailhead at the Green Mountains day-use area.
  • The Green Mountains day-use area is at the end of Lamington National Park Road, 5.7km from the park entrance.

For more details on how to get to Lamington National Park, please see getting there and getting around.

Wheelchair accessibility

This circuit is not wheelchair accessible. There are wheelchair-accessible toilet facilities available at the Green Mountains day-use area.

Two wheelchair-accessible walking tracks are provided in the Green Mountains section: Centenary track is a 900m universal access track, and the first 700m of the Border Track is accessible for wheelchairs with assistance.

Before you visit

Opening hours

Box Forest circuit is open 24 hours a day.

Check park alerts for the latest information on access, closures and conditions.

Visiting safely

For more safety information see Visiting Lamington safely and Walk with care.