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

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 4hrs walking time.
Grade
Grade 4 walking track
Where
View map

Accessible by

  • Conventional vehicle
  • Trail bike
  • Bicycle

Journey facilities

  • Walking

From the Border Track, branch off onto the Toolona Creek circuit and finally onto the Box Forest circuit track. 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 Darragumai Falls or Picnic Rock and stay for a while at pretty 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 Bog Log Falls and Yanbacoochie Falls . If you intend walking this entire circuit, walk in a clockwise direction and exit via Elabana Falls and Picnic Rock.

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.

Getting to Lamington

The park has two sections—Green Mountains and Binna Burra. The Green Mountains section is on the western side of the Lamington Plateau in an area called O'Reilly. The Binna Burra section encompasses the rest of the park to the east. There is no public transport to the park and getting taxis and ride share operators to pick up from the park can be difficult.

Green Mountains section

From Broadbeach, drive 40km to Canungra via Nerang. From the north, take Pacific Motorway exit 34 to Beenleigh, route 92 to Tamborine, and route 90 to Canungra. The 36km winding, and often narrow, bitumen road from Canungra requires care and takes at least 50min.

Wheelchair access

There are no wheelchair-accessible facilities.

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.