Kondalilla National Park in the Sunshine Coast hinterland has some beautiful waterfalls, rockpools, and lush rainforest scenery to explore on several short walks.
There are two parts to the park – the Baroon Lookout section and the Kondalilla Falls section – which are on either side of the café and gallery town of Montville. For experienced walkers, you can hike between the two sections. Otherwise, it is 15 minute drive between the two car parks.
Disclosure: Please Note That Some Links In This Post May Be Affiliate Links, And At No Additional Cost To You, We Earn A Small Commission If You Make A Purchase. Commissions Go Toward Maintaining The Curious Campers Website.
Contents
Where is Kondalilla National Park?
Kondalilla National Park is 30km from Maroochydore and 105km from Brisbane.
If you put Kondalilla Falls or Baroon Lookout into your car or phone maps, you will find yourself at the right carpark for each of the sections. They are also well signed from Main Road that runs through Montville.
Best Time to Visit & Facilities
Both the Baroon Lookout and Kondalilla Falls sections have good sized car parks and toilets. Kondalilla Falls also has a nice picnic area with some sheltered tables and wood BBQs about 150m from the car park.
There are no kiosks, so grab some supplies from Montville before you head in.
If there has been a lot of rain some tracks might be closed, you can check on the Queensland Parks website. Otherwise, the forest provides good shade on the walks, but you will want to take some water if it is hot. And as we found, if there is a little light rain, the canopy also acts as a good natural umbrella.
Baroon Lookout Walks
We visited here on a drizzly day, but that didn’t spoil the walks. In fact, the rainforest canopy provided quite a bit of protection from the rain and the sound of dripping and running water really added to the experience.
It was much quieter at Baroon Lookout than Kondalilla Falls, so if you like to walk with fewer people, this is the spot.
Depending on your energy levels, you have three short walk options at Baroon Lookout.
Obi Obi Forest Walk
1km return, easy with a few steps at the end
If you want to get into the rainforest but not go too far, this short trail is perfect.
The Obi Obi Forest Walk follows the start of the Baroon Lookout trail. Start at the impressive wooden entrance that marks the start of the 58km Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk.
You cross a bridge and go into the forest. There are signs pointing to a range of trees including Rose Gum, Brush Cherry and Forest Oak which you can look out for as you go along.
About 250m along you turn off the main path to Obi Obi Creek. A well-formed path takes you to a small flight of steps and down to the water. You can’t swim here but it is a pretty spot and an easy walk through the forest. Return the way you walked in.
Narrows Lookout Walk
2.2km return walk, generally easy
This is a good option if you want to go a bit deeper into the rainforest. You continue along the same path you start the Obi Obi Forest walk on, but continue for about another 800m.
You pass some great scenery including enormous Blackbutts, a little grove of Piccabeen Palms, bright green mossy logs and there is an area where you can sit down and listen to the sounds of the forest.
A 200m detour from the main trail takes you on a path that passes between two pieces of a huge tree trunk, and down some stone steps to the lookout.
From the official lookout area, the views of the valley are partly obscured by some trees but it’s not a bad sight. More fun is the area around a small waterfall. From the falls, the water cuts its way through a narrow channel of rock.
It is a pretty spot to explore but be careful – the wet rocks are super slippery.
Baroon Lookout Walk
4.4km return walk, generally easy dirt and boardwalk track
The third walk here is the full walk to Baroon Lookout which is 1.1km beyond the Narrows Lookout.
There is some great rainforest scenery on this part of the trail including some big tree ferns, a nice section of boardwalk along a creek and a couple of bridges over some more water.
The turn off to the lookout takes you to an area of grass trees which stand out amongst the rainforest plants. Even with lots of low cloud, the view from Baroon Lookout over the Blackall Ranges is breathtaking.
Just watch the rocks as you walk up to the viewing area – they are also very slippery when wet.
Kondalilla Falls Walks
There are three walks you can do at Kondalilla falls and the nice thing is they all join up so you do them all on the longest Kondalilla Falls Circuit. The main features here are the picnic ground, the 80m high falls and the rockpool area at the top of the falls where you can go for a swim.
This is a more popular part of the park. Compared to the carpark at Baroon Lookout, which was empty, it was quite busy here with most people making their way to the swimming area.
The picnic ground is between the carpark and start of the walks. It has BBQs, picnic tables, shelters and toilets.
Picnic Creek Circuit
1.7km loop track, easy, well formed path
This easy walk starts as you cross the picturesque Picnic Creek. After you take a few pics, choose to go left or right. We stayed right, taking in the views at the Obi Valley Lookout. The path then does a sharp hairpin turn and loops you back to where you started.
There are lots of mossy logs, tall trees and the constant sound of whip birds on this short walk. It is a fun and easy way to explore the forest
If you end up at the steps for the rockpool, you missed the tight u turn in the trail (talking from experience here), but you are within 100m of seeing the rockpool. There are few sets of steps to go down (and back up later) to the swimming spot.
Rockpool Walk
2km return or loop walk, medium difficulty, there are steps to the rockpool.
As mentioned above, if you have started on the Picnic Creek Circuit, keep going and a few minutes later you see a sign down to the rock pools. The steps aren’t too bad, they aren’t steep and coming back up won’t get you too puffed.
This is a lovely spot and on your way there you get a good view of Kondalilla Falls. The swimming area is well back from the top of the falls. The edge of the falls is fenced off so unless you walk to the base of the falls, the lookout is your best view of them.
Once you have cooled off, you can either return the way you came in or complete the other half of the Picnic Creek Circuit.
Kondalilla Falls Circuit
4.7km moderate, over 300 steps to mostly go down.
We started this walk a bit worried by all the steps, but they are mostly well spaced out and not too deep. If you prefer going down steps to up, we recommend doing the circuit in the signed anticlockwise direction.
From the Rock pools, follow the sign down to the falls. The first part of the decent has the steepest steps, but you will only be going down them if you do the walk in this direction. On the way down there is another waterfall lookout. From there, some rougher rock steps take you to near the base of the falls.
You can get right to the base of the falls and feel the spray and breeze that the falling water creates. It is a bit if a rock scramble to get there, with a few big boulders to get around, up and over.
When you are done at the base of the falls, cross the bridge over the water. The ascent is made quite easy by some long, switchbacks that never get too steep. Without much effort you are back at the rock pool where you can finish your walk by completing the loop of the Picnic Creek Circuit.
I must admit, despite fearing how tough the circuit walk might be, it wasn’t as daunting as we expected. People of average fitness and mobility will be able to enjoy this walk.
If you enjoyed this story you might also like:
Maleny Botanic Gardens | Buderim Forest Walk| Noosa Everglades Cruise
Liked it? Pin it for Later…
500 THINGS TO DO
Join our mailing list and receive our Free Top 500 things to do in Australia. If you love the Australian Outdoors download this list and keep it handy when you are planning a weekend away or a road trip around Australia.
