Natural Bridge and Springbrook Waterfalls Tour Gold Coast

Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park

Natural Bridge is the most photographed spot in the Gold Coast hinterland. Cave Creek runs across an old basalt lava flow and has worn a hole straight through the roof of a cave, so the water drops in a single column into a dark pool, lit by the daylight from above. The rock was laid down by the ancient Tweed volcano millions of years ago, and the creek has been carving it ever since. The site belongs to the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area.

On this Natural Bridge tour your guide walks with you for about an hour on the paved rainforest circuit, past strangler figs, palms and huge ferns, explaining the plants and animals as you go. You stand inside the cave to watch the waterfall up close. The cave is also known for its glow-worms, which show best after dark; in daylight the waterfall and the forest are the stars. Swimming is not allowed here, which keeps the pool and its wildlife untouched.

Best of All Lookout and the Antarctic beech forest

Best of All Lookout sits on the southern rim of the Springbrook plateau and lives up to its name. From the railing you look across the green Tweed Valley in northern New South Wales to Mount Warning, the eroded central plug of the same volcano that formed the plateau, with ridges stretching away towards the coast. On a clear morning the view is sharp and wide; in cloud the forest becomes misty and dramatic instead.

The short walk to the lookout is half the reward. The path passes through one of the few remaining pockets of Antarctic beech, gnarled moss-covered trees whose family dates back to the time when Australia was joined to Antarctica. Many people searching for the best Springbrook lookouts end up here, and with your guide you understand why these trees survive only on the cool, high edges of the plateau. Allow about 30 minutes for the walk and photos.

Purling Brook Falls

Purling Brook Falls is one of the tallest waterfalls in the Gold Coast hinterland, dropping more than a hundred metres over a sheer cliff into a deep forested gorge. The falls are fed by Purling Brook on the plateau and are at their fullest after summer rain, when the spray drifts up the cliff; in the drier months the ribbon of water is thinner but the gorge and rock layers are easier to see.

The tour visits the viewing platform at the top of the falls, a short walk from the road, so you get the classic view without the long descent. If you wonder whether Springbrook is worth visiting, this is the moment that settles it: the drop, the sound of the water and the green walls of the gorge. Your guide explains how the waterfalls of Springbrook formed along the edges of the old lava flows.

Canyon Lookout and Goomoolahra Falls

Depending on time and weather, the tour also stops at Canyon Lookout or at Goomoolahra Falls Lookout. Canyon Lookout looks down the steep gorge below Purling Brook and out towards the Gold Coast skyline and the ocean, a striking contrast between rainforest and the high-rise coast you started from. Goomoolahra Falls drops beside its lookout on the northern end of the plateau, with a wide view to the coast on clear days.

These stops are short photo breaks of around ten to fifteen minutes, chosen by your guide on the day. If you are planning a Springbrook day trip from the Gold Coast on your own, these are the viewpoints most visitors miss because the plateau roads are narrow and winding; with our tour you see them without worrying about parking or directions.

Numinbah Valley and Hinze Dam

The road to Natural Bridge runs through the Numinbah Valley, a long green valley of the Nerang River between the Springbrook and Lamington plateaus. High cliffs and forested ridges rise on both sides of cattle pastures and small farms, and your guide gives commentary on the area, its history and its wildlife as you drive. Early in the tour you stop for about ten minutes at Hinze Dam, the large lake on the Nerang River that supplies much of the Gold Coast with water, for local snacks and a stretch.

On the return to the coast, in the cooler part of the day, kangaroos and pretty-faced wallabies often come out of the bush to feed on the grassy paddocks along the road, so keep your camera ready. Sightings are common but never guaranteed, as these are wild animals in their own habitat.