Top 5 things for families to do in Springbrook National Park

Springbrook National Park is perfect for families. With 6558 hectares of cool subtropical rainforest and eucalypt forest to discover, it is a magical experience discovering its lookouts, stunning waterfalls and streams.

Accessibility is fantastic. The lookouts and walking tracks are close to each other, so there is not a lot of driving involved, and most waterfalls can be viewed from lookouts just 50m to 200m from the car park. These are often on paved tracks, making it very manageable for families with young children.

So, you can experience some of Australia’s most stunning rainforests and waterfalls without having to do big hikes to reach them.

For families with bigger kids and those who like to stretch their legs a little more, the longest trail we did was 4km and it was superb.

We stayed at Springbrook’s only campground, The Settlement, in the Nissan Patrol Warrior with a Thule Approach L family roof tent on top and Thule Overcast Awning for shade. We also have the fully electric MG4 with us for nipping around in and as a portable powered site for our camping creature comforts!

I loved holidaying at Springbrook with my family, it’s beautiful! As a mum of two, family car journalist and founder of BabyDrive.com.au, here are my family’s Top 5 things to do at Springbrook National Park…

Purling Brook Falls is a great place for families to start, offering two lookouts with stunning views only 200m from the car park.

As you enter the track, there’s a great sign with all the meanings of the Aboriginal names for local places, which is really interesting to look at with the kids.

Taking the track to the left, you arrive at a stunning lookout with views across to Purling Brook Falls.

Return back to the sign and take the track to the right and you’ll find yourself at the top of Purling Brook Falls. It’s incredible to stand and watch the water running over the edge and plummeting nearly 100m below!

Keep your eyes peeled for the blue crayfish beside the track and in the pools at the top of the waterfall.

The only campground within Springbrook National Park is The Settlement. It’s well situated; it’s just a short walk to some of the lookouts and trails, with the others a quick drive away.

The Settlement is a beautiful, small and quiet campsite with just 11 spaces. We are lucky to get a large, shady spot next to the camp kitchen hut, which is clean and basic with barbecues and shelter.

Our camping area was also just a short distance from the toilets, which are basic but clean long-drop affairs.

There are not many options for eating out or buying supplies around Springbrook, so it’s best to bring all your food and water with you. There is no power at The Settlement, so you need your own lights and to be self-sufficient.

We camp in the Thule Approach L Roof Tent with the Thule Overcast Awning, both on top of the Nissan Patrol Warrior. (We camped in this previously in Lamington National Park.)

The big family roof tent works really well for our family of four, with plenty of space inside. Quick to put up and down, we’re high up away from the local wildlife while we sleep and have a beautiful view out at the trees and stars from the skylights! I put fairy lights up inside to make it homely.

My daughters and I arrive in the morning in the Nissan Patrol Warrior after a very comfortable drive, enjoying the scenery courtesy of the Patrol Warrior’s high ride position and large windows. My husband joins us after work in the fully electric MG4.

Using the MG’s Vehicle-to-Load feature, its battery pack turns our basic bush camp into a powered site! We run our fridge from the MG4 and I am so pleased that I can boil the kettle for a cup of tea, too! We also give the girls a treat and let them have a little iPad time…

One of the benefits we didn’t think of having both vehicles is that we used the MG4 to visit all the different walks and lookouts, so we didn’t have to put the roof tent away each day to use the Patrol Warrior. We also saved a small fortune in fuel, after finding a public charger in the national park that topped up the MG’s battery for just $15.

Best of All Lookout is at the end of an incredible 200m stroll on a paved path through subtropical rainforest.

You don’t have to walk far along this trail to reach the beautiful Antarctic beech Trees.

These ancient beech trees are a survivor from when Australia was part of the Gondwana supercontinent and when Africa, South America, India, Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand were all joined together. The climate was cooler back then, and these trees thrived, but are now found only in high-altitude pockets of subtropical rainforest along Australia’s east coast.

Part of their survival is that the trees don’t drop seeds to reproduce; saplings grow up from their fallen limbs and root systems, giving them their distinct twisty gnarly shape, and a carpet of soft green moss grows all over them. The kids spot knobbly noses and faces in the trunks!

It’s a short, paved walk to the lookout through a rich rainforest environment of huge boulders, vines, epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants) and streams.

The view out is over the Numinbah Valley, created by the explosion of the Mount Warning volcano millions of years ago. You can see from Mount Warning to the right, past Byron Bay, round to Kingscliff and Mt Cougal, all the way around to Mt Tallebudgera and the ocean beyond, with Coolangatta, Tweed Heads and the border of Queensland and New South Wales at the far left.

You have to pinch yourself at Canyon Lookout. Straight out of the car you get a great view of Rainbow Falls and Twin Falls. My kids counted five waterfalls in total from here!

When the sun’s out, you can see rainbows dancing across Rainbow Falls and across to the Gold Coast and Pacific Ocean in the distance.

It is worth a little extra effort to take the Twin Falls Circuit, a 4km return trail leaving from Canyon Lookout. It’s a good one for kids because the elevation change isn’t too much and it’s incredibly rewarding as you walk behind two waterfalls: Blackfellow Falls (Maibin ngulara) and Twin Falls (Bulandai ngulara).

You can adapt this walk by just going as far as Twin Falls and returning, which is around 2km, but in that short distance the scenery is incredible. You hop over little streams running out to the cliff edge, with amazing bush and surrounding trees.

Then zigzag back and forth across bridges and stream crossings down to the base of Twin Falls and find yourself standing underneath it. It’s absolutely magical!

In case that’s not enough, this walk passes through caves and narrow splits in the rock face, dripping with water and providing a cool, calm contrasting refuge from the sun’s heat and the vibrant throng and colours of the rainforest.

Situated within the Numinbah Valley, Natural Bridge is a stunning 30-minute drive on country roads and through tall gum forests before you reach the trail head.

From the car park, a paved walking path leads you through the rainforest and across bridges and streams until you turn a corner and suddenly arrive at Nature’s Bridge. It is as stunning in real life as it looks in photos. The sound is incredible as the water rushes through the hole, causing a cool mist and breeze to come off the water, enlivening all your senses.

You can enter the cave under the bridge and during the day see the bats nesting in the ceiling. If you come after dark, you’ll find the cave lit with glowworms.

Back on the path, heading clockwise, you get to see the Natural Bridge from all directions; from above the water thunders through a huge hole in the rock and plunges into the pool below.

Follow a line of towering bunya pines that lead you back to the car park and the kids exclaim, “I want to see it again!”

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