Kondalilla Falls

Kondalilla National Park is a small but scenic reserve in the Blackall Range, about 10 minutes south of Montville and 90 minutes north of Brisbane. The park protects a pocket of subtropical rainforest on the escarpment edge and is centred on Kondalilla Falls, where Skene Creek drops 90 metres in two stages over a basalt cliff into a deep plunge pool surrounded by rainforest.

The Kondalilla Falls Circuit is the main walking track, a 4.7 kilometre loop that takes about 90 minutes to complete. The track descends through tall rainforest with hoop pines, piccabeen palms, strangler figs and bird's-nest ferns before reaching a viewing platform at the top of the falls. From there, a steeper section of track with steps and rock platforms descends to the base of the falls and the rock pool, where swimming is permitted and popular on warm days. The return leg of the circuit climbs back through open eucalypt forest to the car park.

The rock pool at the base of the falls is one of the best natural swimming spots in the hinterland. The water is cool year-round (fed by the creek rather than a spring), the pool is deep enough for jumping from the lower rock ledges, and the setting - surrounded by 30 metre rainforest trees with the waterfall dropping into the pool - is genuinely beautiful. It is a favourite with local families on weekends and during school holidays.

The park is part of the broader Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk network, and the Kondalilla section can be connected to trails leading north to Montville and south to Mapleton Falls National Park. The birdlife in the rainforest is excellent, with green catbirds, regent bowerbirds, whipbirds and wompoo fruit-doves all regularly heard and seen.

Kondalilla is a year-round destination but the falls are at their most impressive after rain, particularly in the wetter months from December to March. Winter weekdays are the quietest time. The car park fills quickly on weekends and public holidays, so an early start is recommended. There is no camping in the park, but accommodation in Montville and Maleny is a short drive away.