13 Tips For Purling Brook Falls Walk, Springbrook National Park

Are you looking for information about the Purling Brook Falls circuit in Springbrook National Park? Whilst there are many waterfalls in Gold Coast to consider, we decided to start our adventure with one of the biggest Springbrook waterfalls.

We spent quite a while researching the many different Gold Coast walks, and in the end we decided to explore our first hike in the area at one of the most popular Springbrook National Park walks. We were tossing up between visiting Lamington National Park next door, but we decided to save that one for another time.

So, if you’re wondering about how long the Purling Brook Falls hike takes, what you need to wear, what to bring, whether it’s safe to bring kids, then we’ll answer everything you need to know about the hike to Purling Brook Falls.

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Watch Our Video To Purling Brook Falls

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Main Highlights Of Purling Brook Falls Walk

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If you’re looking for some quick answers, our main highlights for doing the Purling Brook Falls walk is the sheer beauty of the bottom of this Springbrook National Park waterfall.

It honestly makes you feel so small in comparison to the surroundings. The black granite rocks encompass the base of the falls, which is surrounded by ferns and palm trees, making you feel like you’re in a tropical wonderland. Plus, the suspension bridge is fun for photos too.

If this is making you want to read more about Purling Brook Falls, here’s our 13 tips to prepare you for one of the best Gold Coast hikes.

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1. How To Get To Purling Brook Falls

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Purling Brook falls is 105km from Brisbane, which takes about 1h30m to get to. If you’re coming from Surfers Paradise, it’s 37km and takes approximately 45 minutes.

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2. Purling Brook Falls Accommodation

We stayed in this awesome airbnb in Hylands Park which was just a 35 minute drive from Purling Brook Falls. We’ve stayed in airbnb’s all over the world and this is easily one of the best we’ve ever stayed in.

We had the entire bottom floor to ourselves, complete with a kitchen and living room (plus ensuite) which we would have shared with one other room if there were any guests staying. The views out to Gold Coast skyline are insane, and we loved it so much, we will stay there time and time again when we go back to explore more Springbrook National Park walks.

If you’re looking for Springbrook National Park accommodation, you can find some more of the best place to stay here.

Or you can use our discount to find an airbnb below like we did!

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3. Where To Park

We read that you should start the Purling Brook Falls hike as early as possible to avoid the crowds and to find parking. I hadn’t really researched much about where to start the walk from but there’s a big sign when you enter the town of Purling Brook to go to the car park.

We turned up at 8am on a long weekend so we were prepared for thee to be a few cars around. There were about 10 or so at the car park when we arrived which wasn’t too bad. When we left at around 11am the car park was packed.

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4. Are There Toilet Facilities At Purling Brook Falls?

There are a few toilets at Purling Brook Falls car park which you can use before or after your hike.

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5. Picnic Facilities

The car park splits up the picnic area and the start of the track. When we arrived, we were a bit unsure where to start the walk and ended up walking around the picnic area.

There is a sign on the other side of the car park saying Purling Brook Falls and if you walk onto the track from where the sign is, you’ll find the information about the walk hiding around the corner. There’s a Purling Brook Falls map for you to take a photo if needed, and more information about the walk before you start.

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6. Cafes To Visit At Purling Brook Falls

Steve is a bit hooked on having coffee to start his day, but the cafes were actually closed when we arrived at 8am. When we went back around 11am, they were all open.

We saw three cafes in total at Purling Brook Falls. There’s one right by the car park which serves up some vegan food and usual cafe style food. Another one is a bit further back down the road which we went to after the walk and had cheese toasties in their garden. And there’s another one as you come into town which looked like the most popular.

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7. What To Wear On The Walk

We wore hiking boots as we do for all of our hikes in Australia. You don’t really need them but if you attempt to get up close to the waterfall, you need to be careful as the rocks are very slippery and you could easily hurt yourself if you’re wearing trainers.

Make sure you bring at least 1 litre of water and a few snacks to eat throughout the hike.

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8. How Long Does It Take To Walk To The Bottom?

When we read about this Gold Coast walk, other sites suggested it would take 2 hours to walk the 4km. We know that’s usually at the slowest pace.

I timed it on my trusted Garmin 235 watch and it actually took us 40 minutes to get down to the falls. We were the slowest out of anyone we saw on the track because we kept stopping to take photos and to film our video. So, this is literally the slowest time I think it would take anyone!

In total it took us 2h20m to do the Purling Brook Falls hike.

We spent 40 minutes walking down to the falls, 1 hour down at the falls and 40 minutes walking back up.

You can continue the hike down to the very bottom of the falls to Warringa Falls which will add on another 2km, taking another 40 minutes. We didn’t actually do this part of the walk.

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9. How Hard Is The Walk?

Everyone suggests doing the Purling Brook Falls walk clockwise because you’ll have to walk up 450 steps on the way back otherwise. It’s even stated on a sign before you start the walk from National Parks.

It’s designed so you can easily walk down to the bottom and walk up a gradual climb at the end. You don’t even really notice the climb on the way back up.

We met a group of people who did the walk anti-clockwise and they were a bit concerned how long it would take them to walk back up.

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10. Can You Take Kids To Purling Brook Falls?

We always think that the main things people probably want to know about about doing a hike is how long it takes and whether you can take kids.

When we did this Springbrook National Park walk, we saw loads of kids do this walk who all walked much faster than we did, and must have been around 7 years+ . It’s safe for kids to do the hike but as always just be very aware of the track as there aren’t any fences on the way down unless you’re at the lookout points.

The track is really easy to follow and you won’t get lost. The further you head down along the track, you’ll notice the terrain will change and become more tropical. It’s a beautiful walk which the whole family will enjoy.

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11. Can You Swim At Purling Brook Falls?

Although people do swim at Purling Brook Falls, it’s advised not to, to protect the falls. But you can swim down at Warringa Falls if you decide to continue the track the further 2km now.

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12. Can You Use A Drone At Purling Brook Falls?

We tried to capture some drone footage at the base of Purling Brook Falls but it wouldn’t fly because it couldn’t pick up a GPS due to changing altitudes. We ended up using it to capture the falls at the lookout next to the top of the falls just before you finish the walk.

If you are going to capture some drone footage, please be respectful of others and don’t fly it for too long or too low around people.

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13. Other Places To Visit In Springbrook National Park

If you’re looking to make the most of your day at Purling Brook Falls, we recommend driving down to Bilbrough Falls at the end of the road which has some lovely and quiet picnic areas.

By the car park is the English Country Gardens tearooms which we loved. It’s run by a lovely Japanese couple who have been running it for 25 years! For $5 each, you can check out their gorgeous little gardens (we were the only people there when we visited) and of course spend $10 on a Devonshire tea in Springbrook National Park. We actually really loved this little place.

Just before you drive to the end of the road, you could also do Twin Falls walk which takes 2 hours. It’s another massively popular walk and parking is a struggle. We saw cars parked all down the side of the main road but it’s something we’ll definitely do next time as the path actually takes you behind the falls.

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Also make the effort to check out Best Of All Lookout in Springbrook which is an amazing lookout you can see all the way to Byron Bay!

And if you have time, drive 30minutes over to the Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park. It’s an amazing natural wonder which only takes 10 minutes to walk to from the carpark.

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Summary

We loved the walks even though the water wasn’t flowing much when we went. The hike was pretty easy but it was lovely to get out and into nature again as it’s been ages since we last did a bit of exploring. It sort of reminded us of Wentworth Falls in Blue Mountains near Sydney for its sheer size. It’s definitely a Gold Coast walk everyone needs to do.

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Don’t Forget To Watch Our Purling Brook Falls Video!

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Purling Brook Falls Springbrook National Park

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