Kondalilla National Park
- Introduction
- Fact file
- NQIS (07) 3227 8185
- QPWS Maleny (07) 5494 3983
Introduction
Kondalilla, an Aboriginal word meaning ‘rushing waters’, is an apt name for this national park in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, which boasts the spectacular 90-metre Kondalilla Falls that tumbles down into a rainforest valley in the Blackall Range during the wet season. In the rainforest valley there are dense stands of piccabeen palms, pink ash and bunya pines – the bunya nuts were the focus of celebratory feasts for the traditional owners of the area, the Gubbi Gubbi people. Tall open eucalypt forest, interspersed with patches of rainforest, grows above the falls. On the western escarpment are casuarinas with an understorey of grasstrees. From the 1880s to the early 1900s, the forest around Kondalilla was heavily logged for red cedar, blackbutt and tallowwood. Now a protected area, Kondalilla supports some 107 species of birds, and a number of rare animals and vulnerable plants, including the pouched frog, and the bopple nut with its brilliant red fruit containing a large edible nut.Walking trails include Picnic Creek circuit (2.4 km return, 1 hour, easy), leading to a lookout over the valley; Rock Pools Walk (3.2 km return, 1 hour, medium difficulty) to the rocks pools above the waterfall on Skene Creek (involves climbing 100 steps to return); and Kondalilla Falls circuit (4.6 km return, 2 hours, medium difficulty), which winds its way down through the rainforest to the base of the waterfall. Montville, Flaxton and Mapleton are renowned for their art, craft and antique galleries, and teashops and restaurants, so visitors to the area will find plenty to do.
Fact file
Camping
No camping
Location and access
131 km north of Brisbane via Bruce Hwy, Glass House Mountains Rd, Landsborough–Maleny Rd and Maleny–Montville Rd
Park Information
Size
327 ha
Where to Stay
Flaxton/Mapleton/Montville
(07) 5478 5544
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