About Curtis Falls
Curtis Falls is an easy-to-visit waterfall where Cedar Creek drops a modest 10-12m within the Joalah section of Tamborine National Park in the Gold Coast Hinterland.
At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything extraordinary about this waterfall, especially since there were quite a few more impressive ones within the reserve like Cedar Creek Falls and Cameron Falls among others.
In fact, there was even a noisy road that was right above the waterfall, and you’re not allowed to swim in its plunge pool due to restricted access.
However, what made this waterfall stand out was the opportunity at combining a visit with witnessing wild glow worms!
It was also possible to spot a platypus in the creek though it might have to happen when not so many people are around.
Speaking of lots of people, the family-friendly and short 1.3km return walk (according to my GPS logs) began from a well-signed and well-established car park (see directions below).
We then followed a gently descending track that through the rainforest just as we crossed back into the boundaries of Tamborine National Park.
Along the way, there was a Joalah Lookout, which was basically a lookout within the confines of the rainforest.
The short track ultimately descended to a trail junction where the reaminder of the walk proceeded upstream along Cedar Creek to the Curtis Falls Lookout at its end.
Overall, this short walk took us less than 45 minutes away from the car.
After having our fill of our late afternoon visit of the Curtis Falls, I did notice that on the way out, several families were going the other way towards the waterfall in the hopes of seeing glow worms.
Well, according to our guide at the nearby Glow Worm Caves on the Cedar Creek Estate, the best conditions for seeing glow worms would be in the humid summer months when there’s more moisture and the bugs are more active.
That brings out more glow worms looking to feast on the increased insect population, and hence that would cause more of them to light up the darkness.
Since our July 2022 visit was in the midst of the Australian Winter (typically the Dry Season), the conditions weren’t right for a good display of glow worms even though the La Nina rains produced a lot of moisture.
Authorities
Curtis Falls resides in the Tamborine National Park near the Gold Coast, Queensland. It is administered by the State of Queensland Department of Environment and Science. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
Curtis Falls resides on Tamborine Mountain, which is near the Gold Coast as well as south of Brisbane.
From the Esplanade in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, we drove north 750m on the Esplanade before turning left onto Ocean Ave then making a right turn onto Gold Coast Hwy (State Route 2) 220m later.
Next, we’d follow the Gold Coast Hwy for about 4km before turning left onto North Street (State Route 10).
From there, we’d drive on State Route 10 for about 8km to merge onto the M1 Motorway.
After about 4.5km on the M1 Motorway, we then got off at the Helensvale (North) off-ramp (exit 60), where we’d then follow Entertainment Road for 500m towards a roundabout with Michigan Drive.
Once on Michigan Drive, we then followed this road west for about 3km before turning onto the Tamborine-Oxenford Road (State Route 95).
Then, we’d follow this road for a little over 19km before turning right onto Dapsang Drive (there should be Curtis Falls signs by this point).
Finaly, we’d take Dapsang Drive to a three-way intersection right next to the Curtis Falls car park.
Overall, this drive would take under an hour, typically.
For context, Gold Coast was 78km (about an hour drive) south of Brisbane and 94km (over an hour drive) north of Byron Bay
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Brief back and forth sweep with zoomed-in panning on the falls
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