Elabana Falls Gold Coast Sarah Latham

The walk to Elabana Falls is found at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast hinterlands. Located about a two hour drive from Brisbane and an hour and a half drive from Surfers Paradise, the travel time is nothing in comparison to how incredible this waterfall is.

Suggested read: Things to do on the Gold Coast.

Once you reach the hinterland area the drive to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat becomes very windy as you ascend up the mountain through the rainforest. While you do need to take care on the road, drive slowly and be very aware of other drivers, the drive also boasts stunning views across Lamington National Park and the Scenic Rim.

Suggested read: Your Scenic Rim One Day Itinerary: Things to do in the Scenic Rim.

Elabana Falls Sarah Latham

When you arrive at O’Reilly’s, you’ll see there is ample car parking. However, this is a very popular place and therefore if you can’t find a spot in the car park, you can park along the road.

The Walk to Elabana Falls

Just like other Gold Coast Waterfalls (read: How to get to Purling Brook Falls), Elabana Falls starts with a beautiful rainforest walk. To get to Elabana Falls, head towards the Border Track. This is well sign posted and easy to see. Here you also have a map of all the waterfalls and walks you can do while at O’Reilly’s.

About 1.7km down the Border Track, you will see a sign pointing you in the right direction towards Elabana Falls, Box Forest Circuit and Picnic Rock.

Follow this until you come to a fork where you’ll see signs for Picnic Rock and Elabana Falls. Follow these signs.

How to get to Elabana Falls Sarah Latham

Once you reach Picnic Rock there will either a rocky path or a small stream (if it has been raining recently). It’s very easy to cross (although your shoes may get wet if it’s a stream) and continue on, following the signs, towards the bottom of the waterfall.

As you approach the bottom of Elabana Falls, you will hear the cascading water. When you reach bottom there are a few rocks to hop over and then you are there!

Elabana Falls Sarah Latham

How hard is the walk to Elabana Falls?

Overall the track isn’t very steep, with a slow descend/ascend to the waterfall and back. We were more than capable of doing the hike and didn’t feel overexerted at all. While it is advertised as a 7.6km walk, my Strava tracking clocked it at 9.56km return. However, the walk took about an hour there and an hour back.

We timed out walk so that we would arrive at 4pm. This meant the last of the day trippers were on their way home as we arrived and we had the waterfall to ourselves while we were there.

Staying at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat

It is highly recommended (and something we plan on doing in the future) to stay at O’Reilly’s if you want to take advantage of all the waterfalls and walks in the area. O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat has a range of accommodation available from luxury villas to glamping options.

Things to do at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat

Elabana Falls isn’t the only amazing waterfall in the area, with the area also famous for waterfalls like Box Log Falls and Moran Falls and an abundance of rainforest walking tracks. In addition, there is a magnitude of activities here to enjoy including a Flying Fox Adventure and Segway Safaris.

Elabana Falls Gold Coast Sarah Latham

Elabana Falls is a must do waterfall in the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim region. We visited in September 2020 and I can’t wait to go back during the wetter months to see this waterfall in it’s full power.

Enjoy!

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