Best of All Lookout, Springbrook National Park, and its neighbors

The Best of All Lookout, Springbrook National Park's famous viewpoint off Repeater Station Road, earns its name.¹³ The walk from the car park takes just 15 minutes and passes Antarctic beech trees on the way to a view that reaches as far as Byron Bay in New South Wales, with Mt Warning in the frame.¹ On a clear day the full curve of the coast opens up, running south into New South Wales.¹⁴

The walk in is part of the reason to come. The small stand of Antarctic beech is one of the remaining links to the forests of Gondwana that grew here in a cooler climate, the park description says.¹⁵ Nothofagus forests like this once spread across the continent and gave shelter to animals that have long since disappeared.¹⁶ Some trees on the plateau are over 2,000 years old, and the tourism body names the Best of All Lookout as the place to see them.¹⁷

The Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area holds nearly all of the Antarctic beech cool temperate rainforest that remains, according to the Australian Government's listing notes.¹⁸ Walk slowly through the beech stand: the gnarled, moss-covered trunks and the cool, damp air feel more like Tasmania than the Gold Coast. Then the trees open and the railing appears, with the whole caldera below you.

Canyon Lookout in Springbrook National Park gives a very different view: down rather than out. From the railing you look down on a waterfall in the canyon below.³ It is also the trailhead for the Warrie Circuit, the long walk through that canyon, and the hiking guide recommends starting early for the best misty valley views.^4,22 Even if you are not walking, early morning here often shows mist lying in the gorge.

A few minutes away, Goomoolahra picnic area has its own short walk. A 250m return path leads to a waterfall and two lookouts.⁵ It ranks among the simplest ways to stand at the top of a fall on the plateau, and the picnic tables make it a natural lunch stop on a lookout drive. Watch children near the edge, as you would at any of the cliff-top railings. Late in the day the light on the falls turns soft and gold, a good time for photographs.

The guided half day we recommend also stops at Canyon Lookout or at Goomoolahra Falls lookout if the clock and the sky permit, alongside the Best of All Lookout. If you are driving yourself, both fit easily into a plateau loop. A 300m stroll from Tallanbana picnic area, past the Canyon Lookout, also reaches the top of Twin Falls, adding another waterfall to the same stop.³² Several views from one parking spot is a good return on a short walk.

Cloud is the lookouts' great enemy. Destination Gold Coast warns that they often sit inside cloud while the coast below enjoys sunshine, and that clear, smoke-free days give the best views.⁶ Check a webcam or the weather radar before you drive up, and if the plateau is in cloud, consider the Natural Bridge or a waterfall walk first and the lookouts later, when the cloud may lift.

Early and late light change the view completely. Find the sunrise and sunset times for the day of your visit, and plan an early start or a late visit around it. The tourism body's hiking guide recommends starting the canyon walk early for misty valley views, and morning mist in the gorges is part of the plateau's character.²² Late afternoon light picks out the ridges of the caldera and the shape of Wollumbin against the sky.

Dress for the height. Destination Gold Coast notes that on a chilly winter morning the hinterland can drop to single-digit temperatures, so pack a warm jacket and a beanie.³⁰ Lookouts are exposed to wind, and a sunrise visit can feel much colder than the coast below. Bring a torch if you are walking to the Best of All Lookout in the half-light, and stay on the formed track.³¹ A thermos of something hot turns a cold dawn at the railing into a highlight of the trip.