Welcome to Queensland, Australia!
This beautiful state is rich with swimming holes, waterfalls and naturally occurring rock slides for the more adventurous swimmer to slide down and cascade into the waters below! Pack your swimsuit (or if you’re from Australia, pack your “bathers”) and hop in the car. Let’s go chasing waterfalls in Queensland!
3 Easy To Access Waterfalls in 1 Day
There are 3 easy to find waterfalls you can visit in just one day of waterfall chasing around Queensland. You’ll need a car to access them but your drive time in total will be less than two hours between them. If you’re road tripping Australia, it’s the perfect way to get out of the car, take a quick dip & stretch your legs before you keep driving!
Crystal Creek —–> Jourama Falls —–> Wallaman Falls
1st: Crystal Creek
Crystal Creek is one of my favorite swimming holes in all of Australia! This natural pool is less than a 5 minute walk from the parking lot and very easy to find.
What makes this spot so fun, is the natural rock waterslide connecting the upper and lower pools. You might scratch up your legs a little bit but we had a blast riding the current down the rocks into the lower pool! Just be safe if the current is strong.
When we arrived, we had the entire place to ourselves. It might have been because we were there earlier in the day but it seemed like a lesser known gem than the Noosa Fairy Pools or Josephine Falls. It’s clearly marked with signs and simple to find. Have fun sliding down the natural waterslide!
2nd: Jourama Falls
This isn’t as dramatic of a waterfall but it’s an easy way to break up the day and have a midway swim before you reach the next set of waterfalls you’re chasing. It has scenic rock pools to swim in (pictured below!) and some walking trails you can hike.
It’s easy to reach from the parking lot and the waterfall is marked by signage.
3rd: Wallaman Falls
This is by far the best waterfall we saw in Queensland! It reminded me a lot of Yosemite Falls in California with its scaling granite cliffs and lengthy drop. Sadly, we didn’t leave enough time to do the full Wallaman Falls hike and regretted it. If you enjoy hiking, I would highly recommend allowing enough time (2-3 hours) to do it.
The falls are breathtaking and while the vantage point provides spectacular views, we would have loved to hike all the way down and stand beneath the waterfall. But if you can’t/don’t enjoy a long hike, it’s still definitely worth the drive up to see the falls. The drive up the mountain is pretty spectacular as well.
And keep your eyes peeled, it’s a prime area to see cassowaries, Australia’s massive bird that directly descends from the dinosaurs.
Bonus stop: Josephine Falls
Most likely, you will only have time to chase 3 waterfalls in one day. But located 3 hours up the road is the stunning Josephine Falls. I highly recommend stopping here the following day as you head towards Cairns & the Great Barrier Reef.
Josephine Falls has multiple cascading waterfalls that trail down a natural rock waterslide ending in a large swimming hole. This place was the most popular of the waterfalls we visited because it offered the largest swimming area.
Camper Van Road Trip
We drove from Brisbane to Cairns with our Jucy camper van so we were heading north but you could easily reverse the order and begin with Wallaman Falls if you’re heading south.
Tips for chasing waterfalls in Queensland:
- Don’t bring glass to any of the waterfalls, it’s prohibited because it’s easy to break on the rocks.
- Simply typing “waterfalls” into Google Maps while in Australia will produce a number of results, making them easy to find and very accessible.
- Never dive and jump into the pools. People have died at the majority of these sites as they are natural swimming pools and it can be difficult to see rocks on the bottom if the current is strong.
- Don’t assume you can always swim in the pools. Some of the falls will have a water level indicator that will tell you if it’s safe or not too swim. For instance at Josephine Falls, it the water gets too high- the current is very strong & it’s easy to be swept downstream. The day we went it was perfectly safe but be mindful before you jump in!
Enjoy your day chasing waterfalls in Queensland! If you used any of these tips, tag me in your stories on Instagram so I can reshare you!
SHOP MY SWIMSUIT:
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